Liberal failures on vaccine

[Argus]

Let's start with Trudeau's press conference yesterday, at which he lied and said Canada had no ability to produce vaccine. Canada does, in fact, have that ability. It has a number of large pharmaceutical production companies here, as well as a government lab in Montreal all capable of producing at the very least the Astrozeneca vaccine. Why aren't they? We have no answer and can only speculate that the government never bothered to make any arrangements for them to do so. Australia, for example, paid the company to manufacture this vaccine and has been producing it now for weeks, on spec, in anticipation of good test results. Other countries have been doing the same. Then again, other countries signed their agreements to buy vaccine from multiple developers a months ago.

Trudeau has bragged repeatedly about how we've bought massive amounts of vaccines from a variety of producers. What he never mentions is the timeline for when we'll get them. Another thing he never mentions is that Canada was the last country in the western world to sign agreements with these producers. Everyone else beat us to it. Think maybe that has something to do with why Australia will start vaccinating people in December, along with the US, UK and others, while Canada won't start until some vaguely defined period 'in the early months" of next year?

This is from August's MacLeans

Assuming those phase 3 trials pan out, reckon on rolling up your sleeve in the first half of 2021. But also reckon that the vaccine is coming to Canada late: probably months later than the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, and the 27 European Union countries.

Why? Because the Trudeau government dithered. When our closest allies put their money down and placed orders for over a billion vaccine doses, our government failed to keep up. The dithering went on so long that there is only one country left in North America or Western Europe that has not confirmed its order—and that’s Canada.

Staking out the back of the queue means that we might beg for a little vaccine in a hurry for our health care workers or most vulnerable, but come to ordinary Canadians, expect to wait.

https://www.macleans.ca/opinion/how-the-liberals-are-bungling-the-vaccine-endgame/

[Shady]

This is inexcusable.  People should be asking for his resignation at every press conference he holds going forward.

[Adam1980]

It will be interesting to see if the public holds the government to account for this. I believe this issue was known long ago, and they are just now about to face the reckoning. The virus may be a big and visible enough issue to mobilize the mob. 

[bush_cheney2004]

The Trudeau government chose to partner with China for vaccine development, testing, and manufacture early on (CanSino), but that didn't work out.   This is one of the reasons that Canada was late to the game for procurement of vaccine doses from other sources.

 

Quote

In May, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau endorsed the deal with CanSino —  a company funded by Beijing and producing its vaccine with the People’s Liberation Army.

https://globalnews.ca/news/7302194/canada-coronavirus-vaccine-deal-china/

 

[Argus]

Amir Attaran, a professor at the University of Ottawa with the School of Public Health and Faculty of Law, said the Prime Minister’s comments are “beyond preposterous” and that while Canada doesn’t have the ability to mass-produce a vaccine, it could make enough for vulnerable populations and health care workers.

“We’re going to end up being months later getting the vaccine to Canada in large part because the federal government failed to do the obvious thing, to license it as other countries have,” said Prof. Attaran, an immunologist by training. He pointed out that even though the AstraZeneca vaccine hasn’t yet been approved, India and Australia are already producing it in order to have stockpiles in place for when it is approved.

The different vaccines under development require different technology to produce, and while Canada doesn’t have the equipment needed for all of the possible vaccines, it does have the technology to manufacture the vaccine proposed by AstraZeneca, Prof. Attaran said. That vaccine, developed in partnership with Oxford University, is also among the least complicated to roll-out, because unlike the other vaccines, this one can be stored and transported at normal fridge temperatures.

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/politics/article-canada-will-get-covid-19-vaccines-after-other-countries-due-to-lack-of/

[Moonlight Graham]

The time it takes to get Canadians vaccinated will be a decision that will cost lives and a lot of GDP and jobs if we don't get it in a timely fashion.  Hopefully Trudeau gov has this figured out or that could sink this gov.

[Queenmandy85]

Regardless of why, the fact that we will have a chance to evaluate it with 100 million test subjects will mean when we do get it, we will have a better idea of it's safety and efficacy. (spelling is not my strong point this time of morning.)

In the mean time, we need to assume we already carry the virus and so does everyone we come in contact with and keep 2-3 metres distance.

It is ironic that many of the people whining the loudest are the idiots who are scared of needles and are refusniks.

Maybe the Tories shouldn't have sold off Conaught.

