Doctor says Canada should focus on vaccine equality – not travel bans

They said it was in everyone’s best interests to do so.

said Dr. Ross Upshur, professor in the Dalla Lana School of Public Health and the Department of Family Medicine at the University of Toronto.

After Omicron’s announcement, Canada said it would restrict travel from countries in South Africa, a region that has reported worrying cases of the new variant. Critics immediately questioned the movement – as it was It becomes clear that the variable It also appears in various parts of the world and in Canada.

Vaccine target not achieved

Infectious disease specialists have long said that the way to prevent the spread and mutation is to make sure countries around the world have enough vaccines for most of their populations. The World Health Organization (WHO) has set a target of vaccinating 70% of the world’s population by mid-2022.

But the world is still a long way from that goal with nearly 40 countries – mostly in Africa – having less than 10% of their population vaccinated against COVID-19, immunization data from local governments showed on Wednesday via Our world is in the data.

Watch | A South African doctor talks about the symptoms of Omicron:

said Dr Angelique Coetzee, one of the first doctors to discover the omicron variant in patients in South Africa.

Canada must do more – and fast

During the pandemic, Canada provided vaccines and financial support to other countries through global efforts such as: COVAX The initiative, which raises funds from rich countries to purchase vaccines for those countries and to ensure access to low- and middle-income countries.

The initiative aims to deliver at least 2 billion doses globally by the end of 2021. But the most recent supply estimates in September suggest it is only expected to receive 1.425 billion doses this year. COVAX has struggled to purchase vaccines as many factories that produce vaccines meet demand from wealthy countries who have paid more for their doses.

Policy experts who spoke to CBC said the emergence of Omicron showed Canada needed to do it faster. The first thing on the list, he said, was to prioritize the delivery of the largest doses to countries with low immunization rates as quickly as possible.

“Until COVAX gets the dose they need, we will continue to see this huge gap,” said Ian Thompson of aid agency Oxfam Canada.

Ottawa has pledged to donate the equivalent of 200 million vaccines (in actual doses and funds to purchase doses) through COVAX by the end of 2022.

As of Wednesday, 8.3 million doses of vaccine donated by Canada through COVAX had been delivered, and Canada’s financial contribution to the initiative helped purchase approximately 87 million doses of vaccine for low- and middle-income countries. , according to Global Affairs.

“The vaccine ration contains a lot of ingredients. And I think in the case of Canada, we stepped up and the Canadian government provided financial support to COVAX. “

“What Canada did not do was actually followed by that commitment.”

pointing to A report released in October by the People’s Vaccine Alliance, which includes Oxfam Yang found that of the 40 million doses promised by Canada at the start of the pandemic, only eight percent – or about 3.3 million – of those doses had been delivered.

In an email response to CBC’s inquiries on Wednesday, Global Affairs Canada spokesperson Geneviève Tremblay said Canada had provided doses “in turn, as published by manufacturers.”

Watch | Get vaccinated for everyone in the world, says an infectious disease specialist in Toronto:

Vaccine equality a top priority for infectious disease specialists

It is important to understand the new variant of the coronavirus, and it is just as important that people around the world are vaccinated, said Dr. Isaac Bogoch. (Photo credit: AP Photo / Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi) 1:12

Canada has nearly six million doses in its national inventory according to Public Health Canada and others million doses Reported futile since its introduction – critics say it should go to countries in need.

said Dr. Zane Chagla, MD, infectious disease physician at St. Joseph’s Healthcare in Hamilton and professor at McMaster University.

“We have to be very aware that the herbs that come into our lands have to be in demand,” he said. Otherwise, they shouldn’t have come here. “

More producers will produce more vaccines

Thompson said Ottawa could also contribute to equality in vaccines by joining efforts to advocate for changes in intellectual property (IP) rules that vaccine makers could use to keep their recipes and techniques secret. manufacturing.

“We have been lobbying the World Trade Organization for several months to relax the rules so that we can bring more manufacturers into the COVID vaccine manufacturing game, especially in developing countries,” Thompson said. “The production could happen there and it could be distributed more quickly to that population.”

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has said his government will consider giving up intellectual property rights that vaccine makers enjoy to improve access, but has not backed another nationally backed plan – known as Trade -Related Intellectual Property Waiver Proposal (TRIPS) – for dismantling. IP protection for vaccines.

A spokeswoman for Global Affairs Tremblay said on Wednesday that the federal government is engaged in discussions to waive intellectual property protections.

Tremblay said Canada has donated up to $ 15 million to set up a technology transfer center in South Africa, which could see regional development and production of vaccine and mRNA technology.

Syringes and other necessary supplies

The World Health Organization warned last month that there could be a shortage of the 1 to 2 billion injections needed to deliver a COVID-19 vaccine next year, and UNICEF Canada chief David Morley, told CBC that demand for such supplies is already high in many countries.

Tremblay said Canada is providing $ 70 million in COVID-19 support and shipping envelopes for COVAX “to help countries deploy, deliver and distribute to homes effectively and efficiently.”

He also pledged to match nearly $ 10 million donated by Canadian individuals to the #GiveAVax fund through UNICEF Canada to cover the costs of transporting vaccines and training health workers.

Dr Anna Banerjee, an infectious disease specialist at the University of Toronto’s medical school, said resource management to ensure staff were trained in vaccine management and that there were explanations Culturally appropriate available to combat misinformation and doubt about vaccines is an important part of vaccine equivalence. Dalla Lana School of Medicine and Public Health.

“We have to work with countries around the world to help them with what they need to try to vaccinate their people, so we’re not constantly fighting new mutations as they happen,” Banerjee said. .

“If you think that we are the keepers of our brothers, we really need the help of the world to move forward.”