Giving fuel to false news
Re Omicron is our second shot at COVID redemption (NOW, December 23-January 5). This is misleading: “On Sunday, for example, three-quarters of the 4,000-plus cases reported in Ontario were among those who have been double vaccinated. Part of that has to do with the fact that Omicron can slip vaccine defences. And part of that has to do with people not following masking and physical distancing rules.” Stopping there gives fuel to the false news that the vaccines are ineffective.
Let’s revisit the prime cause of your three-quarters report. From the footnotes of the UK Health Security Agency, Surveillance Report Week #45: “In the context of very high vaccine coverage in the population, even with a highly effective vaccine, it is expected that a large proportion of cases, hospitalizations and deaths would occur in vaccinated individuals, simply because a larger proportion of the population are vaccinated than unvaccinated and no vaccine is 100 per cent effective.”
The report goes on: “This is especially true because vaccination has been prioritized in individuals who are more susceptible or more at risk of severe disease. Individuals in risk groups may also be more at risk of hospitalization or death due to non-COVID-19 causes, and thus may be hospitalized or die with COVID-19 rather than because of COVID-19.”
Gary Murphy – From NOWTORONTO.COM
Hopefully we’ll be okay by New Year’s Eve 2022
Re Toronto’s Omicron restrictions put New Year’s Eve 2022 in jeopardy (NOW Online, December 21).
Your headline is confusing. New Year’s Eve 2022 does not happen until December 31, 2022. Hopefully, by then things will be okay. As for New Year’s Eve 2021 set for this December 31, it does look like it will not go ahead.
Ian Hand – From NOWTORONTO.COM
White people know what Asian jokes not to laugh at, too
Re Licorice Pizza is great despite the unfortunate Asian joke (NOW Online, December 19).
Radheyan Simonpillai states that “There was something deeply cringe about how loudly that [pretty much all-white] audience guffawed during that joke.” No, “white people” know what they’re laughing at when they laugh at things. You’re not the only one who understands race.
Z. Zachary – From NOWTORONTO.COM
One reason to protect tenants: homeless can’t vote
In response to letter-writer Alison L. and Why should tenants be protected from rising costs? (NOW Online, December 19).
Evicted citizens, especially those enduring mental health issues, often become long-term homeless. They cannot afford an official residence and are too poor to be permitted to practise what’s frequently platitudinously described as the right to vote in elections.
Progressive voters need to start electorally acting like the fiscal conservative voters and vote as a block to protect tenants.
Frank Sterle Jr. – From NOWTORONTO.COM
Why the real estate bubble is about to burst
Re Toronto real estate board opposes investor tax (NOW Online, December 19).
Old-school leaders are chasing economic growth by building more and more overpriced housing. That could be the right strategy if all developers were able to sell their overpriced properties at their desired price. But unfortunately for them, this will not happen in the future as debt and interest rates rise and sellers try to recover their losses by increasing their prices even more in the absence of buyers who can’t afford these overpriced homes. The bubble will increase in size until it bursts.
C. Ross – From NOWTORONTO.COM
