It is becoming more apparent by the day that there is no coherent national strategy for either acquisition or distribution of COVID-19 vaccines.
We hear that Israel has vaccinated more than 1.5 million of its residents already. To date, fewer than 250,000 Canadians have been treated.
Why so? It seems Israel was prepared to pay whatever it took to gain sufficient supplies, while Canada offered only a “fair market price.”
In any case, while we were originally told every Canadian who wanted a vaccine shot would receive one by September at the latest, now we hear that may not happen.
Federal procurement minister Anita Anand says there aren’t sufficient supplies of the vaccines approved so far to meet that deadline.
Next we heard Anand saying that Canada isn’t going to follow Britain’s example. The U.K. has delayed a second dose of the vaccines in order to cover more of the population with a first shot (most COVID-19 vaccines developed so far require two shots). Presumably she was relying on federal guidelines that indicate Pfizer shots should be spaced out by 21 to 28 days, and the Moderna vaccine by 28 days.
But before giving that assurance, perhaps Anand should have talked with B.C.’s provincial health officer, Dr. Bonnie Henry. Henry has announced that B.C. will delay second doses of the vaccines up to 35 days.
Her reasoning is the opposite of Anand’s. Henry believes it’s better to cover a larger percentage of the population with a less effective treatment than a smaller percentage with a more effective treatment.
I’m in no position to say who’s right, although the Doctors of B.C. organization calls Henry’s stance “extremely alarming, unethical, and a violation of the rights to informed consent.” The nursing community is also concerned.
But the real question is: Why are we being subjected to mixed signals on such a critical matter? Where is the co-ordination?
And while we’re at it, why is a procurement minister giving medical advice?
Indeed, where is Dr. Theresa Tam on these matters? She’s the chief public health officer of Canada, and has been the lead spokesperson on COVID-19 so far.
Yet when the government announced that the Moderna vaccine had been approved, it was Dr. Supriya Sharma, the chief medical adviser at Health Canada, who took the lead.
Isn’t that Tam’s job? Or Anand’s? Who’s on first?
So here is where things stand. We have at least three federal officials with authority to give guidance on these issues, and probably more behind the scenes.
Then there are 10 provincial health officers, each going his or her own way on how and when to roll out the vaccine.
Finally, we have Ottawa and the provinces at each others’ throats, with the feds saying the provinces aren’t distributing their shares of vaccines in a timely manner, and the provinces saying they’re being undersupplied.
This nonsense needs to stop. No grieving parents should have to tell their children that Granny died because our politicians couldn’t get their act together.
Cannot our political leaders understand that, by speaking with multiple voices, often contradicting one another, sometimes contradicting their own earlier statements, the vital treasure of public confidence is being squandered?
At such a time, the country needs to speak with one voice and employ one rollout strategy. Now.
