The Bridge with Peter Mansbridge - Canada's Vaccination Rate About To Change In A Good Way

Episode Date: November 25, 2021

Across the country, 5-11-year-olds are starting to get their shot which will make Canada's vaccination rate, already a world leader, even better.  That and a lot more, including some of your comments, ideas and questions on our dip into The Bridge mailbag.

And hello there, Peter Mansbridge here. You are just moments away from the latest episode of The Bridge. Canada's vaccination rate numbers are about to change, and change in a good way. And hello there, Peter Mansbridge here. You know, this morning, early this morning, I get up early. I don't know about you, but I, you know, I get up around 5, 36 o'clock each morning. And one of the first things I do is, you know, scan, as I've been doing all my life. To scan the wires, as we used to say, to track whatever stories are happening. And because I knew that today I was going to talk a little bit about COVID vaccination

rates, I thought, I want to check the latest COVID stories that are out there. So one of the news organizations that I place my faith in and my trust in is the Globe and Mail. So I went to the Globe. And they kind of list, not necessarily the top 50 stories, but the top 50 stories that they're covering. And they could be anything, you know from news to sports to arts to what have you anyway in in some sense it was kind of like a turning point because there i looked at the top 50 and at the top 50 there was only one covid related, and it had to do with various programs the government has on funding those who have been impacted by COVID.

But there was nothing about kids getting vaccinations. There was nothing about the vaccination rate or issues about masks or what have you. Because there are a lot of those kind of stories bubbling around right now. See, Theresa Tam was saying yesterday, reminding us all about masks and about good masks. You know, N95s or KN95s. Those are the ones we should be wearing and we shouldn't be forgetting about masks. And I know i'm not i you know i i wear a mask wherever i go whenever i'm outside um you know in in areas especially indoors

and anyway back to the globe and i thought this is interesting because so many of us want to move on and in many cases we are moving on. We have adapted and we continue to adapt like the mass situation, like booster shots. But we want to move on and there's a big world out there and we want to know other stories. Okay, so I guess in that way that was happening at least at 6 o'clock this morning on the Globe site. That probably changed by 7 o'clock, who knows. But it was kind of revealing in that moment

that we're moving on. Now, having said that, this is a big week. It's a big week for parents of small kids of the 5 to 11-year-olds who now have the opportunity across the country in different clinics and different places to get their first COVID shot, their first jab, their first vaccine, their first needle with a vaccine for COVID. And that's a big decision for parents. And I've talked to, you know, I haven't talked to a lot of parents, but I've talked to a

few over the last week. And, you know, it's a challenging decision. We talked to, you know, Dr. Bogoch last week and Dr. Barrett earlier this week about this same issue. But a lot of parents are taking their kids in Ontario today and Toronto at the big convention center downtown, a big convention center that has thousands of people convene at different times of the year, associations and groups who want to have their convention in Toronto. Well, the convention center today is being used to vaccinate kids. And parents have had this opportunity throughout this week to

book a vaccine, and so there's going to be a huge lineup there, I'm sure, but everybody's got their time, so it'll be in and out in an orderly fashion. And, you know, I'm sure it'll be one of those classic kids' moments, right? That not all kids are going to be comfortable with this idea of getting, getting a shot in terms of the, the needle in the arm, but it's happening.

And you know what the impact of that's going to be? It is going to have a huge impact on our vaccination rate because there are literally millions of these doses coming into the country for kids, the 5 to 11-year-olds. And the hope is that millions of kids are going to get their vaccination. So when you're looking at rates right now for Canada in the five and up age range, right now Canadians who have had one dose is 83% of that sort of five and up age group.

Well, these days are going to change that number. That 83 is going to go up. And it could go up significantly, right? That's the one dose. Fully vaccinated, we're sitting at 79%. That number is probably not going to change that much because the kids are just getting one shot. And even it is kind of a watered down version

of the shot that adults have been getting. But adults now are getting boosters. I got my booster earlier this week, and I'm sure a lot of you have been boosted already. That's the recommendation, get a booster shot. It's age-related at the moment. Hopefully that's going to change at some point,

and it's going to be wide open. But I think right now it's 70 and over, unless you have a special condition. So I qualified this week, and I went and got my shot. So expect those numbers to change, especially that first one, the five and over, one dose, 83% now, I would assume that's going to go up fairly quickly over the next week or two weeks. There are going

to be a lot of kids who are going to get their first shot between now and in the holidays so let me deal with a couple of other pandemic related stories we mentioned a couple of times this week and we're going to give it a little more detail here now about how Europe seems to be in a you know, depending on where you are, they're calling it a fifth wave. So it's once again the epicenter of the pandemic, accounting for more than half

the world's reported COVID deaths this month according to the World Health Organization. Tens of thousands of people protested stay-at-home orders and official crackdowns and vaccine requirements in Austria, the Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark, Italy, Switzerland, and Croatia with violence that resulted in police retaliation. There were even shots fired in some places.

