Will this plague ever end?

Probably not. Not if people continue to be obsessed with complaining about personal inconvenience instead of looking at the bigger picture. I am so sick of reading stories in the papers I edit about people complaining that they are tired of lockdowns and just want to go out for dinner or to a concert. We all want that, but it isn't safe or practical right now. 

I get that people want to see their friends and family for the holidays. That people want to celebrate weddings and graduations and gather for funerals.

I know having schools closed and extra curricular activities cancelled is tough for kids. I understand the mental health strains related to isolation for everyone. Really, I do.

But you know what would be worse for children's mental health? Coughing their lungs out on a ventilator in the ICU, or knowing that they had sent Grandma or their teacher to hospital because they spread the virus.

I understand that small businesses, especially in the service industry - restaurants, movie theatres, bars etc. - are really struggling and many are going to go under. But avoiding necessary lockdowns until it is too late and lifting them too early is only prolonging the problem and doing more damage. 

There have been more than 30,000 deaths in Canada due to COVID so far. It isn't the sniffles.

And I would heartily support a federal law mandating that people who refuse to be vaccinated without a damn good medical excuse be required to put in one unmasked shift a week cleaning up in hospital ICUs until they either get fully vaccinated, die of the virus or the pandemic ends. Anti-vax idiots and the craven politicians who cater to them are a big part of the reason we are still in this mess.