'The enemy is not vaccination, the enemy is COVID-19': Health minister comments on trucker convoy heading to Ottawa
Canada's Minister of Health, Jean-Yves Duclos, commented on the trucker convoy, expected to arrive in Ottawa on Friday, stressing that COVID-19 is the "enemy" not the vaccines.
The convoy of which we should be speaking is a convoy of everyone being on board, knowing that the enemy is not vaccination, the enemy is COVID-19, and the best tool to fight this enemy is to be vaccinated.Jean-Yves Duclos, Canada's Minister of Health
"Because of the great progress that science and scientists made just a few months ago, we have the great fortune of having a key tool in our toolbox to fight COVID-19, Omicron, not only in the short term but in the longer term."
"With this fortune comes a collective responsibility. We’re all tired...but it’s the only tool for which we know that there is a definite benefit."
Dr. Theresa Tam, Canada’s chief public health officer, stressed that it continues to be critically important to debunk misinformation, particularly related to COVID-19 vaccines, and she thanked individuals in the transportation sector who did get vaccinated.
"Throughout the pandemic and certainly since the star of the vaccination program, it has been really important to address misinformation and using multiple means to do that, including debunking misinformation as rapidly as we can and potentially doing pre-bunking, which is to prevent this misinformation before they even start," Dr. Tam said.
Canada’s chief public health officer added that we need to make sure that there is access to vaccines and individuals are able to have legitimate questions answers but health experts.
