Canadian Covid-19 vaccines saga

   Canadian Covid-19

vaccines saga

by Maj (ret'd) CORNELIU E. CHISU, CD, PMSC,
FEC, CET, P. Eng.
Former Member of Parliament Pickering-Scarborough East
    As we continue to deal with the Covid-19 pandemic, the availability of vaccines and the vaccination of the population itself, we are seeing scientific confusion, contradictions from the responsible medical bodies at all levels of government, and disarray both in the supply of vaccines and their distribution.

Let's review the (mis)information that has been hurled at us. Dr. Theresa Tam said last week that Health Canada, the Public Health Agency of Canada and the National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI) work in "lockstep," after NACI announced last week it was advising a pause in the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine for those under the age of 55 due to the rare possibility of blood clots. At the same time, Germany was advising a pause in the use of the A-Z vaccine for those under the age of 60 due to the same rare possibility of blood clots. So what is the critical age 55 or 60?

Not long ago the same NACI recommended suspending the use of AstraZeneca for those over the age of 65 years and Ontario announced a starting date for vaccinating people aged 60 - 64 with it.   Weeks later, the NACI reversed its position, citing access to new information as their reason. What kind of mediaeval hocus pocus is this?  Modern science is supposed to be clear and reproducible.

So who is the National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI)? Though created in 1964, it was a low profile organization until recently.  Prior to the pandemic it met only three times a year to discuss vaccines for diseases such as influenza, mumps and measles.

According to Dr. David Naylor, co-chair of Canada's COVID-19 Immunity Task Force, "NACI's committees are made up of volunteers, many with heavy daily responsibilities during the pandemic."  If they are medical professionals, however, one would expect sound and reliable recommendations from them.  However, the NACI's recommendations on the spacing of vaccine doses, for example, are the longest in the world and have come under fire from scientists both at home and abroad.  Not very reassuring, is it?

Returning to the controversy over the Astra-Zeneca vaccine, Health Canada has stated that it is continuously monitoring the AstraZeneca situation and will be working with international manufacturers to require a "detailed assessment of the benefits and risks of the vaccine by age and sex in the Canadian context".  At this time their guidance on the use of AstraZeneca remains the same.  They still maintain that the benefits outweigh the risks and the vaccine itself has "not been associated in the overall risk of thrombosis."
Canada has already administered around 300,000 doses of the vaccine, with no reports of adverse side effects. Cases of blood clots in Europe have been reported mainly in younger women. Following the announcement of the NACI recommendation all provinces and territories have adjusted their own guidance.
Certainly for the average Canadian this change in recommendation will add to vaccine hesitancy, create confusion, and elicit a lot of questions and concerns. This, at a time when the only way out of lockdowns and hospitalizations is to achieve herd immunity as quickly as possible.

Let us now look at how our glorious and competent public health authorities, populated by science bureaucrats, have reacted during critical times in the pandemic.
COVID won't be Canada's problem please do not be racist; until they had to admit that we are officially in a pandemic.
There is no evidence of asymptomatic spread do not panic; asymptomatic spread is real.
Masks are not helpful at all; everybody wear masks please.
Canada will have adequate vaccines; dear friends of the world, please send us vaccines because we cannot manufacture our own.
Vaccine doses shouldn't be spaced more than three weeks apart; in Canada, vaccine doses can be spaced four months apart.
The AstraZeneca vaccine is not safe for seniors; the AstraZeneca vaccine shouldn't be given to people under 55. And so on…, what's next?…….politicians blindly hiding behind their heroic posturing following this voodoo dance, issuing orders that defy common sense.
Canada's Auditor General, Karen Hogan, in a well documented and scathing report, emphasized Canada's public health officials' shocking number of mistakes. The top of the list was the failure of our early warning system coupled with inaccurate risk assessments.
The tragic result was the needless deaths of thousands of seniors in long term care homes and congregate living centres.  These statistics have given Canada the worst record for COVID-19 deaths in long-term care homes among wealthy countries.
The most relevant example of the politicians hiding behind so called "health experts" is the federal government who has relied religiously on advice from them. The most famous face is that of Chief Public Health Officer Dr. Theresa Tam. Her most egregious advice change was declaring that, "Putting a mask on an asymptomatic person is not beneficial, obviously, if you're not infected." Two months passed before she took back those words.

However, the responsibility for these errors sits higher; with the federal, provincial and local governments. Federally the cabinet and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau himself failed to heed early warnings from other countries. He failed to put in border controls that could have slowed the import of the virus. When he finally instituted them it was already late, and they serve only as punitive measures, restricting the freedoms of Canadian citizens.
He failed to procure enough vaccines in time to prevent the third wave from taking hold, betting on a (now collapsed) partnership with Communist China.
Provincial and local politicians are also guilty of shifting leadership duties to others, then blaming them for their own lack of leadership in the pandemic.
After a year of personal, social and economic upheaval, Canadians are at a breaking point. They need confidence in their public officials, their elected representatives and the decisions these people make. They cannot afford more hocus-pocus. They need a responsible leadership, from the top on down.
The conclusion is, that despite claims to the contrary, we are being subjected to a flip-flop, medieval 'science' a.k.a. witchcraft, led by incompetent bureaucrats and certified by clueless politicians hiding behind them. In the meantime the people are suffering, the economy is destroyed, and slowly we are sinking into third world country territory.
This situation has to change. What do you think?