Third Wave is Here...

[elaine amj]

Yup....the new double variant from India has arrived to Alberta. I am beyond frustrated.

There are a few people who will need to travel internationally for various reasons I understand and get that...but I am beyond frustrated as I sit at home and do nothing but go to work and home. We have a VERY small family bubble we do keep ( because tomorrow is NEVER guaranteed ) but that is IT. I'm tired. The mental health of my 18 and 20 yr boys is very low. This is not a counselling issue....it is a " not being able to be a normal 18 and 20 yr old life issue" It's been a year, and the government's best response is to roll out more restrictions and lock downs. They have had over a year to get their s#%t together and come up with better plans. I'm beyond frustrated now.

But yet.... Trudeau is talking about how he is hopeful HE will be able to go to the G7 summit in June.....um HELLLLLLLLLLLLLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO Why should you be able to go to pointless fancy dinners and chin waggling while you can't come up with better strategies than restrictions and lockdowns. It's a big heaping pile of rotting stinking whale po-op from the bottom of the ocean floor is what that is.

I hear ya. I really don't know if there is anything better than more lockdowns and restrictions but I sure do hear ya. It's been a rough year.

My heart breaks for my young adult kids. Especially DS18 who is stuck locked down at home with us. And frankly, even if the province isn't locked down, our household would still be locked down as DH has been getting chemo and has a crappy immune system as a result.

On the other hand, the lockdown has made things a bit easier for us to manage DS. We spent all last Fall debating nearly every day about what was safe and what wasn't. He constantly challenged us as we flip flopped between wanting to give him opportunities and staying safe at home. If we gave one inch, he'd start battling us about why inch #2 was any more unsafe.

And he's a good kid. Who cares about his father and understands our point of view. But it was so tempting when his friends would ask him to do such and such. Then they would complain when he was allowed to see one but not the other. The lockdown shut down all those debates and he just stayed home as did most of his friends.

He also got laid off (right about when we were going to ask him to quit) so we didn't have to stress about additional exposure.

This has all been so hard on our kids and young people. The teens and young adults in particular are missing their rites of passage.

And yet my family is incredibly blessed that we are able to just hunker down and wait this out. And we have a safe home to do it in. Not everyone does. And I am still so incredibly grateful that we are not having to deal with the far worse horrors of a world war. Those generations dealt with far worse disruptions to their schooling, their rites of passage, and their lives than we have to with these lockdowns.

And now there is the hope of the vaccines. Even one dose would make me feel much safer. We're expecting to get our first dose pretty soon. And my DD19 and DS18 will qualify in phase 2 as restaurant workers - so maybe, maybe by end of May?

 

[ilovetotravel1977]

I feel like a revolt will happen soon in Canada like abroad.

I know my 25YO son and DH are fed up with everything. Like, DONE! They are not getting the vaccine either.

People are losing / have lost faith in the system and are over it all.

 

[Jrb1979]

I feel like a revolt will happen soon in Canada like abroad.

I know my 25YO son and DH are fed up with everything. Like, DONE! They are not getting the vaccine either.

People are losing / have lost faith in the system and are over it all.

My wife was saying the same thing. That riots will happen the longer this goes on. My only hope is after Victoria Day weekend things will open up again. Hopefully by then we get to 40% are vaccinated. At this point its really the only way to get back to normal.

 

[elaine amj]

There's definitely a lot of pandemic fatigue. Understandably so.

Who could ever have imagined more than a year later that we would still be doing this? I remember watching the movie, Contagion a year ago. And when I watched the father isolate his daughter for something like 18 months, I remember saying - that's just a movie. No way will we have to lock down so long. A few weeks to a few months maybe. Science has advanced and we're smarter ppl now. No way will it be that bad.

But now it has been 13 months since our first lockdown. And 18 months is our best case scenario.

 

[ilovetotravel1977]

Didn't they say at the beginning that this was the same as the Spanish Flu, and that lasted two years?

 

[tlcdoula]

Yup....the new double variant from India has arrived to Alberta. I am beyond frustrated.

