Vancouver Coastal Health Officials Challenge Provincial COVID Measures That Seemingly Won’t Be Repealed.

In mid-February, a group of regional health officials in British Columbia cautioned the University of British Columbia that vaccine requirements, passports, and segregated lockdowns would cause more harm than good—advice that appears to contradict provincial health officer Bonnie Henry’s position.

On Feb. 16, health officials from Vancouver Coastal Health (VCH) wrote to University of British Columbia (UBC) President Dr. Santo Ono, urging the university to abandon its proposal to de-register students who did not reveal their COVID-19 vaccination status or comply with mandated testing.

The letter, which was co-signed by VCH’s chief medical health officer, Dr. Patricia Daly, and three other medical officers, claimed that the Omicron variant has rendered two doses of the COVID-19 vaccines ineffective at preventing infection or transmission of the virus, though they are still effective at preventing severe illness.

According to the letter, “there is now no meaningful difference in the risk that a UBC student or staff member who is vaccinated versus unvaccinated may be ill and possibly infectious to others.”

Health experts also slammed required quick testing for unvaccinated students and staff, as well as any corresponding academic or job penalties, claiming that such measures “are not beneficial” in limiting the virus’s spread on campus.

“Not only is asymptomatic Rapid Antigen Testing unreliable in detecting infection with the Omicron variant,” they wrote, “but we have no evidence that those who have disobeyed UBC policies have posed any public health risk to their fellow students, faculty, or staff, even during the circulation of other variants.”

The doctors’ position contrasts with Henry’s, who claimed at a news conference on March 1 that despite “encouraging trends” suggesting virus transmission was falling, it was still important to maintain the province’s COVID-19 limitations.

“There are still many, many sites where there is significant transmission, and we are still seeing widespread transmission of this virus across the province,” she said. “For the time being, those precautions we have in place remain a crucial element of our approach.”

Later today, Henry is anticipated to announce whether or not mask mandates and vaccine passports are still required across the province.

The doctors’ letter cited a report published on the Social Science Research Network (SSRN) website on Feb. 1 that claims the costs of mandatory COVID-19 policies may outweigh the benefits.

SSRN is an online repository for preprint research papers, which means that the publications have not yet been peer-reviewed.

The paper, titled “The Unintended Consequences of COVID-19 Vaccine Policy: Why Mandates, Passports, and Segregated Lockdowns May Cause More Harm Than Good,” concluded that vaccine mandates may dissuade people from complying with future public health efforts.

“Restricting people’s access to work, education, public transportation, and social life based on their COVID-19 vaccination status violates human rights, promotes stigma and social polarization, and has a negative impact on health and wellbeing,” according to the study, which was co-authored by public health and infectious disease experts from Canada, the United States, and the United Kingdom.

“Leveraging empowering techniques based on trust and public consultation represents a better long-term approach to protecting individuals most at risk of COVID-19 morbidity and death, as well as the public’s health and well-being.”

Universities should have minimum limitations on unvaccinated students, employees, and faculty at this stage of the pandemic, according to VCH health experts, because they remain “a low-risk setting” for COVID-19 and there is “now evidence of the virus’s endemic nature.”

“Such measures may have substantial negative consequences for their future health and welfare,” the letter stated, “including affecting future educational and employment chances, as well as their mental health.”

UBC declared on Feb. 28, twelve days after receiving VCH’s letter, that its quick testing program would terminate on March 1.

According to the notice issued by Ono and Lesley Cormack, deputy vice-chancellor and principal at UBC Okanagan, “the development of the virus and the existence of the Omicron variant now signals that a different public health and safety strategy should be taken.”

In addition to consulting VCH, Ono and Cormack cited the university’s COVID modelling team’s proposal, which stated in a letter to Ono on Feb. 20 that “UBC shift its focus away from reporting vaccination status based on a two-dose protocol.”

“There is no longer a strong scientific rationale to treat persons who were completely vaccinated months ago and those who are unvaccinated differently in terms of the risks they pose for transmitting COVID to others,” according to the letter.

The politicians across the world continue to fail to comprehend the fundamental simplicity that is our God given rights. As children of God, we’re entitled to observe our medical autonomy; Once these God given rights are trampled upon once without consequence, they’ll be infringed upon regularly. In the event of a real pandemic, the citizens of the world will surely show their distrust for their politicians. The internet has proved to be a place in which you can tune into various frequencies in search of a perspective that best fits your narrative. I could make up an argument on the fly and back it up with facts pertaining to my argument. With that being said, the news about COVID-19 is terrifyingly polarizing. There is a spectrum, by which all narratives of the COVID-19 agenda are carefully presented to anyone conducting research. The opposing sides of the spectrum are those who are sold on the COVID-19 pandemic, and those who aren’t sold at all.

But it becomes extremely important that we listen to our gut, when we notice that someone is eyeballing something that rightfully belongs to you. Our civil liberties are merely gods gift to man interpreted by men of power. No man, woman, government, organization, forum, or anything will prosper as a weapon against God. With that being said, when our God given rights are at stake, it is probably best to question the integrity of those who propose the removal of such rights. In summary, if you’re not a “conspiracy theorist” you probably aren’t asking very many questions about the world around you.

My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children.

Hosea 4:6