vaccination

Thursday January 28, 2021

 

January 28, 2021

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday January 28, 2021

Canadian politicians struggle to come to grips with the global vaccine race

The global scramble to vaccinate the human race against COVID-19 is bigger than Canadian politics. But every Canadian politician no doubt understands the political and human importance of this country seeming to do well in this multinational competition. 

January 7, 2021

The result this week is anxiety and a rush to assign blame that has failed to produce easy answers to the central question of what, if anything, Canadian officials could be doing to procure more of what’s arguably the most precious commodity on Earth.

But this consternation among Canadian politicians might be obscuring a bigger question for the world: Is this really the best way to go about vaccinating 7.6 billion people against a common threat? 

The latest spasm of concern about Canada’s vaccine supply can be traced to a production facility in Puurs, Belgium, where Pfizer has been manufacturing one of the two approved vaccines for use in Canada. Pfizer has decided to retool that facility so that it can increase production. In the short-term, that means fewer doses will be available.

In response to Pfizer’s change of plans, Ontario Premier Doug Ford quickly declared that, if he were prime minister, he’d be on the phone to Pfizer’s top executive demanding the previously scheduled shipments. “I’d be up that guy’s ying-yang so far with a firecracker he wouldn’t know what hit him,” Ford said.

December 1, 2020

It stands to reason that if getting a plentiful supply of the Pfizer vaccine was as easy as getting up Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla’s ying-yang with a firecracker, nearly every leader on the planet would be doing so. But Ford got a chance to test his theory — a day later he spoke with the president of Pfizer Canada. If a firecracker was lit during that conversation, it has so far failed to change Pfizer’s plans.

In Ottawa, the consternation has been only slightly less colourful, culminating in an “emergency debate” in the House of Commons on Tuesday. 

The Conservatives argue that an ill-fated partnership between the National Research Council and China’s CanSino Biologics distracted Justin Trudeau’s government from pursuing better options — but Public Services Minister Anita Anand told the Canadian Press in December that Canada was the fourth country in the world to sign a contract with Pfizer and the first to sign with Moderna, the other major supplier of an approved vaccine. 

The New Democrats argue that the federal government should have negotiated for the right to domestically produce the currently approved vaccines — but that presumably depends in large part on the willingness of companies like Moderna and Pfizer to do so. 

November 21, 2020

A real effort to ensure Canada had domestic capacity to produce a pandemic vaccine likely would have had to have been implemented years ago.

In the meantime, even the definition of success will be up for debate.

On Monday, for instance, Conservative MP Pierre Paul-Hus complained that Canada was not doing as well as the Seychelles, which had delivered at least a first dose to 20.22 per cent of its population through January 25. By comparison, Canada’s rate of vaccination was 2.23 per cent.

But the tiny island nation has a population of 98,000 people (roughly the equivalent of Red Deer, Alta). In absolute terms, the number of people who had received a dose in the Seychelles was 19,889. Canada, meanwhile, had administered doses to 839,949 people.

On Tuesday, Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland countered that Canada was ahead of Germany, France, Japan, Australia and New Zealand. But three of those countries — Japan, Australia and New Zealand — haven’t yet begun their vaccination programs. And in two of those countries — Australia and New Zealand — COVID-19 is almost non-existent. (CBC)

 “Graeme MacKay (Hamilton Spectator) is hardly the only cartoonist decrying the uneven distribution of covid vaccines, but I like the ways he moderates the added unfairness for the Third World by noting that, even in First World nations, it’s not going all that well.”

January 28, 2021

This version with a wild error showing a 71 billion person figure in the number board went for more than a day until someone noticed and shared concern for confusion. My apologies for the mistake – Graeme MacKay 

Thursday April 11, 2019

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday April 11, 2019

Ontario must take steps to hit vaccination targets and debunk measles myths

We’re losing the fight against measles. In this day and age, that’s an amazing statement. Three years ago we talked about them being almost eradicated. Now we’re losing the battle.

April 11, 2019

This week Ottawa reported measles cases. There have been outbreaks in British Columbia, in several U.S. states and in Europe. In New York City, a health emergency has been declared. 

And the worst part is that we know exactly why. A relatively small group of so-called anti-vaxxers is making effective use of — what else — social media to spread misinformation, which is leading to more and more parents not getting their kids vaccinated, and to more adults choosing not to be revaccinated.

A recent report from the Toronto Star shows that nearly 30 per cent of seven-year-old students in the Greater Toronto Area aren’t getting their shots. A vaccination rate of 90 to 95 per cent is needed to afford herd immunity, which is required to prevent outbreaks. Ontario is very far from that target. 

