Politics This Morning: Potential vaccine not ‘silver-bullet solution’ to pandemic, says Tam

Good Wednesday morning, Chief public health officer Dr. Theresa Tam cautioned the public against putting too much faith in the development of a vaccine, saying it wouldn't signal the end of public-health measures that have been adopted. "We can't, at this stage, put all of our focus in the hopes this is the silver-bullet solution," she told reporters. "The public-health measures we have in place, the personal, daily measures we take is going to have to continue. Quite honestly, a lot of it is good personal hygienic practices we should sustain in the long run." Dr. Tam said there's still much work to be done between the early stages of a vaccine trial and the rollout of an effective treatment, noting there will need to be rigorous testing to ensure its efficacy. She added a lot remains unknown about whether one dose of a potential vaccine will be enough to inoculate an individual, or if future doses will be needed, similar to booster shots, which are needed every 10 years. According to CBC, there are more than 166 vaccines at various stages of development, including six that have reached phase three, the last one before approval. Dr. Tam's appeal for continued compliance with public-health guidelines may resonate well with most Canadians, with a new poll from Nanos and Globe and Mail suggesting that seven in 10 Canadians would support, or somewhat support, reverting back to lockdown measures if cases surged again. Pollster Nik Nanos said such support may be attributed to the fact that, despite the pandemic's impact on the economy, many Canadians were able to weather the crisis thanks to the government's relief measures. Foreign Affairs Minister François-Philippe Champagne extended his condolences to the families of the victims of the Beirut explosion in a port warehouse, which at least 78 dead and thousands injured, according to Lebanon's health ministry. "We stand with the people of #Lebanon and the diaspora during this difficult time and we are ready to assist however we can," Mr. Champagne tweeted. The Lebanese government said the blast was caused by "high explosive materials" that had been confiscated. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau echoed those sentiments, tweeting, "Canadians are thinking of everyone who has been injured and all those who are trying to locate a friend or family member or have lost a loved one. We’re keeping you in our thoughts and we stand ready to assist in any way we can." According to the Canadian Press, Ottawa and Alberta struck an agreement to cut the budget by 25 per cent for the environmental monitoring of oil sands projects due to the pandemic. CP reported it obtained a copy of the deal, outlining the budget wouldn't cover fieldwork on wetlands, fish, or insects. But Environment Minister Jonathan Wilkinson, in a tweet, said the decrease in spending "reflects the loss of spring/summer field season due to COVID-19," adding that a consensus was reached among members of a 12-person body. Toronto-area Liberal MP Michael Levitt announced he plans to vacate his seat in less than a month, by Sept. 1, to lead the Canadian Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Centre for Holocaust Studies. Mr. Levitt was first elected in 2015. His impending departure would trigger a byelection in the riding of York Centre, Ont., which the Liberals carried with 50 per cent of the vote, giving them a comfortable 15-percentage point lead over the Conservatives' at 36 per cent. In scheduled events, Infrastructure Minister Catherine McKenna is planning to drop in at the Tomlinson Family Foundation Clubhouse in Ottawa to highlight the feds' efforts aimed at adjusting infrastructure priorities to address the realities of the pandemic. That's happening at 11:15 a.m. Later this week, the special Canada-China Committee will hold hearings with David Mulroney, Canada's former envoy to Beijing, and the Central Tibetan Administration's Lobsang Sangay, the sikyong or political leader of the Tibetan diaspora. The reconvening of the committee comes amid increasingly fraught relations between Ottawa and Beijing. In a tit-for-tat response to Canada's move to suspend its extradition agreement with Hong Kong over the new national security law, China recently responded in kind by suspending agreements on mutual assistance involving criminal matters. Mr. Sangay will likely be asked to speak to concerns expressed by the international community that Hong Kong is poised to become the next Tibet. In a recent interview with AFP, the exiled leader said Hong Kong may share the same fate as Tibet, which had been promised a "one country, two systems" framework. The Hill Times

Politics This Morning

Politics This Morning: Potential vaccine not ‘silver-bullet solution’ to pandemic, says Tam

Plus, the special Canada-China Committee reconvenes Thursday to hear from Canada's former envoy to Beijing David Mulroney and Tibetan leader Lobsang Sangay.

Canada’s aging crisis and a call for reform in eldercare

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Politics This Morning

Politics This Morning: Potential vaccine not ‘silver-bullet solution’ to pandemic, says Tam

Plus, the special Canada-China Committee reconvenes Thursday to hear from Canada's former envoy to Beijing David Mulroney and Tibetan leader Lobsang Sangay.

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