I'm reading this out of the New York Times. The four countries with the highest rate of new reported cases in the past week are Austria, Slovakia, Slovenia, and the Czech Republic. About 68% of Germans and 66% of Austrians have been fully vaccinated now, but hospitals are filled with those who have not been vaccinated at all. Austria last week announced that vaccines will be compulsory, while France is asking for proof of vaccination

or a negative test to enter indoor establishments which has encouraged many to receive the vaccine. So that's the story in Europe and you know as we've tracked this over the last couple of years that usually when europe gets hit a week or two later britain gets hit and in a week or two or three or four after that north america gets hit will that pattern continue britain says no britain is being very bullish about where they are. They still have a high number of cases, but they have taken the attitude that they're moving on. They consider themselves basically at herd immunity right now. So certain things you have to kind of accept in terms of sickness. Their deaths are down,

but new cases are still very high in the UK. But they are being very bullish about AstraZeneca, which is their vaccine, developed in the UK. And most people in the UK had their first two doses were AstraZeneca. And the Brits are saying, hey, we're doing better because of AstraZeneca than those who were with the new mRNA vaccines in Europe, because Europe, in many cases, resisted the AstraZeneca push. Now, that argument will continue, and it'll be probably years or decades before somebody comes up with a firm decision on which was the best vaccine.

But the Brits right now are saying, we're okay. We're not locking down. We're not putting in any new restrictions we're pretty comfortable with where we are right now that may change could change in a matter of days or not and we'll have to see what happens here numbers have gone up here no question about that they've gone up in um many parts of North America, including Canada. So we'll have to watch what happens on that front. Now, there's a story in Axios this week,

which talks about boosters. And this goes back to the point I was making earlier. Right now, boosters in Canada are back to the point i was making earlier right now boosters in canada are limited to certain age groups older guys like me so in the states critics believe that the confusing process of whether american adults were eligible for the covid booster shot has undermined what has now become a critical effort to stave off another wave of the pandemic as many people head into holiday travel without the highest level of protection. And those holiday travel pictures in the U.S., today's Thanksgiving, of course,

in the U.S., and the amount of travel that's been taking place across that country has been at the highest levels they've seen since before the pandemic. Preliminary data suggested a decline in vaccine effectiveness, which led the Biden administration to propose allowing booster shots for all Americans eight months after their second dose. The Center for Disease Control and the FDA thought that that data was too rushed and opted for boosters for just the at-risk segments

of the population, leading many states to disregard the guidelines while still leaving civilians confused as to whether they were eligible or not. Only 41% of vaccinated Americans 65 and older have received a booster, as have 20% of all vaccinated adults, and many vulnerable patients still haven't gotten one. So I haven't seen the full breakdown on boosters in Canada, but we are restricted on a certain age group.

I'm assuming, and I'm just basing this on guessing, and based on past rollouts on different vaccines in the age groups, that we are getting close to lowering that restrictions on age on the booster shot here in Canada. And that could happen at any time. And how low they go, I don't know, 50 and over? All adults 18 and over?

I don't know. We're going to have to wait and see. But over i don't know we're gonna have to wait and see but that will come with some comfort for for many people who are hoping for their booster I'll give one last point on this, as Axios mentions. Although many people initially argued that it was unethical to give Americans a third shot before much of the world still waited for their first, what's emerging is that all people in the world are going to need to be boosted, said a senior U.S. government administration official. It's funny, you know, I put a pic,

you know how people put a picture up when they get vaccine, they put it up on Instagram or wherever. I put one up on Instagram the other day after I got my booster, right after I came out of the pharmacy. And, you know, it was a popular posting and an overwhelming majority of people liked it. But there were a couple of people who said, why did you get a third shot? There are lots of places in the world that

don't have any shots. And you're taking it away from them. So I thought about that for a while and I understand the sentiment, but I also recognize that Canada is moving vaccines, perhaps not at a rate that some people are happy with to other countries in the world where they need vaccines. In the meantime, there are boosters here available. And I decided, you know, for my health,

that it was the right thing to do. But I understand and I appreciate that concern that some people have. Especially when I do something like this. The CBC has a detailed website on COVID and where Canada's doing in relation to the rest of the world, and one of the graphics they have is a map of the world, and the subsection is called vaccinations around the world. So what you can do, it's one of those ones where you put your cursor

over any particular country in the world, and it'll tell you what the vaccination rate is. So you're looking at the United States, put the cursor there, says 68% of Americans have had one dose. 58% are fully vaccinated. Those are dramatically different numbers than Canada's. They're nowhere near us. But when you look at the map overall,

the most glaring thing about it is because it's color-coded, right? Okay, if you've had X number of percent have been vaccinated, it's a certain color, and then the colors change depending on where you are on that vaccination rate number. When you look at the map of the world, the most glaring thing is Africa. The continent is pale in comparison to the rest of the world in terms of vaccinations.