Patience.

Edited November 26, 2020 by Queenmandy85
Spelling

[Queenmandy85]

Perhaps the way to overcome anti-vaxers is to tell them they can't have it.

[Army Guy]

2 hours ago, Queenmandy85 said:

Regardless of why, the fact that we will have a chance to evaluate it with 100 million test subjects will mean when we do get it, we will have a better idea of it's safety and efficacy. (spelling is not my strong point this time of morning.)

In the mean time, we need to assume we already carry the virus and so does everyone we come in contact with and keep 2-3 metres distance.

It is ironic that many of the people whining the loudest are the idiots who are scared of needles and are refusniks.

Maybe the Tories shouldn't have sold off Conaught.

Patience.

Thats an attempt to put a happy face on the Grinch that stole X-mas. ANY delay is going to cost Canadian lives, it will be months that our health care workers risk their lives for our governments lack of action... It also shows our government that transparency is out the window, He lied to Canadians once again, he had to known that this would eventually come to light, He had to have known once the contract was sighed, just like he had to have known there was no capacity here in Canada to make it, and he failed to act on that... It does not paint a good picture either way. your right the damage is done , we now have to wait and see what is next...

Edited November 26, 2020 by Army Guy

[Boges]

This would be the explanation as to why we can't produce these types of vaccines. 

https://www.ctvnews.ca/politics/canada-still-on-track-for-january-2021-vaccine-rollout-despite-domestic-dose-disadvantage-feds-1.5203890

Quote

 

Canada does produce some vaccines, but not the kind so far looking promising for COVID-19. Pharmaceutical companies Sanofi and GlaxoSmithKline make protein-based vaccines, but the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, for example, are mRNA vaccines, which use messenger ribonucleic acid to produce an immune response.

"One is like making wine, one's like making Coke," Andrew Casey, the CEO of BioteCanada, told The Canadian Press Wednesday. "Yes, they both grow in bottles. Yes, you can drink both out of a glass. But the manufacturing processes used for the two is so completely different. You can't just say well, we'll shut down the protein one, and we'll switch over to the mRNA."

 

January 2021 is still a hopeful timeline. I don't think anyone is under the illusion that we'll be past this pandemic until at least the Spring. 

That being said, if this is what sinks JT, I'll be fine with that. But don't expect an election to be called until well into next year. So no one really knows how this will unfold. 

[bush_cheney2004]

So much for not politicizing the COVID-19 pandemic and vaccines in Canada.

OMG...the (gulp) "Americans" may get vaccine before Canadians !

 

Quote

“Why did this prime minister sign deals that placed Canadians months behind Americans for getting a COVID-19 vaccine?” asked Conservative Leader Erin O’Toole.

...Trudeau sought to defend his government’s handling, noting that it was under the previous Conservative administrations that Canada’s domestic capacity dwindled away.

 

[Queenmandy85]

I recall we were told (Up until Pfizer's press release a few days ago) not to expect a vaccine for at least a year and a half, which would put it into Sept. 2021. Thanks to President Trump's expediting the process, we may get it a bit sooner. However, it is important to remember the government cannot predict a roll out of a vaccine that has not even been peer reviewed. 

Since the American taxpayers are paying for the R&D that is developing these vaccines, I would be shocked if they didn't get to be first in line. Canada might have been in a position to manufacture if taxpayers were not so chintzy when it comes to funding science.

I wouldn't consider voting for Prime Minister Trudeau if the Conservative Party would put a Red Tory in the leadership. I still have hopes for O'Toole, but the jury is still out. This isn't the time to be using this tragic situation for political points. The parties and Premiers were working well together in the spring, but some seem to have forgotten why they were elected.

Edited November 26, 2020 by Queenmandy85

[Argus]

3 hours ago, Boges said:

This would be the explanation as to why we can't produce these types of vaccines. 

No one ever said we could make these new vaccines as they use a new science. We could make the other vaccine, though.

3 hours ago, Boges said:

January 2021 is still a hopeful timeline. I don't think anyone is under the illusion that we'll be past this pandemic until at least the Spring. 

We're unlikely to even see serious amounts of vaccination before spring. Therefore it's going to be late summer before we start to get past this.

