Biden's Vaccine Donation A Big Deal?

Listening to politicians in Canada talk, you'd think that Biden had just tossed out some massive life raft. When in fact, he has done very little of anything. And so, I think that there is a lot of politics behind the reaction here which people aren't noticing.

Firstly, the amount; 1.5 million, one-time, split between Canada and Mexico. Oh, and somehow it is a "loan".

This is important for several reasons. Yes, ANY amount of vaccine is appreciated and helpful. Do not get me wrong. But this amount is not life changing and it comes with strings attached. From that 1.5 million, the amount we're likely to actually receive would undoubtedly be less than we receive weekly from Pfizer alone at this stage.

The vaccine we're being loaned is also one which isn't approved in the US yet and which the US has in much larger reserves already. On top of which, the US has contracts and access to enough vaccine from other sources to provide a shot to every American in the next 2-3 months.

In short, the stock pile of vaccines this comes from is much larger, not necessarily needed and the amount we're given doesn't even boost our own vaccine timelines by a week.

So while I see no problem in being thankful, having the Premiere of Ontario say "God bless America" over the news is nothing if not disingenuous.

What I think is happening is that politicians in Canada know that most Canadians aren't paying much attention. 1.5 million sounds like a lot. And a lot of sources are glossing over the fact that this number is NOT what Canada will be receiving, nor do they bother to mention that we already receive roughly that full amount weekly at the moment.

The only reason I can see to make a huge deal about this is to try and de-emphasize what the current government has achieved.

Under normal circumstances we might consider this an insult.