And the numbers are just horrible. You know, and I just dropped the cursor anywhere and it ended up on Chad. 1.1% have had one dose, 1.1% have had one, you know, one dose. 0.1% in the Democratic Republic of Congo. And, you know, you can go all around Africa and you see these horrible numbers. Niger 2% Nigeria 2.9%

so you look at that and you know we got a long way to go here and we have to deal with this issue because at the end of the day wherever you are if you haven't beaten COVID, it affects everyone. Not just the country in which you live, but with travel the way it is in this era, it affects everybody.

So this Africa situation is one that we're going to have to deal with. I mean, there are other spots in the world that aren't great. You know, look at Russia. 43% have had one vaccine. You know, it's... You know, the country in... Well, there's actually a couple of countries, Morocco in Africa, they're doing not bad, 66%. And South Africa, South Africa, 27% vaccinated with one dose. Anyway, you could go on here.

There are dozens of countries, as you know, in Africa, and these numbers are not impressive at all. All right, let's move off. Let's move off COVID, and let's try this topic for a second. Mention that it's Thanksgiving in the United States today, which means Canadians get to shop on what's called Black Friday or they get to watch football all day because of the impact of American Thanksgiving on the way we live too.

But here's something interesting. I had not realized this, and perhaps you had, but I hadn't realized it, and I wonder whether it's going to have a longer-term impact. You know the store Target? Target stores are closed today. And they were making a decision, they're going to stay closed on Thanksgiving for good. In other words, for years on end.

During the pandemic, this story's in today. During the pandemic, retailers were forced to turn in-person shopping into an extended online event, which proved to be successful. Now, retailers such as Target and Macy's are continuing this same approach, although restrictions have eased. Consumers have applauded this approach as it allows workers to be home with their families for the holidays. And retailers are able to save money on labor and other costs relating to opening a physical store on the holidays when most shoppers have turned to online shopping instead. Best Buy and Walmart are also among those that will be closed on Thanksgiving Day. I did not know that.

Here's what the CEO of Target says. What started as a temporary measure driven by the pandemic is now our new standard. You don't have to wonder whether this is the last Thanksgiving you'll spend with family and friends for a while, because Thanksgiving store hours are one thing we won't get back to when the pandemic finally subsides. That's Brian Cornell, who's the CEO of Target. Hang that on a wall somewhere and see how true he is to that promise about the future

interesting now the other big impact issue for all of us and we talk about it a lot and we were talking about it yesterday on um we were talking about it yesterday on Smoke, Mirrors, and Truth with Bruce was inflation. Well, inflation is raging everywhere, but it's worst. Guess where it's worst? In the world. Go back to that world map.

Where do you think it's worst? It's worst in Latin America. This story in bloomberg latin america is one of the hardest hit regions with the pandemic and while it received fiscal support it was a fraction of that seen in the u.s germany or japan leading to an acute economic crisis major banks are forecasting average cost of living expenses increasing across latin america above 10 percent the highest globally which could fuel migration and a brain drain okay here's the last of the little stories i'm going to read before i get to some of

your letters. And this goes back to Thanksgiving. And it couples the Thanksgiving issue with inflation. The Associated Press is saying this about Thanksgiving this year and inflation. Beyond the long lines at airports and anticipated traffic on the road, American consumers are likely to feel the sticker shock for this year's Thanksgiving dinner. The American Farm Bureau estimates a Thanksgiving feast for 10, complete with sweet potatoes, rolls, a vegetable tray, okay, I'm getting hungry,

and a pie with whipped cream will cost $53.31 this year, and that's up 14% from a year ago, an unusual spike. Weather had an effect. Pumpkin crops were smaller due to heavy rains and a fungus in illinois and drought in california in early november fresh pumpkins were averaging two dollars and 72 cents per pound up five percent from a year ago i bought a pumpkin for 87 pence in scot Scotland a month ago. Now, it wasn't a big pumpkin, but it was a pumpkin.

