Partnering with capitalism

I have relatives who like to divide the world into right and left, into conservatives and liberals. They get all agitated at the idea of progressives. Me? I like to go with what works.

When the vaccines for COVID-19 were announced, the drugstore chains in Canada stepped up and said that they could do a first-rate job of delivering the vaccine to the public. Many of the drugstores in Canada already offer the annual flu shot.

My wife and I got our first shot of the Pfizer covid-19 vaccine at an Ontario government run clinic held in a large building at the fairgrounds back in mid April. We had no complaints but we needed an appointment and there was a substantial wait time for many people. The wait time for the second dose seemed downright unreasonable. We were not slated for our second dose until early August. A wait of almost four months!

Enter capitalism and our Canadian, privately run drugstores. Granted the amount of vaccine has increased greatly and that is a big part of why wait times are down but it does not explain away all the delays. No matter which government run operation we called, whether in London or a nearby town, my wife and I could not get a shot before July.

Then we heard from a friend who simply walked into a drugstore, inquired about getting vaccinated and was vaccinated before she left the drugstore. Wow!

My wife called a neighbourhood drugstore. The first place, a Shoppers Drug Mart, was giving out the Moderna vaccine. My wife and I were given the Pfizer for our first shot. No problem, we were told. The other Shoppers Drug Mart in our area had the Pfizer. We were given the telephone number, we called and less than 48 hours later both my wife and I had our second shot. It is not even the middle of June. Not bad.

The immediate cost of the vaccinations, nothing. Our provincial health care system is covering all costs. Whether one gets the shot at a government run clinic or a privately run drugstore, the cost is covered. The successful partnering between governments and businesses to quickly deliver vaccine in Canada is an example of doing what is best, doing what is most efficient and not worrying about the political optics. 

The last figures that I saw showed Canada almost tied with Israel for the highest number of vaccinations per 100 residents. Canada was just ahead of the United Kingdom but was well ahead of the United States.