Canada bans all cruises until Feb 2022.

[Ourusualbeach]

47 minutes ago, A&L_Ont said:

Now in the last few days the Feds are touting a Canadian developed vaccine and manufacturing plant.  It's human trials have not even been completed let alone just starting.  The factory is not to be completed until September.

I agree that this new facility will most likely do nothing for the current round of vaccines since we should be getting enough before they can actually start production.  What I do like about this investment is that should annual boosters for variants become necessary this will put us in a much better position going forward

[Tree_skier]

2 hours ago, NateUpNorth said:

 

Or they now know they aren't going to hit their "everyone who wants the vaccine will have it by Sept" target in any way, shape or form, and thus more border type controls are going to be extended or implemented? Like you said, this looks good, but I have a feeling it's more than optics at play.

I'd actually expect there may be several other "destination" countries that may go this route.

You are right.  The vaccine rollout has been a catastrophic government failure. Canada is currently vaccinating at 25.3% the rate of the US and 16.6% of the UK on a per capita basis.  They surely won't meet their September target.  However shutting cruising down until the end of Oct. would have had the same effect as shutting it down for a year. The February date is clearly done for appearance sake. Perhaps the prime minister could don one of his many costumes and play act as a nurse and help speed things along.

Edited February 5, 2021 by Tree_skier

[DCGuy64]

14 minutes ago, Tree_skier said:

You are right.  The vaccine rollout has been a catastrophic government failure. Canada is currently vaccinating at 25.3% the rate of the US and 16.6% of the UK on a per capita basis.  They surely won't meet their September target.  However shutting cruising down until the end of Oct. would have had the same effect as shutting it down for a year. The February date is clearly done for appearance sake. Perhaps the prime minister could don one of his many costumes and play act as a nurse and help speed things along.

Canada's amazing health care system is often trotted out as a paragon of success, usually in contrast to the comparatively dismal US health care system. It's a little bit ironic to see the US far ahead of its friendly neighbor to the North when it comes to the vaccine rollout. What went wrong?

[Tree_skier]

1 minute ago, DCGuy64 said:

Canada's amazing health care system is often trotted out as a paragon of success, usually in contrast to the comparatively dismal US health care system

This is a media driven lie. I am an experienced consumer of both systems.  There is no chance in the world that I would take the Canadian system over the US.  US healthcare is the best in the world as far as I am concerned.

[DCGuy64]

2 minutes ago, Tree_skier said:

This is a media driven lie. I am an experienced consumer of both systems.  There is no chance in the world that I would take the Canadian system over the US.  US healthcare is the best in the world as far as I am concerned.

That is fascinating.

For most of my lifetime, I have heard over and over, ad nauseum, how Canada's system beats the US in every measurable way. It's interesting to see someone say otherwise. (BTW it isn't a competition, as I see it, however there are forces in the US who insist that we fail in comparison to Canada and thus should convert to their single payer system). This is a standard election year narrative in the USA. 

 

 

[Ourusualbeach]

29 minutes ago, DCGuy64 said:

t's a little bit ironic to see the US far ahead of its friendly neighbor to the North when it comes to the vaccine rollout. What went wrong?

What went wrong had nothing at all to do with our healthcare system and everything to do with our current and previous governments not keeping manufacturing jobs in Canada.  Canada currently has zero vaccine manufacturing capabilities and must rely on other countries productions facilities for all of our vaccines.  With many other countries not allowing vaccines to be exported until their own population is vaccinated we are well down the line.  To be honest I think that our government did what they could in securing the vaccines as we have purchased enough to vaccinate our population almost 10 times over and with a large number of different vaccines so all our proverbial eggs were not in one basket.  I'm not sure if anything different could have been done other than starting construction on our own manufacturing facility last march when all this started.

[ilovetotravel1977]

Off topic, but Canadians will be lucky to be completely vaccinated by the end of 2021.  September was/is a pipe dream. New Brunswick is already saying it will take the entire year for that province.

