USA

Friday May 28, 2021

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Friday May 28, 2021

As world grows desperate for COVID vaccine, US sits on tens of millions of unused doses

Despite offers of lottery winnings, amusement park tickets and even cold hard cash, unvaccinated Americans are leaving tens of millions of unused doses for COVID-19 sitting on the shelves.

May 11, 2021

Federal officials told state governors that as of earlier this week up to 53 million doses were still waiting to be ordered by the states – a staggering amount that, depending upon the type of vaccine, would offer protection against the virus to some 25 million people.

That federal surplus is in addition to an unknown number of vaccine doses waiting for arms at vaccination sites and pharmacies in states like Wyoming, Idaho, Mississippi, Louisiana and Alabama that have the lowest vaccination rates.

The potential glut comes as the world’s poorest countries are still waiting on vaccines to protect their health care workers and elderly. Only 0.3% of vaccine supply is going to low-income countries.

“We are right now in possession of a supply that could be shared, that we’re worried about expiring,” Arkansas GOP Gov. Asa Hutchinson told the White House in phone call on Tuesday with other governors. Audio of the private call was obtained by ABC News.

The Biden administration insists that the number of wasted doses in the U.S. is extremely low and that the vast majority of supply is not at risk of expiring. But the idea of a growing vaccine surplus is a new dilemma for the White House, which took control when supply was scarce and the federal government still hadn’t purchased enough vaccine for every American. Now, with nearly 60 percent of eligible Americans having one shot, the pace of those shots has been cut in half in the past six weeks to 1.7 million a day.

April 28, 2021

Meanwhile, global outbreaks have prompted concerns of new mutations of the virus that could chip away at the effectiveness of vaccines and leave vaccinated Americans at risk.

“We are going to have this embarrassing accumulation of surplus,” said Stephen Morrison, director of the Global Health Policy Center at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

Morrison, who predicted as many as 30 percent of Americans will refuse the vaccine entirely, said the primary concern for the Biden team will be ensuring any U.S. recovery is “durable” before diverting supply.

“At the same time, we have this wildfire raging beyond our borders that they will have to address or else it will come back and bite us,” he said.

The Biden administration has pledged $4 billion to Covax, the global vaccine effort, and promised to donate 20 million doses of the vaccines currently available in the U.S. by the end of June – a fraction of the 800 million the U.S. says it is buying from Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson. The administration also plans to export 60 million doses of AstraZeneca, a vaccine used overseas but not cleared yet by U.S. regulators. (ABC News) 

 

Thursday May 20, 2021

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday May 20, 2021

Vaccination Patriotism

Ten thousand shots was the hope. The result was 10,470. That’s how many doses of COVID-19 vaccine were administered at an immunization clinic at the Thorncliffe Park Community Hub in Toronto on Sunday. Until well after dark, long lines snaked through the parking lot, where people were entertained by DJs before entering the cavernous site. By the end of the day, the clinic, run by more than 50 local community and health care organizations, set a record for the most shots administered at one location on a single day. That record-breaking day in Toronto is a reason why Canada is about to surpass the United States—likely on Thursday—when it comes to the percentage of population with first doses. Right now, Canada has given first doses to 44.7 per cent of its population. In the United States, it’s 47.3 per cent. 

March 31, 2021

First doses is an important metric, for not only do first doses slow the spread of COVID-19 within communities but they are “a sign of people’s willingness to get vaccinated,” says Trevor Tombe, an associate professor of economics at the University of Calgary who provides daily updates on Canada’s vaccine progress on his Twitter feed as well as his GitHub page. “You can’t get your second shot unless you’ve got your first. And so measuring how many people are willing to get their first shot tells us the state of demand for vaccines in Canada.” 

This week alone, Canada will receive 4.5 million doses of Pfizer and Moderna vaccine (Pfizer moved up next week’s delivery because of the Victoria Day long weekend). And that has allowed provinces to open the vaccine appointment spigot even wider: As of May 18, everyone aged 18 and older in Ontario can book a time to get their shot on the provincial system. 

March 4, 2021

This ramp-up in Canada’s vaccine rollout has been a long time coming. On March 1, vaccine deliveries were so small that Canada wasn’t on pace to reach 75 per cent of its population having first doses until Nov. 24, 2022. Then, vaccine supply accelerated in April and May. Now, at our current pace, Tombe’s model suggests that Canada should reach 75 per cent by June 19. In addition, 75 per cent of all eligible Canadians 12 and up could have second doses by the second week in August. 

Any comparison with the United States interests Canadians. On April 9, when Canada’s per capita rate of new cases surpassed that of the United States for the first time, there were rumblings about what went wrong—Canada’s third wave was intensifying while the United States was seeing a long-term drop in cases as its vaccination effort was yielding results. While Canada’s rate of new cases has improved from the 205 per million population on April 9, the U.S. has dropped even faster. As of May 16, Canada posted a seven-day average of 160 per million while the U.S. is at 100. 

