A vaccine against hassles | The Press

There are lots of good reasons to get your COVID-19 booster shot. There are just as many not to store your mask in the box marked “souvenirs” and to take the precautions that we now know well against the disease.

The National Director of Public Health, Dr.^r Luc Boileau, and the Minister of Health, Christian Dubé, listed several of these reasons during their press briefing on Wednesday. It was also a long time for the minister to come and remind the population that the pandemic is not over.

These reasons, we know them. We must protect our hospital system already on its knees, think of the most vulnerable. But there is another simple reason to be careful. A reason that is not altruistic, but which is perhaps the most likely to make us take action.

Receiving your booster dose and taking your precautions minimizes the risk that COVID-19 will sabotage our plans.

Got an important exam? A trip planned? A presentation at work? A family dinner? A Halloween party? Tickets for a sports match, a play, a music show?

Catching COVID-19 may not send you to the hospital (even though it is a real possibility). But the infection can make you miss all that.

While all the indicators point to a rise in transmission and we are obviously entering an eighth wave, we would do well to remember this.

No, the vaccine does not offer perfect protection. But in addition to being extremely effective against severe forms of the disease (80 to 90% protection), it significantly reduces the risk of infection (protection of approximately 70% if vaccination is up to date).

Same thing for the mask. It is not infallible either, but it reduces the risk of transmission in the interior places that we frequent more and more with the temperature which cools. Let us remember that it exists. Do not hesitate to wear it in crowded and poorly ventilated places.

These measures are very simple, not very inconvenient and we have the advantage of having already mastered them. It is enough to reactivate the good habits.

And if the upheavals in your own calendar don’t scare you, you can always think of the 22,000 Quebecers who have been waiting for surgery for over a year. The duty reported Thursday that the goal of bringing this list back to the pre-pandemic level was called into question with the recent increase in hospitalizations linked to COVID-19.

Imagine the Videotron Center in Quebec overflowing. Or ten times the crowd that the MTelus can accommodate in Montreal. These are all those people who have been hanging around waiting for an operation for a time that has far exceeded what is acceptable.

We’re starting to get used to it: fall is the season of all dangers with COVID-19.

Over the waves, we also learned that when we see Europe getting hit, we’d better get ready to take the slap in turn. However, several European countries, including France, Italy and the United Kingdom, are currently experiencing a worrying increase in hospitalizations.

In this context, the government would do well to think twice before lifting the recommendation to self-isolate five days after the first symptoms appear. Quebec is currently awaiting an opinion from Public Health on this subject. We can’t wait to see what science will say about it, but we will have to think about the consequences of sending the message that the pandemic is over.

Otherwise, the population lives its first pandemic autumn without real health restrictions. It’s better this way. Vaccines and medications allow us this precious freedom. We do well to take advantage of it.

But this freedom also comes with responsibilities. More than ever, the ball is in the people’s court for the management of COVID-19. It’s up to us to show that we know how to do it. It should start with a booster dose and a mask in his pocket.