Edited February 5, 2021 by ilovetotravel1977

[Ourusualbeach]

8 minutes ago, ilovetotravel1977 said:

Off topic, but Canadians will be lucky to be completely vaccinated by the end of 2021.  September was/is a pipe dream. New Brunswick is already saying it will take the entire year for that province.

All depends on what additional vaccines get approved and when.  So many variables.  based off the only 2 that have been approved then yes it will be into 2022 but there are others in the pipeline

[molly361]

16 minutes ago, ilovetotravel1977 said:

Off topic, but Canadians will be lucky to be completely vaccinated by the end of 2021.  September was/is a pipe dream. New Brunswick is already saying it will take the entire year for that province.

Wouldn't surprise me if the US is not fully vaccinated in 2021 either

[The Grumpus]

3 minutes ago, molly361 said:

Wouldn't surprise me if the US is not fully vaccinated in 2021 either

It depends on what you mean by "fully".  The US will never be 100% vaccinated, some people simply won't take the shot.  If we end up with 50% - 60% of the population vaccinated and 15% - 25% who previously had the virus, we might get to that ever changing herd immunity threshold.🙏

[MommaBear55]

2 hours ago, Tree_skier said:

This is a media driven lie. I am an experienced consumer of both systems.  There is no chance in the world that I would take the Canadian system over the US.  US healthcare is the best in the world as far as I am concerned.

But only if you have insurance. Or can afford the $10,000 out of pocket that you have if you even can pay out of pocket for your insurance. 

[Missusdubbya]

2 hours ago, Tree_skier said:

US healthcare is the best in the world as far as I am concerned.

Have you tested out healthcare in every country in the world? 

[Mapleleafforever]

1 hour ago, molly361 said:

Wouldn't surprise me if the US is not fully vaccinated in 2021 either

The US (and Canada) will never be fully vaccinated. There's still people who believe in a nefarious Pizza Parlour after all......

[Mapleleafforever]

2 hours ago, DCGuy64 said:

That is fascinating.

For most of my lifetime, I have heard over and over, ad nauseum, how Canada's system beats the US in every measurable way. It's interesting to see someone say otherwise. (BTW it isn't a competition, as I see it, however there are forces in the US who insist that we fail in comparison to Canada and thus should convert to their single payer system). This is a standard election year narrative in the USA. 

 

 

I'll admit that I don't understand quite a lot about how the American system works but I can say that what I like about the Canadian system is that every Canadian is covered by it and has the same coverage. We do have supplemental benefits for dental and what not that not everyone has but for the most part I don't have many complaints about our system. 

[Mapleleafforever]

1 hour ago, ilovetotravel1977 said:

Off topic, but Canadians will be lucky to be completely vaccinated by the end of 2021.  September was/is a pipe dream. New Brunswick is already saying it will take the entire year for that province.

You misspelled "miracle" as "lucky". 

[lizzius]

2 hours ago, DCGuy64 said:

Canada's amazing health care system is often trotted out as a paragon of success, usually in contrast to the comparatively dismal US health care system. It's a little bit ironic to see the US far ahead of its friendly neighbor to the North when it comes to the vaccine rollout. What went wrong?

In the US, you have to separate out pharma from the healthcare system at large. This really was a make or break moment for them... We've been sold the idea that we pay outrageous prices for insulin or otherwise generic, widely available drugs (in addition to the specialized ones that really are akin to ransom in my book) in order to fund research. I suppose the fact that multiple companies had novel technology ready to go to market is a weak testament to that (though Pfizer really was just the regulatory guide and manufacturing partner for a German product)... We just have to ask ourselves if the medical bankruptcies, or heart breaking stories about diabetics/cancer patients/CKD'ers and their drugs justify this result (or if the result would have been much different if pharma was properly price regulated here in the US).

[molly361]

1 hour ago, Mapleleafforever said:

The US (and Canada) will never be fully vaccinated. There's still people who believe in a nefarious Pizza Parlour after all......

