Trudeau’s pharma flim-flam
Dose-delay edict may worsen with mixed vaccines
Canada’s provincial health-care systems are in crisis, the economy is locked down and the Liberal government’s dose-delay edict is putting lives at risk. And yet, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau talks about progress, about his big “portfolio of vaccines” and about how many millions of doses are on their way.
“I’m upset every time the media repeats the government’s claims about the number of vaccines that are planned or expected to arrive at the start of any given week, rather than reporting at the end of a given week on how many vaccines had actually been received,” said one health-care professional who asked to remain anonymous.
Here are the only pertinent facts: as of April 24, the United States has vaccinated 67 out of every 100 people — 41 per cent of the population have received one dose and 27 per cent have been fully vaccinated within the manufacturer-specified 21 or 28 days; Canada, on the other hand, has vaccinated 32 out of every 100 people — 29 per cent of the population have gotten one dose and a mere 2.7 per cent have been fully vaccinated because the Liberals have permitted four-month delays in giving second doses.
Canada may be the only developed nation in this “2.7 per cent fully vaccinated” category. Other countries in this category include Argentina, Guyana, Mongolia, Dominica, India, Colombia, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Lebanon, Bangladesh, Belarus and virtually the entire Third World. Canada even lags Mexico, which has fully vaccinated 4.2 per cent of its population.
This metric — the percentage of people who are fully vaccinated — is what counts, and Canada is the only country in the world that is officially denying people their vital second shots for four months.
By comparison, last week, U.S. authorities noted that eight per cent of their firstdose vaccine recipients hadn’t shown up for their second shots within the 21or 28-day windows. They are being contacted to get their second doses because evidence is mounting, they say, that delayed or skipped second doses beyond the approved time-frame makes those with only one dose susceptible to the variants.
It’s also unclear as to how long partial protection from a single dose will last, say experts. “I’m very worried, because you need that second dose,” said Dr. Paul Offit, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania and a member of the Food and Drug Administration’s vaccine advisory panel.
Advice like this doesn’t seem to faze the Canadian government, and now another irresponsible deviation is about to take place. Without any scientific evidence, Quebec is considering mixing vaccines, so there will be no guarantee that people will receive a second dose of the same product.
A CBC article on the move acknowledges that, “On the surface, this may sound like a gamble,” but says that, “Some vaccinologists suspect that getting a different type of COVID-19 vaccine for the second dose could stimulate immune cells to tackle variants of concern.”
It continues: “That appears to be the thinking of Quebec’s director of public health, Dr. Horacio Arruda, who said on Thursday that there are stories of people developing even stronger immunity to the novel coronavirus when doses are mixed.”
Notice the complete lack of evidence cited by the story: some vaccinologists “suspect” … there are “stories.” Quebec is, in other words, considering using its population as guinea pigs, based solely on the gut feeling of “some” experts and hearsay.
Among Trudeau’s long list of scandals, this is by far the biggest. And yet, the press and the opposition parties are failing to hold the Liberals to account. The public shouldn’t fall for Trudeau’s pharma flim-flam. His government’s incompetence is causing death and economic dysfunction.
The government needs to redouble its efforts to procure an adequate supply of vaccines, ensure they’re administered safely and seal off the borders to prevent new variants from being imported into the country.