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 sa国际传媒 offered only a 鈥渇air market price.鈥�
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鈥檛 sufficient supplies of the vaccines approved so far to meet that deadline.
Next we heard Anand saying that sa国际传媒 isn鈥檛 going to follow Britain鈥檚 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 sa国际传媒鈥檚 provincial health officer, Dr. Bonnie Henry. Henry has announced that sa国际传媒 will delay second doses of the vaccines up to 35 days.
Her reasoning is the opposite of Anand鈥檚. Henry believes it鈥檚 better to cover a larger percentage of the population with a less effective treatment than a smaller percentage with a more effective treatment.
I鈥檓 in no position to say who鈥檚 right, although the Doctors of sa国际传媒 organization calls Henry鈥檚 stance 鈥渆xtremely alarming, unethical, and a violation of the rights to informed consent.鈥� 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鈥檙e at it, why is a procurement minister giving medical advice?
Indeed, where is Dr. Theresa Tam on these matters? She鈥檚 the chief public health officer of sa国际传媒, 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 sa国际传媒, who took the lead.
Isn鈥檛 that Tam鈥檚 job? Or Anand鈥檚? Who鈥檚 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鈥� throats, with the feds saying the provinces aren鈥檛 distributing their shares of vaccines in a timely manner, and the provinces saying they鈥檙e being undersupplied.
This nonsense needs to stop. No grieving parents should have to tell their children that Granny died because our politicians couldn鈥檛 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.