There are a few people who will need to travel internationally for various reasons I understand and get that...but I am beyond frustrated as I sit at home and do nothing but go to work and home. We have a VERY small family bubble we do keep ( because tomorrow is NEVER guaranteed ) but that is IT. I'm tired. The mental health of my 18 and 20 yr boys is very low. This is not a counselling issue....it is a " not being able to be a normal 18 and 20 yr old life issue" It's been a year, and the government's best response is to roll out more restrictions and lock downs. They have had over a year to get their s#%t together and come up with better plans. I'm beyond frustrated now.

But yet.... Trudeau is talking about how he is hopeful HE will be able to go to the G7 summit in June.....um HELLLLLLLLLLLLLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO Why should you be able to go to pointless fancy dinners and chin waggling while you can't come up with better strategies than restrictions and lockdowns. It's a big heaping pile of rotting stinking whale po-op from the bottom of the ocean floor is what that is.

I heard a quick blurb on the news this morning about having cases in BC too but missed the first part so I am not sure how many or where.

I am feeling the same frustration, along with anger and sadness. I feel like I hit every emotion from Inside Out in a day. We go to work come home sleep and repeat. I don't even want to go into any stores for shopping, we order most of or groceries for pick up and do Hello Fresh for dinners. I have gone into the garden store to get some plants to put in the front yard this past weekend which was nice to do. Adding some color to the front of the yard picks up your spirits a little.

Don't get me wrong I am grateful my family and friends are all healthy but it sure takes a tole on your mental health. My mom lives a few streets up and I have only seen her a couple of times to drop things off since the fall, with masks and keeping a distance. She got her shot the other day which is a relief to me... My daughter is a nurse and I was so happy when she received her shot earlier in the year. It is so hard on all the kids. I work with some teens who are amazing young people and are really starting to feel down because of all this. They are finishing up with their school season and are worried what will come next with not being able to see their friends etc.

Sorry this turned into a novel...

 

[damo]

Herd immunity is the only way back to normal. Everyone needs to do their part when it comes to vaccination.

 

[ilovetotravel1977]

But then we are bombarded with the variants talk, and how we now must do this all over again for those because the vaccines aren't for those strains, etc.

Once we are vaccinated, life HAS to resume normally. If it doesn't, JT better pack his bags.

 

[azrivest]

I believe it's been detected in Quebec already. I thought I saw that on CBC this morning.

Yes it has been. The person was already in isolation.

Edited to nothing because I'm sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo angry and upset about the variants that keep coming into the country instead of people growing a set and slam the boarders closed...no one IN OR OUT for countries with variants .... UNITL...our government and officials can come up with a game plan that DOESN'T INCLUDE never ending restrictions or lock downs.

How many people are travelling for leisure at this time though? What about all the essential workers, like truck drivers and so forth, that do not quarantine? I'm not trying to point fingers here, I'm just saying it's almost impossible to completely shut down borders for weeks...

 

[damo]

But then we are bombarded with the variants talk, and how we now must do this all over again for those because the vaccines aren't for those strains, etc.

Once we are vaccinated, life HAS to resume normally. If it doesn't, JT better pack his bags.

But if not enough of us get vaccinated things won't get back to normal. It will have nothing to do with the gov't but everything to do with choices that people are making.

 

[ilovetotravel1977]

What I meant was even if we hit herd immunity, they better not try to find something else to keep us tied down.

 

[Jrb1979]

But if not enough of us don't get vaccinated things won't get back to normal. It will have nothing to do with the gov't but everything to do with choices that people are making.

Agreed. I'm losing faith in enough people getting the vaccine. Living in Ontario and seeing the over 50 crowd shopping around instead of getting whats available is concerning. At this point I really hope a vaccine passport comes to fruition. Not for everyday life but for travel and places of large gatherings. It might be the only way to get more people vaccinated

What I meant was even if we hit herd immunity, they better not try to find something else to keep us tied down.

They won't find something else. The only thing I see happening is businesses take it one themselves to make it proof of vaccine a requirement.

 

[geneandamy]

I feel like a revolt will happen soon in Canada like abroad.

I know my 25YO son and DH are fed up with everything. Like, DONE! They are not getting the vaccine either.

People are losing / have lost faith in the system and are over it all.

That's exactly where we are. No vaccine for any of us or many of my Dr offices that I visit. Over it. Trust....I don't have any.

 

[ilovetotravel1977]

At this point I really hope a vaccine passport comes to fruition. Not for everyday life but for travel and places of large gatherings.

