The driving force behind Canada's vaccination campaign surpassing that of the US 2
Eighty per cent of vaccine-eligible people aged 12 and older in Canada have received at least one dose of vaccine, while 57 per cent have completed vaccination, according to Dr. Howard Njoo, Canada’s deputy chief public health officer.
At a press conference on July 20, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau continued to urge people to get vaccinated.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau got vaccinated in Ottawa, Ontario province on April 23.
High vaccination rates seem to have helped Canada reap the rewards.
Prime Minister Trudeau said last weekend that Canada plans to begin opening to fully vaccinated US citizens and permanent residents from mid-August and international visitors from September. Canada has limited almost all activities.
Looking at the results that Canada has achieved, few people would think that this country had a slow and difficult start to the vaccination campaign.
So what has made Canada’s vaccination campaign successful?
After months of observing vaccine deployment around the world, American researcher Eric Topol believes that one of the first factors driving Canada’s vaccination campaign is the country’s `culture`.
But many experts say that many factors combine to put Canada among the top countries in first-dose vaccination, even surpassing Israel and Britain.
`There is no miracle here,` said Dr. Isaac Bogoch, an infectious disease expert and member of Ontario’s Covid-19 vaccination team.
Bogoch added that Canada’s vaccination success is partly due to the federal government’s vaccine purchasing efforts.
Brigadier General Krista Brodie, who oversees Canada’s vaccine distribution, said the country will have a total of 63 million doses of vaccine, after 7.1 million new doses arrived this week.
However, just a few months ago, supply problems caused Canada’s vaccination campaign to encounter many obstacles.
`I think in the long run, Canada has done pretty well,` said Jason Kindrachuk, an associate professor at the University of Manitoba.
Kindrachuk added that vaccination rates have increased rapidly in a short period of time because Canadian provinces have been able to address logistical barriers related to vaccine distribution and deployment, including distances between residential areas.
Meanwhile, Dr. Ross Upshur of the Dalla Lana School of Public Health at the University of Toronto, says the key for Canada lies in what he describes as `really impressive scale.`
`Everyone pulled together and said ‘let’s vaccinate as many people as quickly as possible,’` he said, noting that authorities have significantly increased mass and mobile vaccination sites.
Canadian officials also seek to ensure that no person is left behind in the Covid-19 vaccination campaign.
Chapman is the executive director of Resilience Montreal, a shelter for homeless substance users who are denied entry to other facilities.
Chapman always tries to keep medical staff informed about the situation here before they arrive.
`Our goal is to get the homeless vaccination rate as high as possible,` he said.
A vaccination site in Toronto, Ontario earlier this month.
In Ontario, the government is trying to shift the focus from large vaccination sites to private doctors’ offices or pharmacies to reach more people.
Dosani also said he has taken advantage of social networks such as Twitter, Instagram and TikTok to share vaccine information with everyone.
`I always believe that there is definitely a large percentage of people who do not follow the press conferences that are broadcast every day,` he said.
One of the other vaccination barriers that Canada has effectively addressed is mistrust and vaccine hesitancy among Canadian communities of color.
Association vice-president Sharon Nelson said the organization is also working to find a solution for undocumented people residing in Montreal to have the opportunity to get vaccinated.
`It’s not just about white people, Asian people or indigenous people. This affects all of us and we have to work together to solve it,` she said.
