Our country has more H1N1 vaccine per capita than any other country in the world. And to date, six million doses of H1N1 vaccine have been delivered to public and private clinics across all the provinces and territories.
So goes the messaging faithfully adhered to these days by the federal Conservatives and Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq when faced with criticism over the country's pandemic response. At Monday night's 'emergency H1N1 debate' during question period in Ottawa, those points came up so often in defence of government it started to sound like a broken record.
The criticism came from across the floor, where the opposition Liberals fell all over themselves to point a big fat finger of blame the Tory way - calling the supply and delivery of H1N1 vaccines inadequate and the government's information campaign flawed.
Some of the criticism was valid.
And it did nothing for government's credibility to have its officials dance around the answers while patting themselves on the head with feel-good messaging that has very little to do with real people looking for some leadership in the face of this pandemic.
On a macro-level, based on statistics, perhaps we are ahead of the game.
But on a micro-level, here at home, it doesn't feel that way when on Friday our province turns on its heels and says clinics that were supposed to be providing the vaccine to the general public this week suddenly can't because there's a vaccine shortage. In less than a day, Ontario went from expecting one million doses to hearing we'd receive only 170,000.
Blame was tossed like a hot potato - from the province to the feds, and from the feds to the vaccine manufacturer.
It also doesn't feel like we're much ahead when people in our communities still don't have the basic information they need on H1N1 preparedness. When, weeks in, people are still confused about the difference between the seasonal flu and H1N1. When people are still unsure as to when and where they can receive the vaccine. And when health practitioners aren't sure how much vaccine they can expect to receive for patients.
Realistically, when you have to coordinate the pandemic response for a new virus for an entire country you're going to make mistakes.
But you've got to be quick on your feet to correct those mistakes, be transparent about it and work openly with partners at all levels. Keep an eye as to what's happening on the ground so you're not caught with your head in the clouds when it's time to provide some real answers.