I hope they don't have that!

[/QUOTE]
They won't find something else.
[/QUOTE]

Let's hope you are right.

 

[Jrb1979]

I hope they don't have that!

They won't find something else.
[/QUOTE]

Let's hope you are right.
[/QUOTE]
I honestly think a vaccine passport is coming. Especially for travel. There is rumors already that for the border restrictions to be lifted a vaccine passport will be in its place. I don't think it will required for everyday life. The Buffalo Bills are requiring proof of vaccine for all home games in the fall. I can see all sports in Canada doing as they haven't had fans in the stands yet.

 

[quandrea]

There's definitely a lot of pandemic fatigue. Understandably so.

Who could ever have imagined more than a year later that we would still be doing this? I remember watching the movie, Contagion a year ago. And when I watched the father isolate his daughter for something like 18 months, I remember saying - that's just a movie. No way will we have to lock down so long. A few weeks to a few months maybe. Science has advanced and we're smarter ppl now. No way will it be that bad.

But now it has been 13 months since our first lockdown. And 18 months is our best case scenario.

When this started, I knew we’d be looking at approximately two years of this. At the time, it caused a minor meltdown for me. I have a science background and history has shown how long a pandemic might run. I wanted to be overreacting at the time, but unfortunately I did not. We have a ways to go yet. It’s disheartening, but true. I agree with the poster who says shut down all borders. No in. No out. That’s how we should have begun with this back in March 2020.

 

[quandrea]

Yes it has been. The person was already in isolation.



How many people are travelling for leisure at this time though? What about all the essential workers, like truck drivers and so forth, that do not quarantine? I'm not trying to point fingers here, I'm just saying it's almost impossible to completely shut down borders for weeks...

You can shut down the air travel. We did it for 9/11.

 

[TammyLynn33]

I hope they don't have that!

They won't find something else.
[/QUOTE]

Let's hope you are right.
[/QUOTE]

A lot of American companies are going that route. The Staples Center in LA ( for kings games at least ) requires proof of both vaccine doses or a negative test within 72 hours . Will be interesting to see how these things play out .

 

[ottawamom]

The double mutant has been in North America for about a month now. It was first reported in the San Francisco area of California. It was only a matter of time before it ended up in Canada.

We are in a restricted lifestyle for another few years. Until the "world" has had vaccines the variants will continue to develop and as we know see it only takes one traveller with one variant to infect a population who has no immunity to that variant.

Life is not going back to pre-pandemic way of living and we should just adjust our expectations and be thankful for what we can do and learn to live a new way (whatever that is going to mean going forward)

 

[hdrolfe]

You want to not be locked down? Get vaccinated as soon as you can. Don't trust the vaccine? Then stay home. You don't get it both ways.

I am completely done with all the vaccine avoiders, both those who don't want to get any and those waiting to pick and choose. While I'm happy the over 55 crowd didn't get one and made it possible for me to get it, honestly, it pisses me off and I'd have continued waiting if it meant more people were getting it before me. And I hope they put in place vaccine passports and ask for proof of it for travel and anything else involving crowds. Kids have to provide proof of vaccine before registering for school, grown ups should before going back to work or being allowed to travel or go to events in large crowds.

Should travel have been more restricted off the bat? Of course. Should those people refusing to isolate when they return to Canada be "punished" in some way? Bet your booty, fine them, force them to be those hotels they are supposed to be isolating in. Any one who went to Disney from Canada or decided to take a vacation somewhere should have had to follow those instructions. No we can't stop the trucks/drivers as we rely so heavily on other countries for our food supply, but yes, they should have been tested upon return, even the quick test that isn't as accurate.

Yes the vaccine rollout has sucked, I don't see how the government could have done better, they purchased massive quantities of doses from all over to hedge their bets. Perhaps someone else knows how we could have gotten those doses faster? It would be better if we could make our own but previous governments shut that down years ago. We'll get back there, hopefully by fall we'll be able to make our own, and then perhaps we'll be in a better position for any boosters. The part I don't like is province blaming feds and feds blaming province. Get it together, work together and stop being posturing idiots. I don't think them all being wishy washy over who should get the next shots. Make a plan and follow it! We'll never get anywhere if we keep changing course.