Canada’s top doctor says there isn’t enough evidence to back herd immunity as a way to reopen society, as Quebec’s premier is considering the approach to restart his province’s economy.
“The idea of … generating natural immunity is actually not something that should be undertaken,” Canada’s Chief Public Health Officer Theresa Tam said Saturday, urging people to be “extremely cautious” about the concept.
Herd immunity is conferred when enough people in a given population have been infected with a virus, marking them immune to reinfection and slowing down the rate at which the virus spreads on its own.
The World Health Organization (WHO) published a brief Friday stating that there is “currently no evidence” that people who have recovered from COVID-19 and have antibodies would be protected from a second infection, but clarified Saturday that most people infected would end up with “some level of protection.”
Earlier today we tweeted about a new WHO scientific brief on “immunity passports”. The thread caused some concern & we would like to clarify:<br><br>We expect that most people who are infected with <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/COVID19?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#COVID19</a> will develop an antibody response that will provide some level of protection. <a href=”https://t.co/AmxvQQLTjM”>pic.twitter.com/AmxvQQLTjM</a>
Tam’s comments come as Quebec Premier François Legault expressed interest in herd immunity this week as a means to reopen businesses and allow children to return to school.
“The idea is to gradually — and that’s the important word — to gradually let people go out, let children go out,” he said Thursday, adding that those under 60 years of age might be candidates for developing immunity.
Tam rejected the suggestion that in the absence of a vaccine, some members Canada’s population could offer protection to society’s most vulnerable.
“Even a young person might get severely sick or get into the ICU, so it’s not a concept that should be supported,” she said.
In response to Tam’s remarks, Premier Legault’s office said the province plans to forge ahead with easing lockdown restrictions, but only with the approval of Quebec’s public health department.
‘More caution’
Legault is not alone in searching for solutions to reopen his province’s economy, as nationwide shutdowns pass the one-month mark.
On Friday afternoon, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Canada’s premiers agreed to work on a joint set of national guidelines that would lay out how to carry out the process.
The prime minister said Saturday that those plans do not rely on using immunity as an interim form of protection.
“In the approach that we’re taking very carefully around the provinces and across the country on looking at reopening, I don’t believe that there are any plans that hinge on certain people or individuals being immune or having immunity to COVID-19,” Trudeau said.
The federal government has committed millions of dollars toward a new COVID-19 immunity task force focused on researching immunity testing and developing a vaccine — something Tam said is still in its early stages.
“Until we have those answers, we need to… err on the side of more caution,” Trudeau said.
Watch: Trudeau discusses joint guidelines for reopening the economy
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau discussed how Canada’s provinces are working on a jointly-drafted set of guidelines to establish principles for reopening the country’s economy. 0:42
‘Immunology’ of the virus not known
Allowing people with protected immunity status back into society has captured international attention, with countries like Chile moving to issue “immunity passports” to those who have recovered from the virus.
The passes have been touted as a way to gradually exempt people from restrictions put in place to limit the spread of COVID-19, permitting them to return to work, attend mass gatherings or even travel across borders.
But Tam warned that research on whether immunity is possible — and how long it might last — remains murky.
“It is a very novel virus,” she said. “We don’t understand the immunology of this virus very much.”
WHO cautioned in its brief that due to a lack of evidence, doling out passes based on recovery from the virus could lead to people ignoring public health advice when they could still get re-infected and continue the chain of transmission.
Watch: Dr. Tam says it’s too early to think about immunity passports
Canada’s Chief Public Health Officer Theresa Tam said that without a clear understanding of immunity tests for COVID-19, it’s too early to think about issuing passes for those who might be protected. 0:53
Passports may become necessary, doctor says
For Dr. Kumanan Wilson, a physician at the Ottawa Hospital and innovation advisor at the Bruyère Research Institute, immunity passports will be key to returning to society if the science is there to support it.
Wilson is hoping to partner with the federal government to launch a digital identification system that shows who is protected from the virus should immunity tests become available.
“It is possible that the science doesn’t demonstrate that you do develop long-lasting immunity, in which case [passports] would not be an appropriate way to proceed,” Wilson said. “But if the science does demonstrate that this is a good solution, it will be important to have a technological solution in place.”
Wilson has proposed a system that would arm Canadians, or people around the world, with a digital record of their level of protection, which would be scanned to enter workplaces, sports stadiums and airports.
Listen: Dr. Kumanan Wilson speaks to CBC Radio’s The House about immunity passports
Ottawa physician Dr. Kumanan Wilson discusses the concept of immunity passports — and their repercussions — as a stepping stone to reopening the economy in the absence of a COVID-19 vaccine. 12:49
He acknowledged that classifying people based on protection status could lead to other concerns, such as some citizens having better access to immunity tests than others, or those compelled to falsify their status to re-enter society.