March 13, 2021

But the United States is struggling with the concerning issue of vaccine hesitancy. A late-April poll showed that around a quarter of adults in the U.S. don’t want to get a shot. In Canada, only nine per cent say they won’t get the vaccine compared to 88 per cent who either will or have received a dose, according to a new Angus Reid poll, which bodes well for Canada achieving herd immunity. (Maclean’s)  

Meanwhile, The world has reached a situation of “vaccine apartheid”, World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Monday, and was no longer just at risk of that status. “The big problem is a lack of sharing. So the solution is more sharing,” he told a virtual Paris Peace Forum event. (Reuters) 

April 28, 2021

Also, An international humanitarian group is calling on the Canadian government to commit to sharing its COVID-19 vaccine supply, at a time when other low- and middle-income countries are falling behind on inoculation.

May 11, 2021

The medical non-profit group Doctors Without Borders is asking Ottawa to stop accepting vaccine supply from COVAX, the global pool procurement mechanism for COVID-19 vaccines. It recently announced that it’s short at least 140 million doses, in part because of the ongoing COVID-19 crisis in India. The World Health Organization, UNICEF and other international agencies have called on G7 countries to donate excess vaccine supplies. While countries like the United States and France have announced plans to donate millions of doses, Canada has yet to make such an announcement. In the meantime, it’s continuing to receive COVID-19 doses from COVAX, with 600,000 doses of AstraZeneca that arrived last week, and more expected by the end of June. (Yahoo News) 

 

Friday May 14, 2021

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Friday May 14, 2021

House Republicans oust a defiant Liz Cheney for her repudiation of Trump’s election lies

In a remarkable display of loyalty to Donald J. Trump, Republicans moved quickly to purge Representative Liz Cheney of Wyoming from House leadership on Wednesday, voting to oust their No. 3 for repudiating the former president’s election lies and holding him responsible for the deadly Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol.

February 26, 2021

The action, orchestrated by party leaders, came by voice vote during a raucous closed-door meeting on Capitol Hill that lasted just 15 minutes. Ms. Cheney made a defiant final speech rather than fight the ouster, warning that Republicans would follow Mr. Trump to their “destruction” by silencing dissent and refusing to reject the myth of a stolen election. She drew boos from her colleagues.

Ms. Cheney urged her colleagues not to “let the former president drag us backward,” according to a person familiar with the private comments. 

“I will do everything I can to ensure that the former president never again gets anywhere near the Oval Office,” Ms. Cheney told reporters afterward. 

February 4, 2021

Republican leaders, who portrayed Ms. Cheney’s removal as a way to unify the party, declined to allow members to register a position on it. When Representative Tom Reed of New York, a moderate who has announced his retirement from Congress, rose to ask whether a recorded vote was allowed, he was told no. Mr. McCarthy had told his colleagues that a voice vote was important to show “unity,” and that it was time to “move forward” and look toward winning back the House, according to a person familiar with the remarks.

When the time came, the ayes loudly drowned out the noes. The ouster was so swift that some Republicans were still trickling in to take their seats when Ms. Cheney strode up the center aisle to make her way to a bank of microphones and reporters waiting outside.

January 8, 2021

The action came the day after Ms. Cheney had delivered a broadside on the House floor against Mr. Trump and the party leaders working to oust her, accusing them of being complicit in undermining the democratic system by repeating his false claims that the 2020 election results were fraudulent. 

“Remaining silent and ignoring the lie emboldens the liar,” she said. 

Representative Jim Jordan, Republican of Ohio, who helped lead the charge against Ms. Cheney, said his case boiled down to a simple idea: “Can’t have a conference chair who recites Democrat talking points.”

“It’s time to focus on stopping the Democrats and save the country,” he said.

Mr. Trump weighed in Wednesday morning with multiple statements attacking Ms. Cheney and cheering her removal, including one calling her “a poor leader, a major Democrat talking point, a warmonger, and a person with absolutely no personality or heart.” (New York Times) 

 

Saturday May 8, 2021

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Saturday May 8, 2021

What’s really behind Ontario’s anti-lockdown groups that stand up for small businesses

The websites and social media accounts of prominent COVID-19 anti-lockdown groups in Ontario will offer visitors a similar experience: powerful messages, heartfelt testimonials and a sense of solidarity.

April 8, 2021

Many of these groups position themselves as allies to small businesses that are struggling to stay afloat amid the lockdowns imposed by the Ontario government.

