My home state of New South Wales recorded 141 new cases of COVID yesterday. The case fatality rate in NSW hasn’t been updated for Delta, which is killing anybody, but the virus remains a grave threat for elderly Australian males with pre-existing chronic conditions, in particular.
For the rest of us, the odds are about 2.7%
The NSW outbreak has been declared a “national emergency” and our Prime Minister is shoving women and children aside as he flees for the life-rafts. More specifically, he’s thrown ATAGI (Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation) under the bus, claiming he’s been urging them to ‘change their stance’ on AstraZeneca for, like, forever.
No doubt the PM is on bended knee at The Lodge as we speak, praying for divine intervention, but in the absence of a miracle we may have to rely on science. I know that leaves a foul taste in the mouths of our godluvin’ PM and the Trumpian fucktards calling for lockdowns to end.
Lucky nobody did anything stupid, like ‘defund the police’, am I right?
Ending lockdown won’t happen until everybody under 30 is vaccinated — then the daily litany of dead old people won’t even make the news. That’s the price many are happy to pay, just to mass in cafes moaning theatrically about how awful COVID was for the under-20’s.
All those gruelling TikTok dance-battles.
Delta doesn’t discriminate. Everybody is at risk, yet it’s remains blindlingly obvious that vaccination stops people dying. It’s the route to the fabled herd immunity. But while vax may be the tip of the spear in our battle against COVID, it doesn’t innoculate society against stupidity.
The ‘Freedom’ protesters are below contempt. Our Health Minister described them as “very silly” — the Police Minister: “What we saw today was 3,500 very selfish boofheads — people that thought the law didn’t apply to them.” The premier herself was more robust: the protesters were ‘disgusting‘ and ‘should be ashamed of themselves‘.
That’s right lady, she’s talking to you.
The Deputy Commissioner of Police has announced that 510 infringements were issued, 57 arrested, with many more to come. Shades of the Capitol riot, with every resource thrown into identifying and prosecuting the unlawful assemblers.
So, what next?
Even in liberal democracies you aren’t ‘free’ to act in a way that endangers others — refusing to vaccinate, then participating in an unlawful super-spreader event. The government has a duty to protect its citizens, despite the minority so dumb they believe the vax contains a microchip that will be used to mind-control them.
If only it were true!
Unfortunately, these wrong-headed fools will remain free-willed. But perhaps that’s the answer — putting limits on what is free — by making proof of vaccination a legal requirement for access to anything.
Entry to sporting events, using public transport, patronising restaurants and cafes, supermarkets, anywhere people congregate. No international or interstate travel allowed. No visas or work permits issued. No admission to public hospitals. No enrolment in public schools.
And if they fail to accept the free vaccine now, they can pay for it themselves later.
Two thousand Ahmeds and trout-pouting, cat-eyed Amiras were in the crowd yesterday. Plenty of right-wing, true-blue Aussie boofheads too. Watch them line up meekly for the vax when they realises they’ll never again be permitted to step inside Belmore Stadium to watch the Bulldogs get their asses handed back to them.
In the interim, to prevent more super-spreader events, if “community leaders” can’t control their people then I know who can. For all their simpering, our politicians know it too. Our elected representatives are entitled — obliged even — to demand swift, corrective action. Retributive action, even.
Because the time for appeasing halfwits is over.
Let’s remind them who owns this town.
