Vaccine passports are going to hurt a lot of people

We’re in for some rocky times in the next month or so as Coronavirus vaccine mandates go into effect. A government-issued proof of vaccination will be mandatory in specific public locations to the point that some people could lose their livelihoods. It’s the workers, moreso than the patrons who are likely to suffer the most.

Police are concerned that enforcement will put a severe strain on resources that are already stretched thin. Premier John Horgan said last week that businesses who have difficulty with patrons refusing to show proof of enforcement can “call law enforcement.” Rob Farrer, Pacific regional director with the National Police Federation, said calling the cops cannot always be the answer. With the passport program applying to thousands of businesses across the province, he said enforcement will pose challenges under current resources.

On the surface it sounds quite simple, get vaccinated or lose your job. But it runs much deeper than that because of the strongly-held views of many who are rejecting vaccinations – it has become a question of human rights. Can government force its citizens to be injected with a foreign substance they don’t trust?

It’s a very divisive issue – those who are opposed to vaccines are just as committed as those who accept them.

I took a quick ride through the government process to get the passport, and if they think average British Columbians will be able to sift through this bureaucratic garble, it will be a pretty frosty Friday before people can get their cards. That’s sure to put the gravel in the grinder. They better have phone contacts (that are answered) in order to guide people though this.

In many jurisdictions there is discussion about bringing in a third round of vaccinations. After that, will their be a fourth round?

We hear lots from those pushing the vaccines, but there are many sides to the story, and the other side is not getting told. Brian Peckford has a lot of facts about COVID-19 testing and vaccines in his column.

There are many unproven claims of dire results. It’s also the forced mandate – the history where people equate the current actions to Nazi Germany, which some of them personally lived through.

We’ve seen the anti-mask protest demonstrations, many of them based on facts and some on wild and crazy conspiracy theories. Some are legitimate concerns about the safety of vaccines and others interpreting is as more  government control of our lives. They are not just a cluster of wild-eyed crazy loonies.

I have talked to people who are aware they will lose their jobs once the requirement for vaccinations goes into effect. And they are willing to make that sacrifice. We all have the right to choose whether to patronize a business, but there's no justification for those who lose their jobs due to the vaccine mandate.

We already have a labour shortage in many sectors in B.C., and this can only make the problem worse. It makes one wonder if governments have looked at both sides of the picture.

You can be sure there will be legal challenges to rule on the constitutionality of the mandatory vaccines. Some lawyers believe they have a case.