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28 Volume 73 Number 1
15 February 2021
Whether you realize it or not, you have almost certainly
had a coronavirus. Coronaviruses have been circulating
for decades if not centuries, and they’re often mild. The
common cold can be a coronavirus. The world isn’t go-
ing to eliminate coronaviruses — or this particular one,
known as SARS-CoV-2 — anytime soon.
Yet we don’t need to eliminate it for life to return to nor- David Archie Vroom,
mal. We instead need to downgrade it from a deadly September 12, 1941 – December 29, 2020
pandemic to a normal virus. Once that happens, adults ave was UNTD, HMCS
can go back to work, and children back to school. D Discovery, 1960 U-
Grandparents can nuzzle their grandchildren, and you 1188/O-75228. He was in
can meet your friends at a restaurant. Haida Division in 1961,
As Dr. Ashish Jha, the dean of the Brown University HMCS Cornwallis and was a
School of Public Health, told me this weekend: “I don’t Senior Cadet Captain in Mic-
actually care about infections. I care about hospitaliza- mac Division, HMCS Corn-
tions and deaths and long-term complications.” wallis. 1962. In 1963 he
The data completed navigation train-
ing on the West Coast. He
By those measures, all five of the vaccines — from Pfiz- graduated from UBC with a
er, Moderna, AstraZeneca, Novavax and Johnson & BSc (Honours Chemistry)in
Johnson — look extremely good. Of the roughly 75,000
people who have received one of the five in a research 1963 and went on to complete a PhD at UBC in
trial, not a single person has died from Covid, and only 1967. Dave completed post graduate studies in
a few people appear to have been hospitalized. None Amsterdam and spent his working career in Cali-
have remained hospitalized 28 days after receiving a fornia, living for many years in Palo Alto. Those of
shot. us who served with Dave will remember his quiet
To put that in perspective, it helps to think about what but capable leadership style. In a recent email
Covid has done so far to a representative group of exchange with Duncan McCrae the Term Lieuten-
75,000 American adults: It has killed roughly 150 of ant for Micmac Division in
them and sent several hundred more to the hospital. 1962 he commented as fol-
The vaccines reduce those numbers to zero and nearly lows: “David was a sterling
zero, based on the research trials. Cadet Captain It was a

Zero isn’t even the most relevant benchmark. A typical pleasure to have him as
U.S. flu season kills between five and 15 out of every part of Micmac, where he
75,000 adults and hospitalizes more than 100 of them. set a great example in lead-
ership and played a positive
I assume you would agree that any vaccine that trans-
forms Covid into something much milder than a typical role in partnership with
flu deserves to be called effective. But that is not the Roger Glassford. A Term
scientific definition. When you read that the Johnson & Lieutenant could not have
Johnson vaccine was 66 percent effective or that the asked for more.” Following
Novavax vaccine was 89 percent effective, those num- his commissioning as a Sub-
bers are referring to the prevention of all illness. They Lieutenant in 1963 he
count mild symptoms as a failure. served in HMCS Discovery
“In terms of the severe outcomes, which is what we re- retiring with the rank of Lieutenant in 1965. Many
ally care about, the news is fantastic,” Dr. Aaron Rich- of his former shipmates will have enjoyed recon-
terman, an infectious-disease specialist at the University necting with him in Newfoundland during the 75th
of Pennsylvania, said. UNTD Reunion in 2018. He passed away in San
Diego after a short illness.

The Dog Watch is published four times a year (February, May, September, November) by the Naval Association of British
Columbia. The opinions expressed are not necessarily those of NABC, NAC or the membership.
Editor: Robert W. White, 3468 Chesterfield Avenue, North Vancouver, BC, V7N 3N3, e-mail: rwhite42@gmail.com

Members are encouraged to submit articles, photographs or other materials that may be of
interest to the membership. The editor reserves the right to edit or not to publish any
material not considered appropriate. Submissions should be directed to the editor.
ISSN 1913-2379.

http://www.noabc.com/