Roundup: No to herd immunity

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For his Saturday presser, Justin Trudeau was back to his weekend uniform – tieless, collar unbuttoned, under a sweater and blazer with jeans. He started off talking about last night’s virtual vigil for Nova Scotia, then recapped the programmes they launched during the week before talking about the $62.5 million the government would spend to help the fish and seafood processing industry cope with the pandemic, both in terms of capacity, protective equipment and ensuring more physical distancing in workspaces. During the Q&A, there was more talk of health transfers and this bizarre notion that somehow the federal government could put long-term care facilities “under the Canada Health Act” (erm, I don’t think the Act works the way you think it does, guys), Trudeau stated once again that he has no intention of interfering in areas of provincial jurisdiction. Let that sink in. No. Intention. So stop asking him to “take over” things like healthcare and rents. Provinces exist. Sections 91 and 92 of the Constitution Act, 1867 exist. These are real things and he can’t just wave a wand and suddenly take over. Jurisdiction doesn’t work like that. Stop asking. Trudeau also said that he was aware of the Correctional Investigator’s report on the state of federal prisons in this pandemic era, where anyone who is sick is being sent to solitary confinement (and potential human rights abuses), but he continued to claim that they were taking “strong measures.” The problem is that nobody can seem to show any evidence of said measures. (Trudeau mentioned there wouldn’t be any pressers today, so don’t look for one).

During the ministerial briefing, Dr. Theresa Tam also shot down this notion of herd immunity and “immunity passes” that keep being floated around after Chile is piloting them, in part because we simply don’t have enough information about the virus to know whether or not someone can be re-infected once they’ve had it, or how long any protection from anti-bodies may last, and herd immunity means to continually expose greater numbers to the infection, which could still overwhelm our health capacity, and no, younger people aren’t really less susceptible as has been suggested – they can still get very sick from it, even if the mortality rate is lower for younger people. It means there are no easy fixes to reopening the economy, as much as we may hope for one.

Good reads:

  • The EU is planning a pledging conference to help fund the WHO after the Americans “suspended” funding, and expects Canada to play a big part.
  • Here’s a look into how the pandemic is most easily spread in “congregate” settings like prisons, long-term care facilities, and shelters.
  • Jason Kenney claims he can’t insulate everyone because of the deficit, but omits that he has the most enviable debt-to-GDP ratio of every province, and could help.
  • Philippe Lagassé laments the Supreme Court of Canada’s refusal to hear the royal succession case, as it opens the door to future constitutional fudging.
  • Chantal Hébert worries that attention to climate change will become a victim of the current pandemic like it was after the 2008 financial crisis.

https://twitter.com/LindsayTedds/status/1254261384432345088

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2 thoughts on “Roundup: No to herd immunity”

  1. The Alberta debt @Mar.31/19 was 85.9 billion. Oil is at ? what? $0. so Kenney had better change up Alberta’s economy fast.

  2. https://www.lapresse.ca/actualites/politique/202004/22/01-5270523-trudeau-misera-sur-une-relance-verte-apres-la-crise.php

    La Presse reports that Trudeau has already tasked Guilbeault, McKenna and Wilkinson to develop a plan that puts the “eco-” in economic recovery. A lot has changed since 2008, and this crisis is not like the previous recession in that the collapse of auto manufacturers and subprime mortgage lenders wasn’t a once-in-a-century event requiring the best scientific minds to put the pieces back together.

    Much of the same lessons to be learned from Covid-19 about human disrespect for the natural world, apply to climate change in a way they didn’t quite connect to the prior crash. It doesn’t require getting into the weeds of the Rose Twitter cult either, and calling for a total abolition of the private sector and shaking one’s fists about “capitalism.” There is a role to play for competitive innovation, one that benefits the environment at the same time it boosts the financial prospects of the employees underneath its solar-paneled roof.

    Furthermore, Kenney’s brand of poisonous, plutocratic petro-politicking at the expense of human and ecological health has proven even more toxic in the wake of a pandemic. It would appear that the Liberals, and the other left-of-center minor parties, are all but done attempting to placate him and the handful of yellow-vested yahoos who still follow him, content instead to let him and his federal counterparts hang themselves professionally with their own oil-soaked rope. The same goes for Trump, as regards waiting him out in anticipation of the Democrats getting started on cleaning up an unprecedented mess this November. No one is holding their breath in hopes of a much-needed reset of relations with the United States more than the geographically unfortunate prime minister and his team north of the 49th.

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