Vaccine Frustration

Shortly after my son moved back to Canada to accept a tenured position as a physics professor, about 20 years ago, he began to comment that the Canadian government was cutting financial support for scientific research.

Now we are paying for those cuts. Canada currently has no labs capable of producing the quantity of Covid-19 vaccines needed to protect the Canadian population. We must rely on major labs in Europe, and Canada signed contracts 8-10 or even more months ago to provide millions of doses. Now, though, the quantity of vaccines received does not match the quantity promised.

Canada has chosen to vaccinate people in the following order:
- staff in long-term nursing homes
- residents in long-term nursing homes and seniors’ residences with communal dining rooms
- staff in hospital ICU and Emergency departments
- other hospital staff

This group was supposed to have both doses by the end of March. The we would move, in steps, to:
- those over 80 living in the community
- those over 70 living in the community
- other front-line workers... a bit hazy who would be included here. Perhaps workers in certain
large industries, police, emergency workers, grocery clerks
- those over 60

Hopefully this group will be completely vaccinated by the end of June

Then, I think, it will go to the general population 18 and over, through large vaccine clinics, pharmacies and doctors’ offices.

The government is still saying that by the end of September, “anyone who wants to be vaccinated” will have received their two shots.

I would feel so much better if Canada could supply some, if not all, of its needs.