But in addition to protesting government-imposed lockdowns, these groups tend to have a general “flavour to anti-government and anti-public health messages,” which can be dangerous, University of Toronto professor Roy Gillis said. Gillis leads a research team studying misinformation related to COVID-19.

Gillis said, often, anti-lockdown groups will have hidden political agendas they are trying to accomplish and will use information that may contain “a kernel of truth” to play into people’s fears and beliefs and convince them that government groups and public health officials are trying to limit their rights and control them. 

“Particularly in pandemic situations when there’s a lot of fear, when there’s a lot of mistrust, when people are looking for someone to blame, to hold somebody accountable, these groups, these beliefs become easy targets,” Gillis added.

The Line Canada, is one example of many Canada-wide groups that protest the lockdown in Ontario. Despite The Line’s insistence that it is not affiliated with the anti-vaccine or antimask movements, the group’s social media accounts regularly share these types of messages. 

August 7, 2020

In one recent post to Twitter, the group implies that vaccines — not the virus — is what is causing increases in COVID-19 cases and deaths.

The post refers to a BBC article about Chile’s COVID-19 case numbers rising, despite the country’s successful vaccine rollout plan. The story’s sources state a number of likely causes, including SARS-CoV-2 variants and health authorities’ decision to loosen restrictions too early. 

There is no mention in the article that the vaccine is responsible for cases or deaths. As stated by Health Canada, “the vaccines cannot give you COVID-19 because they don’t contain the virus that causes it.”

Anatoliy Gruzd, the director of research at Ryerson Social Media Lab, who is also leading a COVID-19 Misinformation Rapid Response Project, said another factor that contributes to people’s likeliness to believe misinformation is uncertainty created by government officials on certain topics. 

He cited the example of medical experts and government officials being initially skeptical about mask wearing, prior to deeming it effective and eventually mandating it.

As a result, “any new messages on that topic will be looked at with some suspicion by certain groups who generally do not trust government guidelines anyway.”

July 18, 2020

This suspicion is demonstrated in antimask content posted by Action4Canada, another group that protests COVID-19 measures in Ontario and across Canada.

In an email statement, Action4Canada’s founder Tanya Gaw said, “we provide evidence and fact-based material from experts around the world.”

On the group’s page about masks, the group posts a quote and link from the CDC that connects to a study that used data from 1946 to July 27, 2018 to conclude that researchers “found no significant reduction in influenza transmission with the use of face masks.”

This study was not related to COVID-19.

More recent reports from CDC, which are not included on Action4Canada’s website, back the use of face masks in preventing the spread of COVID-19.

Gruzd said though it may appear that groups protesting government measures and lockdowns are backed by many people, they are rather supported by a small but vocal minority of like-minded people. (Brampton Guardian) 

 

Friday April 30, 2021

April 30, 2021

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Friday April 30, 2021

Cabinet’s ability to award Buy American exemptions ‘strenuously limited,’ Biden says

President Joe Biden set some Canadian pulses racing again Wednesday with more tough Buy American talk, telling Congress he has “strenuously limited” cabinet members from granting exemptions to the 88-year-old protectionist doctrine. 

February 23, 2021

In the same breath, however, the speech marking Biden’s first 100 days as commander-in-chief offered a measure of comfort by suggesting Buy American would not offend the terms of trade deals like the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement. 

“American tax dollars are going to be used to buy American products, made in America, to create American jobs. That’s the way it’s supposed to be, and it will be in this administration,” Biden declared. 

The notion of keeping U.S. government spending on American soil, a philosophy that dates back to 1933, will be the “one principle” guiding the $2.2-trillion infrastructure package dubbed the American Jobs Plan, he added. 

“I might note, parenthetically, that does not violate any trade agreement. It’s been the law since the ’30s,” Biden said through sustained applause in the House chamber, where COVID-19 allowed only a relative handful of lawmakers to attend. 

September 17, 2020

“I’ve made it clear to all my cabinet people: their ability to give exemptions has been strenuously limited. It will be American products.”

Much of what Biden said on the subject, including mention of trade agreements and cabinet members, did not appear in the prepared version of his remarks distributed to reporters before the speech. 

And it offered little solace or clarity for Canadian stakeholders still smarting from the punishing steel and aluminum tariffs imposed by Biden’s stridently protectionist predecessor, Donald Trump. 

“Those policies continue to concern us — ‘Made in America’ failed to embrace the integrated nature that we have in the steel business,” said Catherine Cobden, head of the Canadian Steel Producers Association. 

“Protectionism between neighbours and allies hurts everyone. We’re really hopeful that that’s not the way this plays out.”

The picture is likely to become more clear by midsummer, when an internal review of the existing rules — including how domestic content is defined and whether information and communication technology should be covered — is due. (Canadian Press)