December 22, 2016

Actions are being taken. The Ontario Medical Association has launched a public awareness campaign, using traditional and non-traditional media, specifically taking at aim of some of the most common myths about vaccines. 

Myths that suggest measles and similar diseases aren’t really that dangerous. The fact is that complications happen in about 10 per cent of cases. For every 1,000 cases, one or two victims will die. Then there’s the widely-debunked claim that the measles vaccine causes autism. It doesn’t. There is no scientific evidence to support that claim. Large studies around the world have shown there is no link, and yet the life-threatening myth survives.

April 29, 2016

Or this: The idea that nosodes are a substitute for vaccination. Nosodes, also called homeopathic vaccines, are not a substitute for real vaccines. There is no scientific evidence to show they prevent infectious diseases. Nosodes are made from bacteria, viruses, tissue or other material from someone with a particular disease. They are so diluted there are no active ingredients left by the time they are administered.

Or this one: Breastfeeding protects babies from infection. While it offers some protection against certain types of infections, the protection is incomplete. Breastfeeding is not a substitute for vaccination.

February 6, 2015

And finally, this: We shouldn’t put foreign substances like vaccines into our bodies. It’s hard to believe anyone would fall for this, but they do. The germs that cause communicable diseases like measles are natural, but that doesn’t make them good. Plants and berries are natural things, but they yield some of the most poisonous substances. Vaccines, on the other hand, are made from natural sources, some from safely-altered germs. They stimulate our immune system in the same way the disease would, but without making us sick.

At this point, all the good work being done to educate the public isn’t stopping the new spread of measles. It may be time for tougher medicine.

April 30, 2009

There are two legal exemptions for not vaccinating kids. One is a medical exemption, which obviously must remain available. Another is non-medical exemptions, where parents must sign an affidavit saying vaccines conflict with their “sincerely held convictions.”

U.S. states like California, Mississippi and West Virginia have ended non-medical exemptions. And their vaccination rates have dramatically increased. Perhaps it’s time Ontario and other Canadian provinces did the same thing. (Source: Hamilton Spectator Editorial) 

Measles, disease, virus, vaccination, herd, immunization, vaccine, military

Friday, February 6, 2015

Friday, February 6, 2015By Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Friday, February 6, 2015

Niagara’s first case of the measles in nearly 20 years is not a risk to Hamiltonians.

“There is no Hamilton exposure,” said Carrie Beatty, spokesperson for Niagara Region Public Health.
The adult woman with the measles had travelled to Toronto on a couple of occasions recently but she didn’t take public transit.
Ontario public health officials are investigating whether there is a link between the case in Niagara and four in Toronto involving two children and two adults.
The highly contagious disease caused by a virus is circulating in Niagara and all residents are urged to get their vaccinations up to date.
Vaccines give nearly 100 per cent protection from the disease that is still one of the leading causes of death globally among young children.
Niagara’s public health department is warning anyone who was in unit C at Greater Niagara General Hospital on Portage Road in Niagara Falls that they were exposed to measles Sunday Feb. 1 at 3 p.m. to Monday Feb. 2 at noon.
Others may have been exposed at the MacBain Community Centre on Montrose Road in Niagara Falls on Monday, Jan. 26 from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. and Tuesday, Jan. 27 from 5 p.m. to 11 p.m.
And at Walmart on Oakwood Drive in Niagara Falls, including the walk-in clinic inside on Tuesday, Jan 27 from 9 p.m. to 11:30 p.m. and the Thursday, Jan 29 from 1 pm to 4 pm.
Symptoms start out as a cough, runny nose, red and watery eyes and fever. A rash starts on the face after about four days and moves down the body. White spots might also appear in the mouth.
Hamilton had an outbreak a year ago with two cases in March 2014 linked to a third case elsewhere in Ontario. (Source: Hamilton Spectator)

October 29, 2009

L E T T E R S

Todays cartoon seems to portray the Spectator as thinking that Vaccinating against H1N1 is comparable to putting tin foil hats on . HMMM . Well if the Paper we trust thinks its just as likely that Aliens are beaming things into our heads as getting H1N1 you,ve convinced me NOT to get the shot . Thanks I was on the fence but youre right.

M.Doyle — Hamilton

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Graeme MacKay should be congratulated on this brilliant cartoon.
I suspect those who shun the vital H1N1 flu shot are the same people who believe in the Yeti, flying saucers and the continued existence of Elvis.

H. Painter — Hamilton