Mr. Mario Dumont: “Canada in the third world of the vaccination” [“Le Canada dans le tiers monde de la vaccination”]

This article by Mr. Mario Dumont is in line with two former posts by Bambi, one at the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic and the other one more recently about the vaccination (as per the very end of this post).

The choice of the terms “third world” is interesting for Bambi to read because she has also sarcastically used “third world of the developed countries” back in April, 2020. More recently, and contrary to her senior friends and relatives in Ontario and Québec, her parents got their two doses of vaccines, for a while now. Keep in mind that their vaccination campaign only started in the third week of February, 2021 (delayed by one week of the schedule time, if Bambi recalls well). Please also keep in mind that Lebanon is truly in the third world! Plus, it is bankrupt now. Furthermore, it has MANY dangerous issues, and it is still without a government for seven months (only a caretaker form of governance).

Anyhow, here is a quick translation of the very interesting article of Mr. Mario Dumont. When she read it, Bambi could not help not to think about what she already knew: For her, the problem in life is not the mismanagement of (tough) crises by our leaders. It is rather the arrogance of those leaders that is the most disturbing. She is saying so with all due respect and gratitude to all those in Ottawa working hard to ensure our vaccination (beginning with our PM himself and extending to every hardworking politician or bureaucrat). It is surely not easy to govern at any time. Imagine during a pandemic…

Enough of Bambi’s blahblahblah now… Here is Mr. Dumont’s thoughtful article, published today in the Journal de Montréal:

https://www.journaldemontreal.com/2021/04/02/le-canada-dans-le-tiers-monde-de-la-vaccination

“The new restrictions announced by François Legault hit hard. After a year, our absorption capacity decreased. Some are down on morale, others have deflated optimism, not to mention those who take out their anger on humanity.

It’s natural to look for the culprits: the government, cheating citizens, owners of establishments that have had outbreaks. Few people are inclined to point the finger at the crux of the matter. The low vaccination of our population.

Apparently, the vaccination campaign is getting better. We are getting more doses. The large vaccination sites spread across Québec administer these doses. For the past two weeks, pharmacies have joined the effort in Montreal. In short, we can no longer denounce a stagnant vaccination campaign.

However, the rest of the world also vaccinates. To judge the operation in Canada, we have to compare ourselves. This is where things take a turn for the worse. Canada is doing really poorly.

We’re tumbling down

It should be remembered that Canada was part of the leading pack for the start of its vaccination campaign. In mid-December, we were on the podium of the top three countries in the world. In January, our pace slowed for lack of vaccines. Canada was around 25th in the proportion of citizens vaccinated by the end of January. Steep descent.

Then it was the disaster. Delivery interruptions put the campaign almost completely on hiatus. In the following month, Canada slipped to 50th in the world. Shame. Canada was overtaken by many poorer countries.

I am convinced that the general impression is that the resumption of vaccination and the arrival of larger doses have restored the situation. I am sure many Canadians believe Canada is moving up this list of countries that vaccinate the most.

It’s an illusion. Canada vaccinates more, but even less than others. And when you look at the world rankings, you can see that Canada has not climbed up, but has continued to slide down the list. With just over 15% of the population vaccinated, it is now between 55th and 60th in the world, depending on the compilation method.

A Very bad outcome

Justin Trudeau seems to be scoring points in the war of perceptions. At every press conference, he seems to announce millions and millions of additional vaccines. But on the floor of the cows, the citizens of his country are in the third world of vaccination.

The vaccination blackout in February was not just a small detail that required a little patience. This is a major flaw for which we are paying a high price today. The 3rd wave of COVID would not have the same scope if we had double the vaccinated population. The consequences would be less severe if all vulnerable people were protected.”

for fun, if you have the time, you may wish to replicate this table from the source below.

* Countries with more than 100 doses per 100 inhabitants have already started giving the second dose.

Source : ourworldindata.org

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Thanks to journalist Roula Douglas for sharing a beautiful picture of Beirut

A picture of Beirut taken from the Twitter account of Ms. Roula Douglas (spring, 2021)

Beirut is immortal— even after successive occupations, surrealistic explosions, pandemics, bankruptcy, political deadlocks, and hegemony of external forces.

Beirut has it own charm and its own free spirit.

No one can take it away…

So many local and international artists paid tribute to Beirut, the bridge linking the East to the West.

Mr. Enrico Macias also knew it and sang for Beirut.