I don’t know about @gwnorth, but my friends in Canada, several in their 50s/60s are really annoyed that their vaccinations are so far behind ours. No shots in sight for any of them except the one surgeon.
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Vaccines in Canada are less of a priority because Canadians did things right in the first place and avoided the spread. They rank way down the list worldwide when it comes to Covid deaths - Novel coronavirus (COVID-19) deaths by country worldwide 2023 | Statista Basically there have been 24 deaths in the US for every 1 death in Canada.
So yes, they have every right to want a vaccination – but we in the US have been in a state of crisis, and Canada hasn’t. So they really can afford a more relaxed pace for rollout, through their already well-established health system, without the need for mass drive-through vaccination clinics.
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That’s exactly what I did – I emailed my health care provider with the exact info on my card as soon as I received the vaccine.
The United States has also spent a lot of money funding the research of the vaccines and our government has purchased many doses even before the vaccine was developed. Billions were spent by our government to drug companies that have research and manufacturing facilities in the US.
Our method of health care may be different but it also is the country that has a system that drives new medications and treatments. Huge money in the US funding new types of medications.
So although the US did not do as well controlling the pandemic, they did spend a lot of money helping develop the vaccines. And controversial or not, the US has decided not to share with the world until our population has been served.
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I don’t have a health care provider though.
per an article in the WaPo, the biggest issue is that CA has no local manufacturing plants.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2021/03/11/canada-coronavirus-united-states-vaccine-rollout/
I am not disputing this but which companies took funds from Operation Warp Speed for R&D vs advance purchase? My understanding is that Moderna and AstraZeneca took funds to develop the vaccine while Pfizer and J&J developed it on their own but made advance purchase agreements with OWS. Is that correct?
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Here’s the Wikipedia page.
Johnson and Johnson accepted $1B from Warp Speed. In all, the United States government spent $11B+ in funding for a coronavirus vaccine
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Vaccine effects: Did I read on this page that swollen lymph nodes is a possible effect? I definitely have had mildly annoying swollen lymph nodes since the day after the shot, on just one side.
Moderna also received $1b for R&D.
You could start with the suggestions on this page - Locating and Tracking Adult Vaccine Records | CDC
Some states have a vaccine registry. I know that California has a registry called CAIR (https://cairweb.org/about-cair/) and I believe they are recording and tracking all in-state vaccines administered vaccines through their CAIR2 program. That is, I think that when I went to the county-run drive-through, my name & vaccination info would have been entered into the system.
Please try to stay on topic: who has had a COVID vaccine?
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@somemom yes to lymph node swelling. DIL had painful lymph node swelling on the shot side after her second shot. Went away in about a day.
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I’m one day post Pfizer now with no side effects other than a mild to moderately sore arm around the injection area. It’s not even as bad as tetanus usually is for me. I did horribly after Shingrix, so I’m glad this hasn’t been a repeat of that.
It’s possible it affected my thinking because we played 7 Wonders last night and I dismally finished last in a game I often win or at least am competitively close. Who knows though? Someone has to finish last. The “dismal” part has me putting it out there in case anyone has something important (thinking wise) around their vax. It could be helpful to have it done prior or giving yourself a couple days afterward first.
Otherwise, hopefully shot #2 will be as easy.
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Yes
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The COVID death rate in Canada is 59/100,000. In the US it is 167/100,000 using the table you linked to. So it is about two and a half times worse in the US than in Canada considering the huge population difference. Canada has done many things better than the US but it is still a major problem there. Lockdowns are still in effect and their economy is struggling just like ours. Nursing home deaths have accounted for a greater percentage of COVID deaths than in the US. Canada has no vaccine manufacturing capability at all and has been relying on European suppliers who are facing export limits on the vaccines.
The Canadian government has also decided that the second dose will be delayed 4 months, not the recommended 3 or 4 weeks. Pfizer and Moderna have refused to sign off on that timetable. Also most priority lists are based solely on age. Younger people with comorbidities just have to wait.
While Canada has done a better job at handling the pandemic it is still in a state of crisis.
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Reporting in on my 4th day post Pfizer 2nd shot. I had a repeat of the 1st shot sore arm for 2-3 days. The morning immediately after I woke up with a mild headache that went away after breakfast, and I felt a little tired most of the day. Not too bad, just the way you’d feel if you had a late night.
Other than the sore arm I was perfectly fine from day 2 on. Super happy to be done and looking forward to getting out and about safely after being a virtual hermit for the past 12 months.
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We may have a lower death rate but that lower death rate has come at a severe economic cost. The region where I live has just emerged from stay-at-home orders that were instituted just before Christmas and our current status (grey level) is not that different. I’ve barely left the house in 3 months and s21 just returned to hybrid schooling 2 weeks ago. Being able to speedily vaccinate our populace would allow governments to lift restrictions so that the people and businesses that have been affected could go back to work. Essential businesses and those who’ve been able to have their employees work from home have seen minimal impacts, but small business owners, especially in the restaurant, hospitality, and personal care sectors have been decimated. We’ve also had frequent outbreaks in manufacturing and warehouse facilities (in fact an Amazon distribution centre in my area just got shut down and all the employees sent into quarantine). While some low income wage earners who have lost their jobs have fared better due to government unemployment assistance and other financial relief measures, small businesses have not received the same level of support and many are going bankrupt. Many “gig” workers also do not meet the eligibility criteria for our income replacement programs and have been struggling.
Vaccine rollout in Canada has been slower because we have no domestic production capacity and have had to source our supply through the global supply chain leaving us at the mercy of foreign pharmaceutical companies and other governments. We have more than enough vaccine for our population on order, but until recently only the vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna have been approved and delivery has been problematic. To date we’ve only received limited doses though it is expected that delivery levels should be increasing soon. We are now also receiving a small shipment of the AstraZeneca vaccine which was recently approved but the bulk will not be delivered until May. The Johnson & Johnson vaccine has also just received approval but we have not been advised as yet as to when we can expect delivery.
The latest timeline for us here in Ontario, barring any more vaccine delivery complications, has every eligible adult who wants a vaccine being able to get a first dose by the end of June. In order to be able to do that our government has decided to stretch out the 2nd shot for most individuals to 4 months. We are just now starting on those 80+ not living in congregate settings, a few 60-64 year olds in specific regions who have been approved for the limited supply of the AZ vaccine. We are currently in a race against the spread of the new more virulent strains hoping that our vaccination rate will outstrip their spread. Our case rate for new infections had been dropping steadily since early January as a result of the lockdown but now it’s stalled for the past few weeks and we are now once again starting to see an uptick and may be moving into our 3rd wave. Worst case projections show that unless we can speed up our vaccination rate, this newest wave has the potential to be the worst one yet.
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And the border lockdown is a real issue for many with cross-border lives, my Canadian friends are grateful the pandemic has not been as overwhelming, but they are still eager to get back to any semblance of real life.
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