[Dr. Dina News] Canada surpasses the U.S. for vaccines!

Canada reports steady declines in COVID-19!

Hello friends!

I hope you had a lovely weekend!

I appreciate your kind comments each week and am thankful when you forward these newsletters to friends and family. I do not make a penny off these but hope to educate with evidence-based information when there is an abundance of nonsense and fearmongering out there.

We will review the bad news, good news, the most common question of the week, and my silver lining as we do each week.

The bad news

Canada has reported almost 1.4 million cases of COVID-19, with nearly 25,500 deaths.

Almost 170 million cases of COVID-19 have been reported, with more than 3.5 million deaths.

Though many areas of the world are seeing decreasing cases of COVID-19, not all countries are faring as well.

The good news

Dr. Theresa Tam, Canada’s chief public health officer, said last week that our efforts “have got us well and truly over the peak of the third wave nationally,” and Canada has seen “strong and steady” declines in COVID-19.

The World Health Organization approved an “ambitious increase” of 16% in their budget, noting the WHO’s chronic underfunding limits its ability to protect global health. That’s $6.1 billion U.S.! A WHO review found the agency could have acted faster and more aggressively when the pandemic began; lack of power and money made it more challenging.

The United States is looking at implementing vaccine passports for travel into and out of the U.S. At the heels of their impressive vaccine program, Israel began to open its borders to foreign tourists.

Following in Canadian and U.S. footsteps, the European Medicines Agency recommended that the Pfizer vaccine be used in children ages 12 to 15. As some countries approach their vaccination targets for adults, they look to immunize as many people as possible, including kids.

More than 23 million COVID-19 vaccine doses have been administered across Canada.

After a rocky start, I am happy to see Canada looking pretty impressive on the world map of vaccinations.

Read my full article:
What Do We Know About the Kid Vaccine for COVID-19?

Speaking of vaccines, the most common question of the week:

How did Canada surpass the U.S. for vaccines?

The percentage of Canadians who received their first COVID vaccines surpassed the U.S. last week. We do lag behind the U.S. in terms of complete vaccination (with both doses). Over 55% of Canadians have received one dose, versus 50% in the U.S., with 5% of Canadians fully vaccinated versus 40% in the U.S.

It was a slow start, but the country’s organization and commitment have led to rapid vaccination rollout. The vaccine gap has narrowed, and distribution has rapidly ramped up. In Canada, the demand for doses is higher than supply. In the U.S., there is an abundance of vaccines, but vaccine hesitancy is limiting vaccine uptake above 50%.

Canada surpassed the U.S. vaccine doses per capita.

America has been vaccinating millions of citizens for longer than we have, which may be why their vaccination rate is stalling, as some of their population is vaccine-hesitant. The U.S. headstart led them to vaccinate all the eager citizens early, leaving the less than eager remaining.

According to Angus Reid, vaccine hesitancy in Canada is trending down, hovering around 10%, and slowly decreasing. For a while, we were watching from the sidelines as American’s were vaccinated, and many of us have friends or family who went south to receive the vaccines too. As vaccination rates climbed, COVID restrictions were relaxed, and many Canadians became hopeful for a similar fate.

Here in Canada, we are told by the end of June, every eligible and interested Canadian will have at least one shot, and by the end of Summer, everyone can have both. That is coming fast!

My silver lining of the week

If you follow me over on Instagram, you’ll know I received my second COVID-19 vaccine. Though I felt crummy for a few days, achy, dizzy, and headachy, I was well enough to work and happily took the side effects, knowing I am far less likely to become infected or pass on COVID-19 to my loved ones or patients. The amount of relief I feel is indescribable.⁠ I feel confident I will stay healthy and well for my kids, husband, family, and patients.

Each day I hear from more and more parents and now even my adolescent patients that they too have been vaccinated. Cases are going down. Deaths are decreasing. ICUs are slowly starting to clear.

I am much more hopeful with each passing day.

I am eager for my kids to have a fun summer and for schools to look more normal sometime soon.

We are getting there, friends!

Have a wonderful week and stay healthy and safe!