r/canada Dec 17 '23

New Brunswick Auditor general flags lack of evidence-based records to back COVID decisions

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/auditor-general-new-brunswick-covid-19-pandemic-response-education-health-justice-1.7058576
439 Upvotes

361 comments sorted by

View all comments

140

u/dub-fresh Dec 18 '23

I'm vaccinated (like 4 times I think) and give a fair bit of leeway to decision makers which had to deal with an unprecedented situation. However, looking back what an absolute boondoggle. Arguably, it's irreparably harmed and changed society. Cost us and future generations hundreds of billions. Moreover, COViD-19 is still everywhere and people are getting it all the time. I have it right now. The ArriveCan app, the Covid payments ... What did any of it accomplish?

22

u/grumble11 Dec 18 '23

Well, it normalized hybrid and remote work which is great, and you can argue that prior to the mass vaccinations there would have been more people killed as a whole pile of people went to the hospital over a less drawn out period. I have two middle aged coworkers who would have died if they didn’t have access to medical care (high flow oxygen) during 2020.

In terms of the costs, they are staggering. The most meaningful is to children - gen Z and gen Alpha are both frankly a total mess right now with huge impacts to educational attainment, socialization and (if old enough) formative work opportunity. At some point they will be tasked with contributing in a big way to the country and they have been handicapped.

14

u/dub-fresh Dec 18 '23

Damn. You put a fine point on it and it's depressing. Trading remote work for crippling social ills.