Edmonton Journal
Give the unvaccinated fines instead of bribes
On Friday, Mr Kenney announced that the unvaccinated would be given $100 if they obtain the vaccine. True, the hospitals are facing overloads, staff are overworked, and ICU beds may have to be shared (or something), but this is wrong!
Should unvaxxed hold out for more?
Premier Kenny made an opening bid of $100 for the unvaccinated to roll up their sleeve and get the COVID-19 vaccine. I am just wondering if these individuals should be holding out for a higher bid? $200? $500?
When the next pandemic arrives, as it surely will, is the lesson here not to be an eager beaver but to hold out as long as possible for best financial inducements? Sure, it is a gamble but we already had two vaccine lotteries with prizes up to a million dollars so precedents have been set. Thank you Premier Kenney. Great to know that your government is willing to gamble away people’s lives and the economy of the province.
Richard McFarlane, Edmonton
Data shows vaccine experts were right
With the most recent data showing that over 80 per cent of hospitalizations are those that are unvaccinated, it has become more apparent than ever that — surprise — the medical community was correct in their efficacy numbers, and the real-world data supports what they’ve said all along.
The goal of the vaccinations are to reduce the long-term and serious effects of COVID, with less chance of spreading it being a secondary benefit. Why has it become so difficult for us to care about the well-being of others and trust our experts? It’s depressing how people don’t trust health-care providers, but will go to them if they are unable to breathe from COVID, or have negative side effects from trying unproven deworming medication.
Can’t have it both ways. People need to wake up and exit their social-media echo chambers. You are not the star of your own personal movie.
Ryan Black, Edmonton
Alberta’s vaccine record system unworkable
Seems this province is in the Middle Ages. I registered with Alberta Health to access my immunization record and get a proper document that I am fully vaccinated. Guess what? The website does not work properly and spits out error messages. A phone call to their help line advised me that the wait time on the phone is — hold on — 10.5 hours!
Only option left is to see my GP to get a print out from her. I have an appointment in two weeks. Does anyone agree that this is absolutely ridiculous?
Karin Fodor, Edmonton
Anti-vaxxers free to stay at home
Anti-vaxxers do have a choice. They have the freedom to remain unvaccinated and not travel, not go to concerts or sporting events, not work in essential-service jobs, not attend universities and secondary schools, not go to public indoor spaces.
They can enjoy their private, non-compliant, freedom bubble; just keep away from those children, immunocompromised, vulnerable people and hospitals that care for the health of the entire society.
Maxine Newbold, Edmonton
COVID skeptics don’t need medical care
What bothers me is with all the anti-maskers, anti-vaxxers and COVID deniers, once they do get COVID, they go running off to the hospital like little wheezing babies. That plugs up hospitals resulting in other procedures being cancelled.
Come on you people, tough it out at home. It is “just the flu,” right?
Niel Johnson, Edmonton
Liberal job plan ensures better opportunities
Re. “Liberals deserve to be shut out of Alberta,” Opinion, Sept. 2
Mr. Marciano is misleading the public about the Liberal plan for job creation in Alberta. See the facts for yourself in our detailed, comprehensive, and — unlike the Conservatives — fully costed platform.
Our job creation plan is focused on ensuring energy workers and communities have even greater opportunities than they do today. I have knocked on thousands of doors in the last several weeks and heard repeatedly from folks who understand that while traditional oil and gas jobs won’t completely dry up overnight, we must start transitioning to greener jobs that are already in demand globally. Unlike Mr. Marciano, Mill Woods residents understand that Alberta is losing jobs due to global economic forces beyond our control — and we’ve got to act quickly. That is why the Liberal government is committing $2 billion to a futures fund for Alberta and other oil and gas-dependent provinces. Meanwhile, Jason Kenney spent nearly $2 billion on a dead-end pipeline.
If the Conservative plan for jobs was credible, it would be working in Alberta. Clearly, it is not. Instead of fear-mongering and not-so-subtly implying that they are entitled to hold office here, Alberta’s Conservatives need to start earning their votes with ideas that will ensure our city’s economic future is resilient and thriving.
Ben Henderson, Liberal party candidate for Edmonton Mill Woods
A tough year for Mother Nature and farmers
For any of our urban cousins who think farmers are nothing but whiners, here’s a message from a rural cousin. Stock up! Buy extra flour, oats, barley, flax, canola oil and any other grain you may use. Also spices and rice that come from abroad. This year Mother Nature has shown herself to be suffering from bipolar disorder. Her fields look like burnt toast. Grass did not grow in pastures and failed crops have been cut for silage to be used as feed for animals.
Her heat dome stretched from sea to sea. Fish died in rivers and lakes. Her hot flashes were felt by every living thing. If she is going through menopause, we are in for some more troubled years.
Nancy Mereska, Two Hills
On Friday, Mr Kenney announced that the unvaccinated would be given $100 if they obtain the vaccine. True, the hospitals are facing overloads, staff are overworked, and ICU beds may have to be shared (or something), but this is wrong!
© Provided by Edmonton Journal Premier Jason Kenney announces the province’s new COVID restrictions at McDougall Centre in Calgary on Friday, Sept. 3, 2021.
The majority of us have been vaccinated, though some can not be, and we should not be asked to devote our tax dollars to bribe the recalcitrants. If pressure is needed, and if $100 makes a difference, let it be in the form of a fine for those who are not yet part of the solution. Furthermore, impose a prohibition against them for attendance at multi-person events.
