Jarvis: ‘The risk of simply waiting and watching is too high’

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Thirty per cent of people in Britain are fully vaccinated against COVID-19.

But Britain, a world leader in COVID-19 vaccination, received a disturbing report Tuesday from its Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE).

Thirty per cent isn’t enough, not against the latest voracious variant first found in India.

Canada has more than 500 cases of it. And only five per cent of Canadians are fully vaccinated. What happens if that variant takes hold here?

That’s why we need every vaccine dose we can get, as soon as we can get it, including the thousands of surplus doses that Detroit is offering us.

A subtype of the Indian variant, known as B.1.617.2, was found in England on March 28. Now, it makes up half of all cases in that country.

The number of cases is growing twice as fast as cases of the previously dominant UK variant, and close contacts of those infected with the Indian variant are 50 per cent more likely to be infected.

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“Its growth has outpaced all other tracked variants,” the SAGE report states.

Public Health England has declared it a variant of concern.

The report cites the first real-world evidence of the effectiveness of the Pfizer-BioNTech and Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccines against both the UK and Indian variants in another report by Public Health England. That study estimates that both vaccines are only 33 per cent effective at preventing symptomatic infection from the Indian variant and 51 per cent effective against the UK variant after one dose.

But efficacy jumps after two doses. Pfizer is 88 per cent effective against the Indian variant and 93 per cent effective against the UK variant after two doses. AstraZeneca is 60 per cent effective against the Indian variant and 66 per cent effective against the UK variant after two doses. AstraZeneca’s lower efficacy is believed to be because it takes longer to reach its full efficacy after the second dose.

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“This is the first real-world evidence that B.1.617.2 does possess some vaccine escape ability, particularly in people who have had just one dose,” the SAGE report states.

“While two doses of vaccine offer excellent protection,” it continues, “this is much lower after one dose.”

Like Canada, England extended the interval between doses to vaccinate more people faster. That was “undoubtedly” the right decision in January, the report says, but this summer, “many people will be without full protection for many weeks longer.”

The country must “immediately bolster” its already successful vaccination campaign, the report says.

“The risk of simply waiting and watching is too high,” it concludes.

But here in Canada, the government seems to think it’s okay to simply wait and watch.

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For whatever reason, the federal government appears disinterested in finding a solution

For five weeks, Windsor and Essex County have tried to access the thousands of surplus vaccine doses that hospitals, pharmacies and clinics in Detroit have been offering us. We’ve tried sending people to Detroit to get the shots. We’ve tried bringing the vaccine here. We’ve tried meeting at the border.

“For whatever reason, the federal government appears disinterested in finding a solution,” said a source close to the talks.

Deputy Health Minister Dr. Stephen Lucas was questioned about getting the vaccine at a House of Commons health committee meeting last Friday. 

When will the government approve Windsor Regional Hospital’s request to access the vaccine, asked Conservative MP and committee vice-chair Michelle Rempel Garner.

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“I don’t have that information at hand,” Lucas replied. “There are vaccines available in Canada.”

This was a Public Health Agency of Canada spokesperson last week: “Vaccines are widely available in Canada.”

This region’s only government member, Windsor-Tecumseh MP Irek Kusmierczyk, said in a statement Tuesday his office has made over 100 calls and emails to the offices of the prime minister and three different cabinet ministers, Canada’s consul general, and local and Michigan state officials to try to get the vaccine.

He points out that Windsor and Essex County have vaccinated 65 per cent of all adults, that Canada has secured 25 million vaccines to date, that it now has the fastest vaccination rate among G20 countries and has surpassed the percentage of people in the U.S. who are vaccinated.

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That’s all good. But the reality is it’s not good enough. Ninety-five per cent of Canadians still aren’t fully protected. And that means they’re vulnerable to aggressive virus variants.

Ontario has 1.8 million surplus vaccine doses that haven’t been administered yet, Kusmierczyk said. Provincial distribution is the key, he said.

The Windsor-Essex County Health Unit has said repeatedly it doesn’t have surplus vaccine. It administers everything it gets. If there are doses in freezers, they’re for clinics that are fully booked a week in advance.

The key is scrambling for every extra dose we can get to protect ourselves and reopen our schools and our economy.

Several provinces have announced plans to shorten the interval between doses — but that will depend on vaccine supply.

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Dilkens’ suggestion that Canadians and Americans meet at the border in the middle of the Detroit-Windsor Tunnel for vaccinations is unorthodox. What hasn’t been unorthodox the last 15 months?

This is a national issue. All along the world’s longest undefended border, from the Atlantic provinces to British Columbia, American communities are offering Canadians their surplus vaccine.

And this government’s lackadaisical response is just another example of its bewildering lack of urgency when it comes to fully vaccinating its citizens.

Meanwhile, surplus doses in the U.S. are expiring.

ajarvis@postmedia.com