 

 

[Argus]

1 hour ago, Queenmandy85 said:

I recall we were told (Up until Pfizer's press release a few days ago) not to expect a vaccine for at least a year and a half, which would put it into Sept. 2021. Thanks to President Trump's expediting the process, we may get it a bit sooner. However, it is important to remember the government cannot predict a roll out of a vaccine that has not even been peer reviewed.

Trudeau said we would be producing a quarter million doses come November and ramping up from there. What happened to that?

1 hour ago, Queenmandy85 said:

I wouldn't consider voting for Prime Minister Trudeau if the Conservative Party would put a liberal in the leadership.

Fixed that for you.

Edited November 26, 2020 by Argus

[Boges]

1 minute ago, Argus said:

No one ever said we could make these new vaccines as they use a new science. We could make the other vaccine, though.

That would leave the AstraZeneca Vaccine. 

We still wouldn't be able to procure it this year. 

https://globalnews.ca/news/7478607/oxford-astrazeneca-coronavirus-vaccine-canada/

[Argus]

2 hours ago, Boges said:

That would leave the AstraZeneca Vaccine. 

We still wouldn't be able to procure it this year. 

https://globalnews.ca/news/7478607/oxford-astrazeneca-coronavirus-vaccine-canada/

The Australians are already producing it and plan to start distributing it the instant they get approval.

[Queenmandy85]

2 hours ago, Argus said:

Quote

I wouldn't consider voting for Prime Minister Trudeau if the Conservative Party would put a liberal in the leadership.

Fixed that for you.

No,...I'm pretty sure I meant Red Tory. I am now, and always have been a Progressive Conservative. It is the party of MacDonald, Borden, Meighen, Diefenbaker, Stanfield Crombie, and Clark. Cheers.

But, thanks for trying to fix what you strangely thought was a mistake. The Liberals are only tolerable because they are not as terrible as the NDP and the Reform / Socialist Credit.

But that's off topic. Sorry, just had to correct a mistake of a non-mistake.

Edited November 26, 2020 by Queenmandy85

[Nefarious Banana]

SNC-Lavalin could/should be making a vaccine for us, failing that . . . . the WE Charity.

[Argus]

2 hours ago, Queenmandy85 said:

No,...I'm pretty sure I meant Red Tory. I am now, and always have been a Liberal.

Fixed that for you.

Quote

It is the party of MacDonald, Borden, Meighen, Diefenbaker, Stanfield Crombie, and Clark. Cheers.

Well, no, it WAS the party of Diefenbaker, Stanfield, and Clark. But by the time it mercifully died all the conservatives in the progressive conservative party had left because it chose to be a progressive and not a conservative party and alienated them all. What was left were some progressives who happily joined the Liberal Party since their beliefs and values were identical anyway.

And if you get your way and the Conservatives become the "Progressive" or Liberal-Light party then all the conservatives will leave yet again.

 

Edited November 27, 2020 by Argus

[Thinkinoutsidethebox]

If these vaccines turn people into zombies will Trudeau become your hero? 

[OftenWrong]

Never mind the Covid,

Wheres the goddamn flu vaccine? We ordered 5 million doses and yet ran out at less than 1 M. Now Mr. Trudeau has to go to other countries, hat in hand, and plead for some more. As if.

 

[Shady]

2 hours ago, Thinkinoutsidethebox said:

If these vaccines turn people into zombies will Trudeau become your hero? 

Yes, Trudeau is saving us from a zombie apocalypse. *rolls eyes*

[Shady]

2 hours ago, OftenWrong said:

Never mind the Covid,

Wheres the goddamn flu vaccine? We ordered 5 million doses and yet ran out at less than 1 M. Now Mr. Trudeau has to go to other countries, hat in hand, and plead for some more. As if.

 

Yep, they’ve f**ked up that too.

[PIK]

Its Harpers fault. But of course trudeau bet on a chinese company, which nothing happened. Wait till next yr and the Americans ,Mexicans, Egyptians and the Spaniards are getting shots and we are still waiting. lol Or as trudeau promised ,ours will be going to 3rd worlds countries, before we get it.

[Thinkinoutsidethebox]

3 hours ago, Shady said:

Yes, Trudeau is saving us from a zombie apocalypse. *rolls eyes*

LOL, somehow I doubt it, he's still a liberal. 

It would be interesting if something about the vaccines did go sideways though. 

Edited November 27, 2020 by Thinkinoutsidethebox