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Do you ever get the feeling that maybe, sometimes, our politicians are woefully out of their depth in this pandemic? More concerned about scoring points than encouraging a good public health strategy?
Join me on a short walk...
Join me on a short walk...
Last night, Conservative strategist Jenni Byrne tweets this: https://twitter.com/Jenni_Byrne/status/1387198991482327044
She links to a statement from Pfizer saying that "the safety and efficacy of the vaccine has not been evaluated" for only providing one dose instead of two.
She links to a statement from Pfizer saying that "the safety and efficacy of the vaccine has not been evaluated" for only providing one dose instead of two.
Obviously this reflects a general concern that Canada's strategy of giving everyone one dose, and putting off the 2nd, might be foolhardy.
But problem is: That statement is from *March 23.* It's old.
But problem is: That statement is from *March 23.* It's old.
Now, we do have data on single vs. double dose. Per this study on healthcare workers: Pfizer is estimated to be 78% effective after one shot, while Moderna is 91%! https://academic.oup.com/cid/advance-article/doi/10.1093/cid/ciab361/6253721
News coverage of the study: https://www.cnbc.com/2021/03/29/cdc-study-shows-single-dose-of-pfizer-or-moderna-covid-vaccines-was-80percent-effective.html
News coverage of the study: https://www.cnbc.com/2021/03/29/cdc-study-shows-single-dose-of-pfizer-or-moderna-covid-vaccines-was-80percent-effective.html
But that's fine. Jenni is one person. Lord knows I've accidentally tweeted out old things by mistake before.
The problem is what arrived in journalists' inboxes from the Conservative Party at 8:30 this morning:
The problem is what arrived in journalists' inboxes from the Conservative Party at 8:30 this morning:
O'Toole cites a "recent statement" from Pfizer about the single dose, which we know is old. He goes on to use that to conclude: "Canada is in unchartered [sic] territory because we are administering a vaccine on a schedule that hasn’t been tested for efficacy or safety."
He says Canada's "top scientists have expressed concerns" about the strategy. Which isn't really true — Tam has expressed concerns over *reopening* with only one dose: https://www.citynews1130.com/2021/04/21/covid-19-vaccine-tam/ while the NACI has recommended this one-dose strategy: https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/services/immunization/national-advisory-committee-on-immunization-naci/rapid-response-extended-dose-intervals-covid-19-vaccines-early-rollout-population-protection.html
Basically, the Conservative Party saw *one tweet* from one strategist linking to a month-old statement and immediately fired off a statement questioning Canada's entire vaccination strategy, seemingly without consulting any of the actual science on this.
Just a quick addendum: It does seem like this old press release was circulating around yesterday, for whatever reason. It wasn't just Jenni: https://twitter.com/dianefrancis1/status/1387062249324490755?s=21