But he said he’s also conscious of the need for life to return to normal as quickly as possible.
“We know that for every week, every day that we wait to get people out of social isolation, it’s causing quite a bit of harm.”
VANCOUVER – Contract negotiations resume today in Vancouver in a labour dispute that has paralyzed container cargo shipping at British Columbia’s ports since Monday.
The BC Maritime Employers Association and International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 514 are scheduled to meet for the next three days in mediated talks to try to break a deadlock in negotiations.
The union, which represents more than 700 longshore supervisors at ports, including Vancouver, Prince Rupert and Nanaimo, has been without a contract since March last year.
The latest talks come after employers locked out workers in response to what it said was “strike activity” by union members.
The start of the lockout was then followed by several days of no engagement between the two parties, prompting federal Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon to speak with leaders on both sides, asking them to restart talks.
MacKinnon had said that the talks were “progressing at an insufficient pace, indicating a concerning absence of urgency from the parties involved” — a sentiment echoed by several business groups across Canada.
In a joint letter, more than 100 organizations, including the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, Business Council of Canada and associations representing industries from automotive and fertilizer to retail and mining, urged the government to do whatever it takes to end the work stoppage.
“While we acknowledge efforts to continue with mediation, parties have not been able to come to a negotiated agreement,” the letter says. “So, the federal government must take decisive action, using every tool at its disposal to resolve this dispute and limit the damage caused by this disruption.
“We simply cannot afford to once again put Canadian businesses at risk, which in turn puts Canadian livelihoods at risk.”
In the meantime, the union says it has filed a complaint to the Canada Industrial Relations Board against the employers, alleging the association threatened to pull existing conditions out of the last contract in direct contact with its members.
“The BCMEA is trying to undermine the union by attempting to turn members against its democratically elected leadership and bargaining committee — despite the fact that the BCMEA knows full well we received a 96 per cent mandate to take job action if needed,” union president Frank Morena said in a statement.
The employers have responded by calling the complaint “another meritless claim,” adding the final offer to the union that includes a 19.2 per cent wage increase over a four-year term remains on the table.
“The final offer has been on the table for over a week and represents a fair and balanced proposal for employees, and if accepted would end this dispute,” the employers’ statement says. “The offer does not require any concessions from the union.”
The union says the offer does not address the key issue of staffing requirement at the terminals as the port introduces more automation to cargo loading and unloading, which could potentially require fewer workers to operate than older systems.
The Port of Vancouver is the largest in Canada and has seen a number of labour disruptions, including two instances involving the rail and grain storage sectors earlier this year.
A 13-day strike by another group of workers at the port last year resulted in the disruption of a significant amount of shipping and trade.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2024.
The Royal Canadian Legion says a new partnership with e-commerce giant Amazon is helping boost its veterans’ fund, and will hopefully expand its donor base in the digital world.
Since the Oct. 25 launch of its Amazon.ca storefront, the legion says it has received nearly 10,000 orders for poppies.
Online shoppers can order lapel poppies on Amazon in exchange for donations or buy items such as “We Remember” lawn signs, Remembrance Day pins and other accessories, with all proceeds going to the legion’s Poppy Trust Fund for Canadian veterans and their families.
Nujma Bond, the legion’s national spokesperson, said the organization sees this move as keeping up with modern purchasing habits.
“As the world around us evolves we have been looking at different ways to distribute poppies and to make it easier for people to access them,” she said in an interview.
“This is definitely a way to reach a wider number of Canadians of all ages. And certainly younger Canadians are much more active on the web, on social media in general, so we’re also engaging in that way.”
Al Plume, a member of a legion branch in Trenton, Ont., said the online store can also help with outreach to veterans who are far from home.
“For veterans that are overseas and are away, (or) can’t get to a store they can order them online, it’s Amazon.” Plume said.
Plume spent 35 years in the military with the Royal Engineers, and retired eight years ago. He said making sure veterans are looked after is his passion.
“I’ve seen the struggles that our veterans have had with Veterans Affairs … and that’s why I got involved, with making sure that the people get to them and help the veterans with their paperwork.”
But the message about the Amazon storefront didn’t appear to reach all of the legion’s locations, with volunteers at Branch 179 on Vancouver’s Commercial Drive saying they hadn’t heard about the online push.
Holly Paddon, the branch’s poppy campaign co-ordinator and bartender, said the Amazon partnership never came up in meetings with other legion volunteers and officials.
“I work at the legion, I work with the Vancouver poppy office and I go to the meetings for the Vancouver poppy campaign — which includes all the legions in Vancouver — and not once has this been mentioned,” she said.
Paddon said the initiative is a great idea, but she would like to have known more about it.
The legion also sells a larger collection of items at poppystore.ca.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2024.
