Not to bore readers with yet another COVID-related column, but here’s another piece about the pandemic and my recent experience.
I tested positive for COVID-19 on Jan. 10 using an at-home antigen test. I wasn’t surprised by the result because I felt absolutely horrible. Chills, headache, sore throat, runny nose – the whole nine yards.
And while this isn’t fun, I was already feeling much better a day later. I probably shouldn’t have joked about Omicron being the “best” strain of the virus to contract since its symptoms are supposedly much milder than previous variants.
This pandemic has been extremely polarizing and I’ve noticed friends and family who have more ‘unpopular’ opinions don’t often like to talk about it with just anyone.
Obviously, I hope this pandemic comes to an end soon and that some sort of herd immunity is gained from this fast-spreading variant. But I too disagree with how some things have been handled during this pandemic – or continue to be handled.
I saw that Quebec Premier François Legault would be imposing a health tax on Quebec residents who refuse to get their first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine in the coming weeks. On Jan. 11, he said he wanted to charge unvaccinated folks a significant amount to act as an incentive to get vaccinated — more than $50 or $100.
Roughly 10 per cent of Quebeckers remain unvaccinated, but take up about 50 per cent of COVID-19 beds in hospitals, according to health officials in Quebec.
"These people, they put a very important burden on our health-care network," Legault said. "I think it's reasonable a majority of the population is asking that there be consequences."
I get that the whole goal of restrictions and vaccinations is to keep hospitalization numbers low, but I disagree with forcing people to get vaccinated by imposing a tax on them.
I have met people who can’t get vaccinated due to underlying health issues, but who also can’t get a medical exemption. The decision to get vaccinated isn’t that simple for everyone, and I don’t think everyone is open to sharing their health reasons with the world for choosing not to.
On another note, if we start taxing unvaccinated people for hospital care because they are more likely to end up needing care, why don’t we tax anyone that purposely puts themselves in any kind of danger? Anyone in extreme sports like bull riders, dirtbikers, or even a simple hiker are more likely to end up taking up a hospital bed than someone with safer hobbies. As an avid hiker who also enjoys riding a motorbike in the summer, I sincerely hope they don’t ever impose health taxes on those activities.
I just wanted to point out and share my unpopular opinion that maybe taxing unvaccinated people for health care isn’t totally just.
