2022 has now begun and here we are with the LNP in government for the past 8 years, and a worldwide pandemic with Covid-19, which has mutated several times and we are currently dealing with strains called Delta and Omicron.

Most people are getting on with getting vaccinated with a Covid-19 vaccine and we all need to have 2 doses, plus a booster shot 4-6 months later.

But now it’s become necessary for everyone to hurry up and get their boosters, as it’s running rampant in the eastern states, with more than 300,000 people with covid.

It goes without saying that mistakes have been made in the handling of the pandemic in Australia. This government were too slow with the procurement of vaccines, too slow with an efficient and coordinated rolling out of vaccines, too slow on going into lockdown, especially NSW and there’s always been an air of, we’ve got to keep things open, a rush to get back to the way things were pre-covid, fooling the people and themselves that we can live with the virus.

Well, we can’t live with the virus, because it makes everyone sick, even when vaccinated and when everyone is sick, well then there’s no workforce at all. In any case, I don’t think anything is ever going to be like pre-covid after this pandemic is over.

NSW, changed leaders recently, to Dominic Perrottet who was their treasurer. Well, he wanted us to ‘live with it’ and now the number of people infected has skyrocketed.

The below screenshot is the daily numbers for Sunday, 9 January 2022 as shown on the ABC daily blog.

The rollout of the vaccines has been a bungled mess, the messaging has been confusing and the coordinating of vaccine distribution has delayed a steady stream of vaccinations so that people are waiting for their vaccines and everywhere is booked out weeks in advance.

To date, according to the Australian Government Department of Health website ‘92% of people, 16 years and over are now double vaccinated’ but there is only about 17% of people who have had more than 2 vaccines, which I surmise means their booster shot.

We are nowhere near where we should be before all borders should open, but wait, it’s too late for that. The number of people diagnosed with Covid this past week has been eye-boggling.

Health experts knew that the vaccines would wane after some time, hence the need to get booster shots, so when so little of the population are yet to have their 3rd vaccine, and all children under 12 yet to have their first, why on earth would they be harping on about opening borders and easing restrictions, and going back to normal, whatever that is.

We can’t get back to completely normal like pre-covid. Not until the whole population is vaccinated a 3rd time or even a 4th time, and ideally getting infections down to a minimum in our communities.

It was known that opening up would lead to high infections. This article at the University of Sydney speaks about modelling done by the Centre for Complex Systems researchers saying that there could be as many as 40,000 infections per day if restrictions were fully lifted.

“If restrictions are fully lifted when 80 percent of adults are vaccinated, infections across Australia may rapidly grow to 40,000 per day and exceed half a million cases in the month following the lift according to this latest modelling.”

Well, it seems these predictions were accurate. Look at what’s happening in the Eastern States.

The first known cases of Omicron was in two returned travellers in late November who were asymptomatic.

By the 12th of December, a person infected with Omicron is admitted into hospital, with another 10 cases detected. This is where some of these people were linked to a boat party and attended the Argyle House nightclub.

From this date forward the number of infections started to climb, which you can see here, which shows the daily number of infections. It’s now at this point they should’ve gone into a hard lockdown for 5 to 7 days and got a hold of the number of infected people in the community identified.

I can tell you now the number of infections would have slowed, the infected would have been out of the community, and then tentative easing of restrictions would have allowed much to get back to usual.

I believe the whole east coast should be going into lockdown right now because it’s evident that even triple vaccinated can catch Covid and then be required to isolate, so the rhetoric about getting out there and getting vaccinated is all good and well…yes it will help fight infection but it won’t stop one from catching it and having to isolate until better.

It’s already disrupted the distribution centres for Woolworths and Coles, shelves are empty, delivery drivers are sick or having to isolate. The more they just let it go in the community the more the infection will spread. Even non-infected people going to work are at risk of catching Covid. Sooner or later no one will be able to go to their place of work.

Scott Morrison and Dominic Perrottet have a lot to answer for as they have neglected to protect Australians. This is all their fault. They let it loose instead of stomping on it in the beginning and relying too much on everyone getting their vaccines and now thousands of people are infected.

This article was originally published on A Written Word.