And that seemed like a heck of a deal. Anyway, the concluding thought on this and AP, the inflation is real. Everybody's saying that. Everybody is feeling it, whether it's labor, transportation, packaging materials, energy to fuel the plants, everything costs more. Who said that? Jay Jandrain. And you know who he is? He's the president and CEO of Butterball. Aren't they the big turkey people?

Butterball turkeys. All right. I've got, I've narrowed it down just to three or four from the mailbag for this week, for this Thursday edition

of The Bridge. We're going to take a quick break. We'll come back with your thoughts, your ideas, your comments on your turn right after this. All right, Peter Mansbridge back in Stratford, Ontario

with your Thursday edition of The Bridge. You're listening on, well, you could be listening on a number of different ways, but your choices are SiriusXM Canada, Channel 167, Canada Talks, or wherever your favorite podcast is. Whatever platform you're listening on, we're glad to have you with us. All right, as promised. A couple of selections from the mailbag this week eric wilson writes i'm from montreal's west island municipality of saint anne de bellevue currently living in ottawa this is an old point but I wanted to address the topic of voter turnout in Montreal and other municipalities in Quebec, as I was a candidate back in 2017, and although Bruce and Chantel

brought up some good points, I found that they were missing a few interesting tidbits regarding municipal elections, and I think this can be thought of in any part of the country, not just in Quebec. With very little interest on behalf of the population at large, it is unfortunate that this leads to less accountability of municipal politicians, and therefore a higher probability of incumbents being re-elected,

as incumbents can very easily establish their own narrative without effective media scrutiny. It has gotten to the point where new and refreshing ideas brought forward by younger candidates have been pushed aside because people are afraid of change, especially prevalent in Montreal's West Island suburbs, says Eric. Although I've been a fan of democracy and will always believe in it, I find it unfortunate when some use it for nefarious purposes and to take advantage of others within society. As a former political staffer, I wanted to say thank you for such a good podcast. Well, thank you, Eric, together with such insightful commentary from the likes of Bruce and Chantel.

I admit that I listen to your podcast primarily on Wednesdays and Fridays, but overall you are my favorite podcast tied with the boys in short pants. A Canadian political podcast run by two former political staffers. You have me as a loyal listener. Well, you're missing a lot of good stuff on Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday as well. So, Eric, join in. Last couple of weeks, that Monday podcast with Dr. Bogoch one week, Dr. Barrett this week has been extremely popular.

Now, I got a couple of emails last night based on my rant yesterday on Smoke Mirrors and the Truth with Bruce about how I felt about what was put in front of the cameras for the speech from the throne, in terms of an event that got widespread coverage, I'm not sure how many people watched it, but widespread coverage on the television networks across the country. Well, clearly that was not a popular view to some of you who sat down and wrote fairly lengthy, lengthy letters. So let me read just a couple of excerpts. Here's one from Adrian Petrie. so let me read just a couple of excerpts.

Here's one from Adrian Petrie. Adrian's in St. Catharines, Ontario. He is a public historian. And here's what he says. In his criticism, which we enjoy reading praise as well as criticism the ceremony is definitely old and out of date it's definitely not impressive or even interesting during these unphotogenic pandemic restrictions but it exists for the vital purpose of upholding our belief and practice of democracy in our constitutional monarchy. To unevenly suggest you're over it

sows doubt about our system in the minds of your many listeners. We respect and value your opinion, or we wouldn't listen, and so I would have expected, at the least, to hear a more even-handed commentary on the day from you, because I know that you know all this already.

It's fair to question, and I agree in substance with your criticisms, but let's make sure we ask the right questions and in the right tone, lest we throw out the baby with the bathwater. And this from Patricia Sutherland in Ottawa.

Once again, I'm just reading excerpts from their letters because they're good letters, but they're long. I always like it when somebody starts off saying really nice things because you know the but is going to come. But Patricia starts off. As a regular listener to your podcast, I very much appreciate the long-form discussions, range of topics, and knowledgeable guests you book weekly. And as a librarian, I particularly enjoyed your interview with the authors of The Library, A Fragile History, which is now on my to-buy list. Yeah, that's funny. You know, I did that podcast from Scotland about a month ago now, or at least a couple of weeks ago. And I wasn't sure how that was going to go over. It seemed like a, you know, really kind of off topic for the bridge

to do something about libraries, a full edition. But it was incredibly popular and I got a lot of mail about it. And that's nice to hear. Anyway, having disposed of that, Patricia moves on.

