Bioethics Matters: Decision-Making in Light of COVID-19
Preamble During this period of abundant information and social distancing for the common good, CCBI…
CCBI Resources for Covid-19 – November 20, 2020
November 20, 2020
Dear Friends of CCBI,
Last week I began the Bulletin with “Attention!” This week that warning should be shouted from the rooftops long before Santa arrives (IF Santa arrives): “ATTENTION!!” There could not be a sterner warning than Dr Tam’s projection: “The year could end with more than 20,000 cases per day — double the number that Ottawa says would put the health system at risk. If Canadians let loose with revelry for the holidays over the next month and increase their contacts, that number could grow to 60,000.”
Provinces are reacting on this and today (Friday) the Ontario government has announced a lockdown for Toronto and Peel, as of midnight, Monday, November 23. Apart from that, we already KNOW the basic rules and we know what we have to do. It will be hard on all of us as Advent and Christmas approach, and we need to be on the look-out in helping others.
Last week we also mentioned the lack of a national strategy, and it is still lacking, even as Parliament moves ahead with Bill C-7. Memo to Parliament: Please use parliamentary time to help the country solve COVID-19 issues! Instead, hearings are being heard concerning legislation to pave the way towards approved assisted death for people whose death is not even foreseeable, or who have a disability and are in need of treatment and care. Some will turn to medically-approved death rather than have to wait, suffering, for necessary care that is not being provided, or not soon enough. This legislation raises many concerns, even more so during a crisis like the COVID-19 pandemic where so many people are vulnerable, for example in our long-term care homes.
There were great hopes that conditions in those homes had vastly improved, but, sadly, this is not the case, despite federal and provincial assurances. Dr Samir Sinha is dedicated to working diligently with seniors and is a strong advocate for drastic improvements in long term cares homes. He is candid and forthright in a CBC interview in his comments about government failure, indicating that lack of reform makes it look as though residents in long term care homes are expendable. According to the interview, some are still not using protective equipment properly!
An Editorial in The Globe and Mail is more positive about our ongoing challenges. In the spirit of Catholic social teaching on the common good, which is particularly relevant right now, it urges us to ‘put our neighbours first.’ In a related Tweet a few days ago I mentioned an old ‘chestnut’ that many Catholics espouse: JOY! Jesus first, Others second, You (still important, but last!) It’s a positive maxim that plays on our usual approach to the Joy of Christmas.
So, I began with a warning and that, unfortunately, is the forecast for the immediate future. But there’s good news: vaccines are coming! Two of the front runners, Pfizer and Moderna, are what our Church calls ‘ethical vaccines,’ i.e., made without using human fetal or embryonic components. We will follow up with more details as matters proceed, since they have not cleared every hurdle for human use yet. So far, so good! We have added a podcast by a former Dean of Harvard Medical School discussing some implications of vaccines in an interview with Jonathan Kay. It’s in lay-people terminology, and relevant for those of us who want to understand a little more about vaccine components and how they work.
Our Lady, Health of the Sick, pray for us!
We pray that the progress of robotics and artificial intelligence may always serve humankind! (Pope Francis’ Intention for the month of November)
Moira and Bambi.
The Globe and Mail
COVID-19 Cases risk of increase
Morning Update: Canada at risk of quadrupling of COVID-19 cases by end of December
Neighbours first
If Canadians put their neighbours first, we can bend the curve
In a cautionary tale about the way COVID-19 can proliferate when people let down their guard, a new study shows how a wedding held in rural Maine on Aug. 7 turned into a superspreader event that…
CBC
Lockdown criteria
New figures show the second wave could be hitting long-term care homes
Quillette
Podcast: Vaccines