A few months ago the slow rollout of vaccines was a major source of controversy in Canada. Not anymore. Amazing what can happen when an ex-president and a major political party aren't trying to screw things up for everybody else.

Americans, once buoyantly optimistic about the pandemic, are now increasingly pessimistic, via Gallup

“In a dramatic shift from last month, more Americans now say the coronavirus situation in the U.S. is getting worse (45%) rather than better (40%). In June, a record 89% said the situation was getting better, while only 3% said it was getting worse.”

The same day that Florida set a new record with 21,683 cases, Ontario had just 226.

Source: LA Times

Three months ago, Canada, which has no domestic manufacturer of COVID-19 vaccines, lagged far behind the United States in immunizations. Only 3% of its population was fully vaccinated. Canadians watched glumly as friends and relatives south of the border lined up for shots, while residents of Toronto and Montreal suffered repeated lockdowns.

No longer. Last month, Canada blew past the United States in the share of its population that’s fully vaccinated — 58% as of Friday, versus 49% in the U.S. — to take first place among the seven big industrial democracies. (The United States ranks sixth, ahead of only Japan.)

How did Canada, the country that most closely resembles the United States, do so much better, even though it had to wait longer for Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna to deliver their vaccines?

The simple answer is that in Canada, the pandemic didn’t become a politically polarized issue, as it did in the United States.

Column: Canada just surpassed us on vaccinations. Good for them, and shame on us https://t.co/hPBk6e5zry

— Los Angeles Times (@latimes) August 1, 2021