'We can't just live a normal life': end of mask mandates challenging for immunocompromised people

Most remaining mask mandates have been dropped in Ontario, but returning to "normal" life remains a challenge for immunocompromised people, and their loved ones.

"We can't just live a normal life," said Megan Hillier, who's four-year-old son Carson is immunocompromised. "This is still a 2020 year for us, living in that kind of reality."

"We don't just get to go out to ... restaurants, and go to the mall, and have that kind of normalcy that everyone is looking for right now," she said. "Everyone's really tired of all the restrictions and COVID and the pandemic. But for us, it's still very real in our house"

Carson was diagnosed with posterior urethral valves, and received a kidney transplant in January. Now, he's taking anti-rejection medication, which has compromised his immune system, Hillier said.

And the lifting of COVID-19 restrictions makes Hillier and her family uneasy.

'Taking steps backward'

"It kind of feels like the world has moved forward and forgotten about the pandemic, and we're almost taking steps backwards for our family," she said. "A month ago, we felt comfortable being able to go out for dinner as a family, knowing that everyone was vaccinated in the building, knowing that masks were still needed to go out."

"Now we're not going to be able to do those types of things ... not knowing who's vaccinated, and not knowing that people are going to be wearing masks," Hillier said. "For us, it's always going to have to be something we're going to have to do, but we can only do so much."

"And wearing a mask for us is only half the problem. We need everybody else to wear the mask, too, in order to keep [Carson] as safe as possible."

High anxiety

Lucie Podrouzkova, a registered practical nurse who works at a specialist clinic in Windsor, said many of the clinic's patients have severe asthma.

"I know that they've been struggling a lot throughout this time," she said. "We have an infusion clinic here specifically for asthma patients. The worst of the worst we get, and I know a lot of them have been definitely scared."

"They're afraid of catching COVID," Podrouzkova said. "They've lived in fear. They're huge on anxiety now."

Podrouzkova said there were some clinic patients who did catch COVID-19, and passed away.

"I know that doesn't help with the anxiety," she said. "There's a lot of them who haven't even left their house in the last two years."

Her suggestion is that people continue to wear masks, even if they aren't immunocompromised, as masks provide the best protection when everyone involved in an interaction is wearing one.

Christine Duncan-Wilson, a board chair with the Canadian Immunodeficiencies Patient Organization (CIPO), said she's been dealing with her illness, common variable immune deficiency, for 30 years.

The illness essentially means Duncan-Wilson's body can't make antibodies. Instead, she receives injections of plasma with antibodies in it twice a week.

"Nobody likes to have mandates, but the mask mandate has been invaluable to helping us be able to avoid getting contact with COVID," she said. "I've done really well until now, because the population still respects that.

"I understand certainly that everybody's tired and we're tired, too," Duncan-Wilson said. "But we still have to look after ourselves."

Still at risk

Duncan-Wilson said she doesn't think immunocompromised individuals were taken into account when the province dropped its mask mandates.

"The immunocompromised population in general is fairly large when you figure people have comorbidities that make them more susceptible to being infected," Duncan-Wilson said. "There's quite a lot of us, but not more than there are people who have healthy immune systems."

"We're still at risk."

Duncan-Wilson said CIPO, which has more than 900,000 members across Canada, would like to see the mandates stay in place a little longer.

 "We're not sure it's quite time to give them up yet."

"Certainly, precautions of social distancing and hand-washing, we shouldn't give up," Duncan-Wilson said. "I understand the masks are a big deal for people, but it is a layer of protection that that does look after that vulnerable population."