Canadian Politics Today
Federal Politics => Canadian Politics => Topic started by: Queefer Sutherland on February 16, 2021, 04:29:38 pm
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I find this disturbing:
https://www.cbc.ca/radio/thehouse/racialized-canadians-vaccine-priority-1.5911952
Two public health experts in Toronto say governments must prioritize vaccinating Black Canadians and other people of colour against COVID-19 because the data shows they are most at risk of contracting the virus.
Akwatu Khenti and Ananya Tina Banerjee told CBC Radio's The House that failing to vaccinate those communities will not only put them at greater risk of getting COVID-19, but also increases the chance that the virus will spread more widely.
"The reason that Black people have a higher rate of positivity, or higher hospitalization rates, is actually because of social inequities, systemic racism and neighborhood vulnerabilities," said Khenti, who teaches at the University of Toronto's Dalla Lana School of Public Health and chairs the city's Black Scientists Task Force on Vaccine Equity.
There's NOTHING about someone's skin colour that makes them more vulnerable to COVID. This is racist hogwash. What does make them more vulnerable is low income, # of occupants per dwelling and population density of the area they live (ie: apartment buildings vs single homes), whether they are front-line workers etc. Race is NOT a factor. Race is only a correlating factor with other variables that do actually increase COVID risk, such as income and the other ones mentioned.
If we prioritize racial minorities, does that mean poor white people living in these neighbourhoods don't get vaccine priority? Does this mean wealthy racial minorities get vaccine priority? How is this in any way logical or just? It's simply racist.
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There’s a lot of stuff here to combat the kind of selective ignorance above:
https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20200420-coronavirus-why-some-racial-groups-are-more-vulnerable
The virus doesn’t care how you feel about things.
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There’s a lot of stuff here to combat the kind of selective ignorance above:
https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20200420-coronavirus-why-some-racial-groups-are-more-vulnerable
The virus doesn’t care how you feel about things.
How is it selective ignorance?
He says the same thing as the article you linked. The causes are economic, not racial.
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There’s a lot of stuff here to combat the kind of selective ignorance above:
https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20200420-coronavirus-why-some-racial-groups-are-more-vulnerable
What is your argument? Nothing your link says disagrees with my points from what I see.
The virus doesn’t care how you feel about things.
The virus doesn't care about a person's skin colour. It's not infecting people because they're black or brown. As you say, the virus doesn’t care how you feel about things.
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Really?
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Part 2
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Part 3
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The lets deal with indigenous people. Indigenous people in Canada are far more severely affected by COVID 19. There are a whole host of reasons for this, but a lot of it comes down to the prevalence of diabetes in indigenous communities. It is in fact thought to be a genetic predisposition:
https://www.cbc.ca/news/health/diabetes-type-2-first-nations-1.3768773
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But I'm not really sure of your point anyway. Who cares why it affects minority communities more? It does. That means that they should be a higher vaccine priority if our goal is preventing death and suffering.
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Really?
US surveys aren't relevant to Canada's healthcare systems. If there is evidence of widespread racial bias in Canada's healthcare systems that are proven to negatively affect racial minorities in COVID outcomes then sure this can be calculated into vaccine distribution.
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The lets deal with indigenous people. Indigenous people in Canada are far more severely affected by COVID 19. There are a whole host of reasons for this, but a lot of it comes down to the prevalence of diabetes in indigenous communities. It is in fact thought to be a genetic predisposition:
https://www.cbc.ca/news/health/diabetes-type-2-first-nations-1.3768773
"Suspected reasons". If there's data on genetic links, then that is a legitimate argument. A suspicion is not data. Levels of poverty and education are also mentioned as possible factors.
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"Suspected reasons". If there's data on genetic links, then that is a legitimate argument. A suspicion is not data. Levels of poverty and education are also mentioned as possible factors.
The data says that indigenous people are disproportionately affected by COVID. That's what matters most.
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But I'm not really sure of your point anyway. Who cares why it affects minority communities more? It does. That means that they should be a higher vaccine priority if our goal is preventing death and suffering.
