Did you get your fourth Covid shot yet? I did.
I got my flu shot at the same time, and I get it every year. Nothing happened again, except I got a bit of a sore arm and now I am better protected.
If you haven’t gotten yours yet, I recommend you go get the booster and the flu shot… at the same sitting.
You’ll get one shot in one arm and the other one in your other arm. One after the other, of course; not one in each arm at the same time. Eschia (take it easy, eh).
Why am I saying this? Because people are beginning to think that getting Covid is like getting a cold. The thing is, people have not been getting very sick because they have been vaccinated.
I’m sure most of us in the NWT know people who have died from Covid. Many Elders and others died, including someone close to me. Almost all of those who died were not vaccinated.
In fact, Covid has killed around 47,000 people in Canada and over a million in the US!
Even if you’ve been vaccinated, you need a booster shot because it wears off and there are new versions of Covid that are not fully covered by the first shots.
And yes, you should get a flu shot too. Don’t believe those myths about the flu that cause people to not get vaccinated.
For instance, some people think they don’t need the vaccine because the flu is not serious. But many people die from flu every year, and it can cause things like sinus or ear infections, pneumonia and swelling in the heart or brain.
And you cannot get the flu from the flu vaccine because the virus it contains is not active. The flu vaccine is very safe. I get it every year, and I feel confident it’s protecting me.
Just like Covid, you can still get the flu after being vaccinated but it will be less severe. It is very important for older people like me, and people with vulnerable immune systems, to get vaccinated.
And that’s why pregnant women should get the flu shot: because their immune systems are weaker than usual.
Ontario mask mandates?
Things are so bad in Ontario, that medical professionals are asking for mandatory masking to be put in place.
There’s a triple threat of Covid, a bad flu season, and RSV causing record numbers of children to be brought to hospitals with breathing problems, fevers and other symptoms.
It’s putting such a strain on the health system that Dr. Fahad Razak, the former head of the Covid science advisory table, says Ontario needs masks to be mandated again.
Toronto’s board of health has also asked the City of Toronto to consider reinstating mask mandates. And, the chief of staff at an Ottawa children’s hospital strongly recommends indoor masking.
Ontario’s top doctor, Dr. Kieran Moore, said he would recommend reinstating mask mandates if Covid-19 affects the ability to reduce the surgical backlog and has other effects.
In fact, many Ontario hospitals are already reporting long waits to see doctors. Some emergency departments have closed periodically.
Moore said this year’s main flu strain is causing many, many people to go to the hospital. He is monitoring the flu and Covid-19 activity, as well as how many people are in intensive care units (ICU) in deciding what to do about masks.
The flu already has 18 people in ICU, with eight of them on ventilators. There are 1,796 people in hospital with Covid-19, with 138 in ICU and 52 on ventilators, according to Moore.
Ontario’s top doc said it’s important to get the Covid and flu shots as soon as possible. And he strongly recommends that people with underlying illnesses and older people use masks when they go indoors other than at home.
Public Health Ontario has said the new Covid variants are growing two times as fast as the previous one and it seems to be easier to pass on or to reinfect others.
All of this has caused the University of Waterloo, Seneca College and Western University to mandate masks indoors for the rest of this term.
This means students and faculty members must wear a face covering during lectures, seminars, teaching labs, tests, exams and all other forms of indoor instruction.
If it’s that bad in Ontario, it’s probably going to get bad up here too.
So, ya, c’mon folks. Time to get your flu shot and your booster juice. LOL. Seriously, get that booster shot. The old shots are wearing off and the new variants have changed.