Peter Shokeir | [email protected]
As we bear the brunt of a third wave of COVID-19, much like castaways clinging onto a raft as yet another wave crashes into them, we can take solace in the fact that an end to this pandemic is now within sight.
The province also recently released a reopening plan that is dependent upon immunization rates.
For all restrictions to be lifted, 70 per cent of Albertans age 12-plus have to receive at least one dose of vaccine.
The current trend of immunization appears promising.
In Jasper, over half the population has received at least one dose of the vaccine, while more than 60 per cent of Albertans have gotten the jab.
Last Friday, I got my first dose of the Pfizer vaccine, resulting in a sore arm and some peace of mind.
Although we had to deal with a limited long weekend and will likely deal with restrictions lasting into the summer, it is safe to predict that the most trying of public health measures will be behind us once most of us get the jab.
With luck, children will be able to return to uninterrupted in-person learning next fall, and we might even see the borders open up around that time.
Most of us wish the messaging around public health had been a bit clearer and more consistent, with the acknowledgement that this is a volatile situation involving a bizarre virus that hits some like a ton of bricks while others have no symptoms at all.
The strange nature of COVID-19, our political division and the toxicity of social media have made a difficult situation that much worse.
But again, hope is on the horizon, and nothing lasts forever, not even a pandemic.