That said, I was a bit surprised that the Wednesday episode of Smoke Mirrors and the Truth started with a discussion of whether throne speeches have passed their best before date. In addition to the importance of ritual in our public and social life, and particularly more so now with some civic norms going by the wayside, it's an excellent opportunity to engage in civic literacy. Occasions such as these are perfect opportunities

to discuss the workings of our government, the history of the ritual, why we have a throne speech, and the role of the Governor General in delivering the government's agenda. And I believe it is an appropriate role for the media to provide this civic education, providing context to news. I'm not going to disagree with either of you, Patricia or Adrian. I hear what you're saying.

I do think you might have interpreted what I said beyond what I was actually saying. What I thought was the event they put on to achieve all these goals that you're talking about, but the event they put on on Tuesday, I thought was a disaster. I thought it was just really poorly done, and it wasn't attractive in any way to give the kind of commentary and discussion that you want and deserve. And I agree with, hey, I sat there doing that kind of commentary for years. All I'm suggesting, I mean, I know there are a number of things going on.

The pandemic had its impact on the way things looked, and the renovations that are going on on Parliament Hill obviously had a huge impact on things. But, you know, you adapt. You adapt with the times. You don't throw the baby out with the bathwater. It is incredibly important to ensure that people understand the context and the background and how we got to this point and why these traditions are important.

But can you not put them in a, and this is what I was saying, as it reached its best before date, I mean, there are ways of improving the coverage. And you both concede it wasn't impressive. Well, we can make it impressive and still make the point and carry on the traditions and history and understanding of why there are throne speeches and why they are important. But I think they've just, like so many things, have become these kind of predictable, at times boring,

episodes that the media tries to do something with, but often can't. It is what it is. It looks like what it looks like. So anyway, I think it's a good discussion point. I don't think we're really that far apart on how we feel about this. I think we all agree the past and traditions, hey, I've spent my whole life telling stories about our past. And I'm actually right now researching the possibility of a book on a certain element

of our past. So I get it. I understand what you're saying. But perhaps I could have been more artful in the way I described those thoughts. Okay, here's the last letter for this week. I love this letter. I'm not sure what it's really all about. Well, actually, there's two letters here. I'll go quickly on this one.

Ken Pellishock from Listowel, Ontario, which is not far from here in Stratford. Ken writes it. Just read one line out of it because it has it all in this one line. When it comes to the Canadian news business, I can think of no bigger expert than you. Well, thank you, Ken. So perhaps you could enlighten

me as to why there have been no follow-up news stories about Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig since their safe return to Canada. They have disappeared, haven't they? Well, that's partly on their decision for the time being.

They both wanted time and asked the media for time before they give interviews of any substantive nature about their experiences when they were being held in China. So it's coming. I know all the networks and all the news organizations are all in negotiations, and I use that term loosely, nobody's paying money, but trying to work out an arrangement where they would sit down and talk

about their experiences. So they haven't been forgotten. We're just agreeing with their desire not to be badgered at this time. I mean, they have their lives to put back together, personal and professional. Okay, here's the last letter for this week. It's from Wayne Crisco in Stony Creek, Ontario. If you don't know where Stony Creek is,

it's just east of Hamilton. And I like this because it captures a certain, a certain little element of Canada at this time of year. And it also reminds me of how so many of you end up listening to this podcast. What you're doing, whether you're out running or walking or driving or whatever you may be doing.

Listen to this one, though, from Wayne Crisco. Thanks to your daily podcasts, I feel both entertained and informed as I listen while performing my daily tasks. I'm a retired software guy who spent a rewarding career developing software for industrial applications. Two of my current favorite pastimes

are golfing and curling. I also work as a part-time ice technician at our local curling club in Grimsby. Recently, I was at the club at 6.30 in the morning, performing two hours of ice preparation, mopping, scraping, pebbling, nipping, while I listened to your podcast with Dr. Bogoch. It was a great update and it made me very thankful that we are now able to pretty much continue with our normal activities. Our club has been blessed with a good return of members, fun competition and most importantly social time after the games are over.

Winners by the first round, of course, in our lounge. Keep the great content coming. All the best, Wayne Crisco. And he headlined that email, Feeling blessed sliding out of the hack. Okay, that's our first letter from someone who says they listen to the podcast while they're pebbling the ice at the curling rink. Love it.

That's great. Thanks, Wayne. And thank all of you who wrote this week. I know I only read a couple of the letters this week, but I wanted to squeeze in some of that other information. So that's going to wrap it up for this Thursday. That means tomorrow, Friday, Good Talk, Chantelle Hebert and Bruce Anderson will be here. And as always, there's always something to talk about. And we will do just that in 24 hours.

So I'm Peter Mansbridge. This has been The Bridge. Thanks so much for listening.