I realize that  I meant fully vaccinated with those that want to participate  

Edited February 5, 2021 by molly361

[sfaaa]

1 hour ago, Mapleleafforever said:

The US (and Canada) will never be fully vaccinated. There's still people who believe in a nefarious Pizza Parlour after all......

So long as all the cruisers and crew on the ship are vaccinated, that's all I care.

[voyager70]

2 hours ago, Missusdubbya said:

Have you tested out healthcare in every country in the world? 

Mine is bigger than yours 😉

[RFerrington]

29 minutes ago, sfaaa said:

So long as all the cruisers and crew on the ship are vaccinated, that's all I care.

I did notice that in the Carnival announcement the word vaccine is conspicuously absent.

[Blizzard54]

Royal says they might give us news on the 12th.

From Royal's website:

 

Update on Canada

Last updated February 5th, 2021

The Canadian government recently announced a ban on cruise ship travel until February 2022. While we are disappointed by this news, we understand and appreciate the Canadian government’s focus on combatting COVID-19. We know this news is upsetting, but we must respect each country’s decision to evaluate cruise ship and guest entry.

Due to the announcement, we are currently evaluating our itineraries and hope to have an update for our guests and travel partners by Friday, February 12th.

We will continue to work with health and transportation officials on a path forward to address the impact on multiple sectors of the Canadian economy. We will also continue to focus on what we can do to support our fellow Alaska businesses, the people who rely on the tourism industry, and the regions in which we operate.

[Basketball wife]

5 hours ago, Tree_skier said:

This is a media driven lie. I am an experienced consumer of both systems.  There is no chance in the world that I would take the Canadian system over the US.  US healthcare is the best in the world as far as I am concerned.

But, good point from Missusdubbya ...

3 hours ago, Missusdubbya said:

Have you tested out healthcare in every country in the world? 

Now retired, I have worked as a nurse/nurse practitioner in Montreal, LA, Milan, back to LA, Miami and finished in Toronto. I read this report last year and bookmarked it because it sums up my experience:

U.S. Health Care from a Global Perspective, 2019: Higher Spending, Worse Outcomes?

January 30, 2020. Roosa Tikkanen and Melinda K. Abrams

 

“In sum, the U.S. health care system is the most expensive in the world, but Americans continue to live relatively unhealthier and shorter lives than peers in other high-income countries. Efforts to rein in costs, improve affordability and access to needed care, coupled with greater efforts to address risk factors, are required to alleviate the problem.”

 

https://www.commonwealthfund.org/publications/issue-briefs/2020/jan/us-health-care-global-perspective-2019

[A&L_Ont]

8 hours ago, Ourusualbeach said:

I agree that this new facility will most likely do nothing for the current round of vaccines since we should be getting enough before they can actually start production.  What I do like about this investment is that should annual boosters for variants become necessary this will put us in a much better position going forward

One could only hope that the millions of excess vaccines that we have preordered and paid for, over and above the new facility, would be kept to do that. That being said, we need to have the ability to make them here within our own country. I have said the same about PPE etc for over a year now.  We make our own money, we should control PPE and vaccine production too. Just my thoughts. 
 

Here’s an interesting read which I just saw today. If half of this is right/true I could “lose” it. Not really, but you get the idea. There is a time to invest in the country and a time to spend money to save the people of the country. We are doing both as it stands, but imagine if we could have already vaccinated a great deal of our nation by now VS just the population of Nova Scotia. Rant over. 

https://nationalpost.com/news/how-ottawa-utterly-botched-canadas-covid-vaccine-acquisition

 

[Ourusualbeach]

14 minutes ago, A&L_Ont said:

One could only hope that the millions of excess vaccines that we have preordered and paid for, over and above the new facility, would be kept to do that.

Hopefully some of those that we have preordered will be updated to include the newest versions for the variants. 

[lovescats5]

And yet...why does everyone think that the vaccine is the cure for Covid.  The flu shot does not keep everyone from getting the flu.  At what point of time are we just going to let people get out and if we get sick we get sick.  And now there are so many people who feel that if children can not get vacicnated they should not be allowed on a ship.  Tell me how that will affect RCl's bottom line.