COVID-19 Vaccinationsand theborder Vaccines are Opening the World. In Canada − Not so Much With European nations opening their borders to COVID-vaccinated summer vacationers, andmillions of American adults (56* per cent are fully vaccinated) returning to airports and highway travel daily, vaccinated but tieddown Canadians have a reason to ask: “What about me?” *(CDC, June 20, 2021) Despite a steady downward trend in new COVID cases and deaths, and steadily increasing vaccinations from a growing pool of suppliers, the most recent extension of the Canada/U.S. border closure to “at least July 21” simply perpetuates the continuing indecision and confusion as to why people who are fully vaccinated by medications approved by Canada, the U.S. and Europe are still being suppressed, despite overwhelming scientific endorsement of their efficacy. According to the Oxford (University) COVID-19 Government Response Tracker (OxCGRT), which advises governments regarding how different countries have been dealing with the pandemic via indices such as workplace closures, travel bans, stay-at- home restrictions, public gatherings, public events, school closures and other variables, Canada’s restrictions on normal life activities during this pandemic are among the strictest in the world. It notes that on a scale of zero to 100 (100 being the strictest), Canada scored 73.61 at the beginning of June 2021, along with India at 87.96, Cuba at 78.24 and Venezuela at 87.96. At the other end of the scale, the U.S. scored 52.31, France was 54.63, Australia was 44.91 and Israel was 43.52. by Milan Korcok CSANews | SUMMER 2021 | 45
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