With very few public health restrictions remaining and a return to full capacity for indoor settings, the region’s medical officer of health is urging people to weigh the risk before attending a large gathering or public event.
Dr. Charles Gardner, medical officer of health for Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit said without capacity limits, the risks go up.
Gardner said it’s up to individuals to decide what level of risk they’re comfortable with.
Though the doctor would have liked to see a slower lifting of public health restrictions in Ontario, he acknowledged the provincial decision was made based on a balance of factors from public health risk to the economy.
“People need to be aware there is still quite a high transmission rate and they need to decide for themselves the level of risk they are going to take on,” said Gardner. “One way to reduce personal risk is to be very judicial about choosing what you’re going to do.”
Though the province’s chief medical officer of health, Dr. Kieran Moore, has indicated the potential for mask requirements to also be lifted in March, Gardner said he’d like to see those mandates stay in place.
“Mask use is important because it is relatively easy to do without a cost to businesses, and it significantly reduces the risk of transmission,” said Gardner. “It’s safe and easy to do … I would be advocating that it continue.”
Proof of vaccination requirements, as they existed until March 1, may have run their course according to the local medical officer of health.
“I believe that was very helpful to us when we had the Delta wave … because you had a high degree of protection against transmission with two doses of vaccine at that time,” said Gardner.
However, the Omicron variant proved able to spread even among the double vaccinated with little interference from immunization. Though the vaccines appeared to offer higher levels of protection against severe outcomes such as hospitalization and death.
Both Moore and Gardner have said the proof of vaccination rules in place during Omicron did help protect unvaccinated people by preventing them from accessing more high-risk settings where they might contract COVID-19 and face severe symptoms.
“That is certainly an important goal, but it isn’t the same as the other goals achieved formerly,” said Gardner. “Reducing transmission … I don’t believe was being achieved.”
He said the province could have made the proof of vaccination requirement for three doses, but anticipated that would have been a difficult move given only about half the eligible population has received three doses of COVID vaccines.
“It’s really important people continue with a multi-layer approach,” said Gardner. Noting that includes self-monitoring and staying home when sick, vaccination including a booster shot, wearing a mask, and carefully considering the size of groups you socialize with while indoors.
“We still have a significant amount of transmission happening in our communities,” said Gardner.
Week-over-week case counts have been declining or at least plateauing with 695 cases reported in the region for the week of Feb. 13-19 and 568 cases reported during the week of Feb. 20-26.
Case counts, however, are underestimated because not everyone is eligible for a provincial lab test, even if they have symptoms of COVID.
Hospitalization and ICU rates have been the highest ever for the region during the Omicron wave, according to Gardner.
Recent wastewater surveillance from Collingwood indicated a jump in SARS-COV-2 RNA, the virus that causes COVID-19, in local wastewater, but it’s unclear if that indicates an actual increase in transmission or if it is an outlier.
“We get samples once a week, and we’ll be looking at the next sample to see if that jump is repeated or not,” said Gardner.
In the other communities – Barrie, Orillia, and Midland – wastewater samples have shown a plateau in the presence of the virus that’s lower than the height of the Omicron wave in January, but high compared to the rest of the pandemic.
TORONTO – Health Canada has authorized Moderna’s updated COVID-19 vaccine that protects against currently circulating variants of the virus.
The mRNA vaccine, called Spikevax, has been reformulated to target the KP.2 subvariant of Omicron.
It will replace the previous version of the vaccine that was released a year ago, which targeted the XBB.1.5 subvariant of Omicron.
Health Canada recently asked provinces and territories to get rid of their older COVID-19 vaccines to ensure the most current vaccine will be used during this fall’s respiratory virus season.
Health Canada is also reviewing two other updated COVID-19 vaccines but has not yet authorized them.
They are Pfizer’s Comirnaty, which is also an mRNA vaccine, as well as Novavax’s protein-based vaccine.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17, 2024.
Canadian Press health coverage receives support through a partnership with the Canadian Medical Association. CP is solely responsible for this content.
VANCOUVER – Mayors and other leaders from several British Columbia communities say the provincial and federal governments need to take “immediate action” to tackle mental health and public safety issues that have reached crisis levels.
Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim says it’s become “abundantly clear” that mental health and addiction issues and public safety have caused crises that are “gripping” Vancouver, and he and other politicians, First Nations leaders and law enforcement officials are pleading for federal and provincial help.
In a letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Premier David Eby, mayors say there are “three critical fronts” that require action including “mandatory care” for people with severe mental health and addiction issues.
The letter says senior governments also need to bring in “meaningful bail reform” for repeat offenders, and the federal government must improve policing at Metro Vancouver ports to stop illicit drugs from coming in and stolen vehicles from being exported.
Sim says the “current system” has failed British Columbians, and the number of people dealing with severe mental health and addiction issues due to lack of proper care has “reached a critical point.”
Vancouver Police Chief Adam Palmer says repeat violent offenders are too often released on bail due to a “revolving door of justice,” and a new approach is needed to deal with mentally ill people who “pose a serious and immediate danger to themselves and others.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 16, 2024
The Canadian government says it will donate up to 200,000 vaccine doses to fight the mpox outbreak in Congo and other African countries.
It says the donated doses of Imvamune will come from Canada’s existing supply and will not affect the country’s preparedness for mpox cases in this country.
Minister of Health Mark Holland says the donation “will help to protect those in the most affected regions of Africa and will help prevent further spread of the virus.”
Dr. Madhukar Pai, Canada research chair in epidemiology and global health, says although the donation is welcome, it is a very small portion of the estimated 10 million vaccine doses needed to control the outbreak.
Vaccine donations from wealthier countries have only recently started arriving in Africa, almost a month after the World Health Organization declared the mpox outbreak a public health emergency of international concern.
A few days after the declaration in August, Global Affairs Canada announced a contribution of $1 million for mpox surveillance, diagnostic tools, research and community awareness in Africa.
On Thursday, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention said mpox is still on the rise and that testing rates are “insufficient” across the continent.
Jason Kindrachuk, Canada research chair in emerging viruses at the University of Manitoba, said donating vaccines, in addition to supporting surveillance and diagnostic tests, is “massively important.”
But Kindrachuk, who has worked on the ground in Congo during the epidemic, also said that the international response to the mpox outbreak is “better late than never (but) better never late.”
“It would have been fantastic for us globally to not be in this position by having provided doses a much, much longer time prior than when we are,” he said, noting that the outbreak of clade I mpox in Congo started in early 2023.
Clade II mpox, endemic in regions of West Africa, came to the world’s attention even earlier — in 2022 — as that strain of virus spread to other countries, including Canada.
Two doses are recommended for mpox vaccination, so the donation may only benefit 100,000 people, Pai said.
Pai questioned whether Canada is contributing enough, as the federal government hasn’t said what percentage of its mpox vaccine stockpile it is donating.
“Small donations are simply not going to help end this crisis. We need to show greater solidarity and support,” he said in an email.
“That is the biggest lesson from the COVID-19 pandemic — our collective safety is tied with that of other nations.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
Canadian Press health coverage receives support through a partnership with the Canadian Medical Association. CP is solely responsible for this content.