The point is you target priority communities based on data and sound science, not feelings. We shouldn't be prioritizing people based on race, we should be prioritizing populations based on risk of infection and death.
If a neighbourhood has a high infection rate, then prioritize them. If they don't, then don't. What we don't need is all the minorities in an apartment building of a poor neighbourhood with high COVID rates getting vaccinated but the white people in that building not getting priority simply due to the colour of their skin. That is what you call racial discrimination and it's disgusting. Many Indigenous communities have high rates of infection, so I have no problem prioritizing them if that's the case. If some are located in isolated northern Canada spots with low rates of infection then don't prioritize them. Their ethnicity is irrelevant.
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The data says that indigenous people are disproportionately affected by COVID. That's what matters most.
No it doesn't, because people will fall through the cracks. It's just lazy social science ignoring all sorts of other variables. Correlation doesn't equal causation. Do you think Jody Wilson-Raybould should get priority over somebody else of another race living in poverty in an densely populated community? She's wealthy, she doesn't need it. It's nonsense. It has nothing to do with race.
If there's a specific community of indigenous people shown to vulnerable to COVID then yes prioritize them. And then prioritize within that community based on the other variables such as age, health status, occupation etc. This needs to be data driven. Vaccinating indigenous children over middle-aged people of other races might not be the wisest move. It depends on the data and science, not virtue.
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It’s the same stupid arguments people use not to vaccinate prisoners. It doesn’t feel right to give prisoners priority, despite what the data actually tells us should happen.
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The point is you target priority communities based on data and sound science, not feelings. We shouldn't be prioritizing people based on race, we should be prioritizing populations based on risk of infection and death.
That's what is being done. The data says that certain racial makeups are more affected by this.
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I find this disturbing:
https://www.cbc.ca/radio/thehouse/racialized-canadians-vaccine-priority-1.5911952
There's NOTHING about someone's skin colour that makes them more vulnerable to COVID.
It's interesting that you claim this so certainly when epidemiologists who study the social distribution of health and illnesses claim otherwise. If the vaccines need to be triaged, then I have no problem with higher risk groups getting it before me. Fact of the matter is there's social consequences to being a racialized Canadian that often leads to living less affluent areas, closer quarters, with more roommates, etc. There's also plenty of evidence that racialized Canadians get sub-standard first-contact care, as their "complaints" get dismissed more readily. There are plenty of factors here that interplay with race to make people more vulnerable, if you take the time to read about it. No, you're right. It's not directly race itself but rather the consequence of a society that makes racialized people more vulnerable due to generations of discrimination that continues today.
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It’s the same stupid arguments people use not to vaccinate prisoners. It doesn’t feel right to give prisoners priority, despite what the data actually tells us should happen.
I got into a discussion about this with an elderly family member. I gently reminded him that if he were in a care home that he would be living on top of other people, increasing his exposure risk. Then I asked him to consider how much worse those conditions are in prison. Knowing withholding healthcare from prisoners is inhumane, especially when you consider most people in prison aren't there because they're the sensationlized horror movie killers you think of.
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From what I heard on the CBC this morning they are prioritizing communities where people are more susceptible. Of course that will be more racialized but also not completely racialized.
I for one don't need another right-left argument about nuances in racism... etc. etc. etc. There are white people who live in Galway, Scarborough... they will get it beside their black neighbours. Stop feeding the alt-right, centrist, liberal and progressive trolls people.
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From what I heard on the CBC this morning they are prioritizing communities where people are more susceptible. Of course that will be more racialized but also not completely racialized.
And this makes logical sense. And I don't have a problem with race being a variable, but not to the exclusion of other variables. If race is a factor when all other variables are controlled for then that's logical.
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The people most at risk should be first in line. Based on what we know about risk factors, I ought to be among the last Canadians to receive the vaccine, and I'm okay with that. Others need it more. I'm just disappointed that I'll have to wait until 2026 to get my dose.
-k
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I don't have a problem with race being a variable, but not to the exclusion of other variables.
The exclusion of other variables is an assumption that you and you alone are making.