Check It Out: Boy, am I glad that’s over with!
By Joan Janzen
Carol Burnett, a popular comedian from the 1970s, described her daughter’s first day at kindergarten in her book “Carrie and Me.” When she realized she wasn’t going to be able to walk her daughter into her classroom, she was forced to leave her crying for her mother as the teacher held her hand. When Carol picked her daughter up three hours later, the youngster got in the car and smiled, saying, “Boy, Mommy, am I glad THAT’S over with!” Carol took her daughter out for ice cream and explained that school lasts more than one day.
Most people may have said the same thing – “Boy, am I glad THAT’S over with,” concerning the last three years; however, now we’re hearing news that suggests otherwise.
John Campbell, a retired nurse teacher, reported in a recent video the British Medical Journal stated, “Little is yet known about the transmissibility of the new virus or whether it may cause more severe disease, but scientists do not expect it to be much different from previous omicron strains currently in circulation.” John described the latest news we’re hearing as “panic, based essentially on no information.”
I listened to a two-minute clip on CTV news about the new strain of the virus. The words “fear and worry” were used five times as videos of ICU patients were shown throughout the news clip. When asked how serious the new variant is, the Toronto doctor replied, “We don’t know a lot yet about EG 5.1”. When asked if the new booster would offer protection against the new variant, he replied, “That’s another thing we don’t know”, but said he would be taking the booster.
What we do know is the recent report of the death of Sheila Annett Lewis, who was denied an organ transplant because she refused to get the vaccine. According to the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms (JCCF), funds were being raised for Lewis to have a transplant in the States, but she didn’t make it on time.
In 2019, Lewis was diagnosed with a terminal illness and was placed on the wait list for a double organ transplant that would allow her to live out her normal life. After hesitating to take the vaccine, she was removed from the transplant wait list by Alberta Health Services.
In an interview with the National Citizens Inquiry, Lewis said she had a thorough head-to-toe test in order to get on the waiting list. It took a year to get all the testing done. They couldn’t find her record of childhood vaccinations, so she had to get all those vaccinations again, which she did. “They told me I was an ideal candidate for a transplant and couldn’t wait to get it done.” But that changed when she was told the vaccine was a requirement for a transplant. Lewis said she looked into it and had concerns.
John Carpe from the JCCF reported in an online interview, “Doctors knew when they started to pressure Sheila that it didn’t prevent transmission or getting sick.”
When taken off the waitlist, Lewis started court proceedings. JCCF stepped in to help her without charge because she didn’t have the financial resources herself. She lost and appealed it. The Court of Appeal felt they shouldn’t interfere and stuck to the lower court’s decision. The Minister of Health stated on Twitter that he agreed with the court of appeal’s decision.
A tearful Lewis said, “I’d never been to court in my life. I didn’t want to go to court. I didn’t want to hurt anybody. All I want to do is live and see my grandbabies, but it’s not going to happen now. It doesn’t matter what I do or if I have natural immunity. They wouldn’t do the test for natural immunity. They told me they don’t do it anymore.”
In March of 2023, Lewis presented a blood test she had obtained at her own expense, showing she had had Covid twice (once in 2021) and had natural immunity. “I was told I had high antibodies to Covid, extreme high levels was what I was told.”
When asked what’s the takeaway from this tragic event John Carpe replied, “Phone your MLA and say it’s inexcusable that government allows Alberta Health Services to engage in this kind of unscientific and unethical discrimination that has no foundation in medicine and urge the Health Minister to inform the Alberta Health Services that they’re never again to do to other people what they did to Sheila Annette Lewis.”
Vinay Prasad, MD MPH has been sharing extensive research online throughout the past two years and commented on a recent video. “I would not advise anyone under the age of 65 who is healthy to get this vaccine, and that’s in line with the United Kingdom’s advice. I would not advise anyone who’s had Covid to get this vaccine. I can’t imagine there could be much benefit if you’ve already recovered from it,” he said. “It would be absolutely unethical to mandate this booster because it has no benefit to third parties.” If you disagree, you could email Dr. Prasad.
According to a report on Bridge City News, hundreds of fines are being quashed and money returned pertaining to pandemic-related charges. A judge recently ruled politicians shouldn’t have made the final decision on health restrictions.
As we move forward, I agree with the sentiment expressed by Carol Burnett’s young daughter, who said, “Boy, I’m sure glad THAT’S over with!” We cannot afford to walk down that path again.