Special Report: Canada is Suffering Vaccine "Hiccups"

 

Today's post is by Corona-zona Senior Canada Correspondent Salishsailor

As I write this post it’s snowing here on Moscow Mountain in northern Idaho.  Again.  It has snowed every day for the past week, and the berms the plow has heaped along the driveway are up to seven feet high. Meanwhile on Gabriola Island in British Columbia—our intended settling place once the border reopens—it’s 9˚C (that’s slightly over 48˚F to you people south of the border) with showers predicted for this afternoon.

Admittedly, much of Canada is colder and snowier than Idaho. Canadian expats living in Texas say they’re weathering the recent winter storms better than Texans.  And as Canada falls further behind other countries in vaccination rates, those expats are lining up for shots in the States.

 Back in Canada there’s some anxiety and resentment over snowbirds getting vaccinations.  In addition, anxiety-fueled Covid-shaming calls out neighbors who don’t follow social-distancing rules. Controversial COVID-19 “snitch hotlines” have been set up in most provinces to report violations to authorities. 

 But as the snitches cite unsafe behavior by citizens and rule-breaking by politicians and medical folks, they’ve begun to change from helping communities stay safe to dividing their communities. Hence the “snitch” label.

Canadians often are described as more patient and conforming than Americans.  But while anxiety seems an inevitable consequence of the pandemic, Canadians have a special reason for feeling anxious: Canada’s vaccination rateis falling farther and farther behind the pack. Currently at about 5.5 total vaccinations per hundred population, Canada’s rate is roughly one-fifth the level of America’s 24.33 per hundred. 

The vaccination gap is increasing, despite Canada having ordered more doses of vaccine per capita from manufacturers than any other country. In a recent Globe and Mail article  the slowdown is called “a hiccup” in the delivery process. In my next post I’ll offer some other reasons why those vaccines aren’t going into Canadians’ arms.