Mask wearing is a necessary irritation

We are now in the second phase where the vaccines are in the arms of sensible people. Even with the ultra-infectious Omicron, vaccines remain our best defence, perhaps even more so.

But we are still in a period of changing attitudes. The ACT and NSW governments along with the Commonwealth are relying less on regulation and lockdown and more on people being sensible. The pandemic is beyond the control of contact tracers, particularly with Omicron, so good citizens need to do the right thing.

Mask wearing is mandatory in healthcare facilities, schools and on public transport - but it is not in other areas where people are close to each other, like supermarkets.

Some people may have imagined that the absence of compulsion means the science has changed. It hasn't. Masks remain a good way of lowering the chances of being infected by others, and of infected people infecting others.

Accordingly, they remain essential. Wise people carry them and put them on when they are close to others just as a matter of self-protection. Wise, community-spirited people do the same to think of others as well.

It seems odd that the people who are averse to masks are those shouting loudest against lockdowns.

Theirs is a wrong-headed view. We need masks and social distancing in order to lessen the need for lockdowns. Choose the minor inconvenience to put off the major one would be a more rational way of looking at it.

But masks and social distancing remain the second line of defence. Vaccines remain the primary barrier.

On Monday, Pfizer bookings for children aged five to 11 opened, and parents were encouraged to book their booster jabs at the same time.

About 46,000 children in the ACT are eligible to receive their first doses from January 10. This cohort is the last group to be vaccinated and they are crucial to containing the pandemic.

While there are substantial numbers of people who are unvaccinated (in the case of children, unvaccinated for unavoidable reasons), the virus has room to spread.

Parents should heed the urgings of the health authorities. Even though the risk of serious illness is lower for the young, vaccination remains the best thing to do - both for the vaccinated and for those they might meet.

Children may not get seriously ill themselves but their grandparents might.

We are learning that the seemingly endless struggle against the virus is a matter of balancing risks. It isn't only about the risk to the economy versus the risk to health. It is also about the ability to live as full a life as possible.

On Thursday, a person who turned out to have COVID-19 was at Palmerston District Primary School's graduation ceremony.

The result was isolation and testing for adults and pupils.

That disruption could have been avoided if the ceremony had never been held - but then students and parents would have been deprived of an important event in their lives.

It was right to hold that graduation. We have to take risks - but those risks should be minimised to a reasonable level. Masks minimise risk.