From: brewnoser2@gmail.com   
      
   We're going to encounter it a whole lot of times when it comes to the   
   interests of the U.S. vs Canada.   
      
   If we learn - painfully - what it really means, maybe we'll stop with the   
   'free trade' shit and get on with rebuilding our own horticultural, vehicle,   
   transportation, and health systems that don't rely on other countries.   
      
   Mulroney sold our largest pharmaceutical labs to private companies from the   
   U.S. Now we're paying the price with Canadian lives. That's a lesson we'd   
   better learn from.   
   __________________________________________   
   CBC News · Posted: Mar 01, 2021   
      
   Biden spokesperson rules out helping Canada, Mexico with vaccine supply before   
   all Americans are inoculated   
      
   The White House spokesperson today ruled out sending vaccines to continental   
   partners like Canada and Mexico, saying U.S. President Joe Biden is committed   
   to getting every American vaccinated before sharing doses with other countries.   
      
   During a White House press briefing today, Jen Psaki was asked if Biden was   
   considering sharing part of the U.S. COVID-19 vaccine supply with allies.   
   "No," she replied.   
      
   "The president has made clear that he is focused on ensuring that vaccines are   
   accessible to every American. That is our focus," she added.   
      
   Psaki was more definitive than U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken was last   
   week. In an interview with CBC's Rosemary Barton Live, Blinken said the U.S.   
   was looking at "how we can help get vaccines around the world."   
      
   "None of us are going to be fully safe until everyone in every part of the   
   world is vaccinated," Blinken said when asked if the administration would   
   scrap Trump-era restrictions on U.S. vaccine exports.   
      
   Canada is a vaccine laggard in the Western world right now; dozens of other   
   countries have vaccinated more people per capita. The U.S. is expected to have   
   enough supply to vaccinate 4.5 times more people, per capita, than Canada in   
   the first three months    
   of 2021.   
      
   Biden has so far maintained the past administration's policy of earmarking   
   virtually all U.S.-made vaccines for the American market. Pfizer's Kalamazoo,   
   Mich. plant and Moderna operations in New England are dedicated to producing   
   U.S. shipments alone.   
      
   Last December, then-U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order   
   demanding drugmakers first supply the U.S. government before assisting other   
   nations. Trump's Operation Warp Speed — the U.S. mission to develop a   
   vaccine, manufacture it in    
   large quantities and push it out into communities — provided funding to   
   Moderna to develop its product.   
      
   That policy has forced Canada to turn to European plants for supply, despite   
   the geographic proximity of those American operations.   
      
   Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said last week, however, that Canada is   
   expecting part of its supply of the AstraZeneca product to be shipped from   
   U.S. plants in the second and third quarters of this year.   
      
   While Health Canada approved the shot last week, that company hasn't yet   
   applied to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for emergency use   
   authorization (EUA) for the U.S. market.   
      
   "We are receiving positive indications that we will be on track to receive our   
   20 million doses from the facility in the United States," Public Services and   
   Procurement Minister Anita Anand said.   
      
   Anand has said she asked the U.S. administration to allow some Pfizer shots to   
   flow north but her requests were rebuffed.   
      
   Psaki said that once the 300 million-plus Americans who are eligible for a   
   shot have been vaccinated, the U.S. could talk about sharing supply.   
      
   "But our focus, [Biden's] focus, the administration's focus is on ensuring   
   that every American is vaccinated, and once we accomplish that objective we're   
   happy to discuss further steps beyond that," she said.   
      
   "The next step is economic recovery and that is ensuring that our neighbours,   
   Mexico and Canada, have similarly managed the pandemic so that we can open   
   borders and build back better."   
      
   https://external-preview.redd.it/LYT8bTCwbiOnviiwbIqLRcM_arOMPWW   
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   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)