TORONTO – I am sure that most of you by now have probably heard enough about COVID 19 and at this point in time just cannot wait until these last 2 years are just part of our history. But maybe just maybe we should reflect on what has transpired in the last 18-20 months with a slightly different perspective. 

This upcoming week the Ontario government plans to lift the capacity restrictions on Bars and Restaurants etc. and for most of us that may signal that we are almost back to normal. That line of thinking would have also applied to me as well had it not been for the fact about 7 days ago I contracted what most people would have referred to in the so called “Pre COVID 19” days as just a regular old fashioned flu.

I have heard many people through the social media space that we are making too much of a deal out of COVID 19 and that it is just the Government using it to put controls on us and or that it is the Global Pharmaceutical Industry using it as an opportunity for profits. I would certainly agree that in part some of that may be true and I would also suggest that certainly every Government on this planet could have and would have handled it differently had the World Health Organization (WHO) been better prepared for a Global Pandemic. On the other hand, we still need to analyze what has happened if no other reason than just simply being better prepared in the future.

Therefore, let me take the time for not only those who are suspicious that this is some conspiracy all motivated by profits but also for everyone that is vaccine compliant. Therefore, let me to try to shift our thinking slightly about this recent strain of Coronavirus that we call COVID 19 by describing to you the difference based only on my own personal experience and deductions.

In January of 2020 I contracted a flu that I picked up either in Winnipeg while visiting a hospitalized relative or while in flight. By January 2nd 2020, after coming back to Toronto I became very ill with what I thought was the usual annual flu. But this flu was unlike any other flu I had had in the past. To this day I have not forgotten the experience. Instead of starting to decrease in virulence after 1 week it was progressing in virulence and by the 2nd week and at the point that I felt that I could not breath I took myself to emergency. To make my story short and luckily for me“ it did not kill me“ but the virus did not leave my body for at least 4 weeks and I had continued symptoms, for at least 2 months.

You may at this point of my story want to say “so tell me something I have not heard”. But I wanted to share this personal comparison since I am not only a Scientist but also a Health Professional. Just recently, I once again have contracted the flu. I am double vaccinated and I know for a fact that it is not COVID 19. Although this strain of flu is still quite debilitating; it is very different in virulence

Although I am not pro forced treatments for any disease I do believe that if you are over 50 and have a medical condition that already affects your oxygen carrying capacity then the Vaccine may be preventative in those people at high risk of a deadly outcome. Note that I ‘have not said at high risk of contracting the virus but at high risk of a deadly outcome.

In my opinion as a Scientist who loves to theorize; let me just speculate that forced continued vaccination for all age groups may be tinkering with the viral strains that may evolve in the future. We will continue this speculation and theory in my next article.

Carmella Angus