Certainly offer a clear vaccine certificate that can be easily checked so that those of us who do the right thing need not have to bribe the lazy, the inconsiderate, the anti-vaxxers, the fearful misinformed, and the main developers and spreaders of variants.
Peter Willott, Seba Beach
The majority of us have been vaccinated, though some can not be, and we should not be asked to devote our tax dollars to bribe the recalcitrants. If pressure is needed, and if $100 makes a difference, let it be in the form of a fine for those who are not yet part of the solution. Furthermore, impose a prohibition against them for attendance at multi-person events.
Certainly offer a clear vaccine certificate that can be easily checked so that those of us who do the right thing need not have to bribe the lazy, the inconsiderate, the anti-vaxxers, the fearful misinformed, and the main developers and spreaders of variants.
Peter Willott, Seba Beach
Should unvaxxed hold out for more?
Premier Kenny made an opening bid of $100 for the unvaccinated to roll up their sleeve and get the COVID-19 vaccine. I am just wondering if these individuals should be holding out for a higher bid? $200? $500?
When the next pandemic arrives, as it surely will, is the lesson here not to be an eager beaver but to hold out as long as possible for best financial inducements? Sure, it is a gamble but we already had two vaccine lotteries with prizes up to a million dollars so precedents have been set. Thank you Premier Kenney. Great to know that your government is willing to gamble away people’s lives and the economy of the province.
Richard McFarlane, Edmonton
Data shows vaccine experts were right
With the most recent data showing that over 80 per cent of hospitalizations are those that are unvaccinated, it has become more apparent than ever that — surprise — the medical community was correct in their efficacy numbers, and the real-world data supports what they’ve said all along.
The goal of the vaccinations are to reduce the long-term and serious effects of COVID, with less chance of spreading it being a secondary benefit. Why has it become so difficult for us to care about the well-being of others and trust our experts? It’s depressing how people don’t trust health-care providers, but will go to them if they are unable to breathe from COVID, or have negative side effects from trying unproven deworming medication.
Can’t have it both ways. People need to wake up and exit their social-media echo chambers. You are not the star of your own personal movie.
Ryan Black, Edmonton
Alberta’s vaccine record system unworkable
Seems this province is in the Middle Ages. I registered with Alberta Health to access my immunization record and get a proper document that I am fully vaccinated. Guess what? The website does not work properly and spits out error messages. A phone call to their help line advised me that the wait time on the phone is — hold on — 10.5 hours!
Only option left is to see my GP to get a print out from her. I have an appointment in two weeks. Does anyone agree that this is absolutely ridiculous?
Karin Fodor, Edmonton
Anti-vaxxers free to stay at home
Anti-vaxxers do have a choice. They have the freedom to remain unvaccinated and not travel, not go to concerts or sporting events, not work in essential-service jobs, not attend universities and secondary schools, not go to public indoor spaces.
They can enjoy their private, non-compliant, freedom bubble; just keep away from those children, immunocompromised, vulnerable people and hospitals that care for the health of the entire society.
Maxine Newbold, Edmonton
COVID skeptics don’t need medical care
What bothers me is with all the anti-maskers, anti-vaxxers and COVID deniers, once they do get COVID, they go running off to the hospital like little wheezing babies. That plugs up hospitals resulting in other procedures being cancelled.
Come on you people, tough it out at home. It is “just the flu,” right?
Niel Johnson, Edmonton
Liberal job plan ensures better opportunities
Re. “Liberals deserve to be shut out of Alberta,” Opinion, Sept. 2
Mr. Marciano is misleading the public about the Liberal plan for job creation in Alberta. See the facts for yourself in our detailed, comprehensive, and — unlike the Conservatives — fully costed platform.
Our job creation plan is focused on ensuring energy workers and communities have even greater opportunities than they do today. I have knocked on thousands of doors in the last several weeks and heard repeatedly from folks who understand that while traditional oil and gas jobs won’t completely dry up overnight, we must start transitioning to greener jobs that are already in demand globally. Unlike Mr. Marciano, Mill Woods residents understand that Alberta is losing jobs due to global economic forces beyond our control — and we’ve got to act quickly. That is why the Liberal government is committing $2 billion to a futures fund for Alberta and other oil and gas-dependent provinces. Meanwhile, Jason Kenney spent nearly $2 billion on a dead-end pipeline.
If the Conservative plan for jobs was credible, it would be working in Alberta. Clearly, it is not. Instead of fear-mongering and not-so-subtly implying that they are entitled to hold office here, Alberta’s Conservatives need to start earning their votes with ideas that will ensure our city’s economic future is resilient and thriving.
Ben Henderson, Liberal party candidate for Edmonton Mill Woods
A tough year for Mother Nature and farmers
For any of our urban cousins who think farmers are nothing but whiners, here’s a message from a rural cousin. Stock up! Buy extra flour, oats, barley, flax, canola oil and any other grain you may use. Also spices and rice that come from abroad. This year Mother Nature has shown herself to be suffering from bipolar disorder. Her fields look like burnt toast. Grass did not grow in pastures and failed crops have been cut for silage to be used as feed for animals.
Her heat dome stretched from sea to sea. Fish died in rivers and lakes. Her hot flashes were felt by every living thing. If she is going through menopause, we are in for some more troubled years.
Nancy Mereska, Two Hills
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