In the battle of the variants, omicron is poised to win.
While delta has long dominated the bulk of Canada’s coronavirus cases, the latest variant of concern is set to overtake other variants both here and abroad as it spreads through more than 60 countries around the world.
Early evidence suggests omicron is more adept at infecting people who’ve already had COVID-19 or multiple doses of leading vaccines, and the heavily mutated variant also has an uncanny knack for transmitting between people in the same home.
In other words, it’s likely incredibly contagious, and capable of leaving delta in its dust.
While there are hopeful signals that vaccination still protects against serious disease, with boosters offering a stronger shield against any level of omicron infection, multiple medical experts who spoke to CBC News warn it’s time to buckle down for a tough stretch ahead — since this variant will find its way to the vulnerable, even if most Canadians who get infected are largely unscathed.
“I don’t think we’ve seen anything like omicron in this pandemic yet,” said Sarah Otto, an expert in modelling and evolutionary biology with the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. “It’s capable of taking over in a matter of a few weeks.”
U.K. bracing for ‘tidal wave’ of cases
In the U.K., where omicron is on track to take over as case counts keep rising, top medical officials said Sunday that data on severity of these infections isn’t yet clear, but hospitalizations tied to omicron are already happening.
A day later, the country reported its first omicron-linked death, as Prime Minister Boris Johnson warned of a “tidal wave” of cases.
WATCH | U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson notes the ‘sheer pace’ of omicron spread:
Britain sees first death with Omicron coronavirus variant
12 hours ago
Duration 3:40
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson warned that a ‘tidal wave’ of omicron coronavirus infections is coming and urged everyone to get a booster shot after the first person in the United Kingdom died of the variant. (Kirsty O’Connor/The Associated Press) 3:40
And the most up-to-date figures provided by Ontario’s science table show omicron has a reproduction number roughly three times that of delta — and a doubling time for cases of only three days — with the variant already making up an estimated 31 per cent of that province’s coronavirus cases as of Monday.
Just one day prior, omicron made up an estimated 20 per cent of reported cases.
WATCH | When could omicron become dominant in Canada?
COVID-19: When could omicron become dominant in Canada?
5 days ago
Duration 6:56
Andrew Chang talks to infectious diseases specialists Dr. Susy Hota and Dr. Lisa Barrett about when the omicron variant may become dominant in Canada, whether it appears milder than delta and if people should change their holiday plans. 6:56
In South Africa, the country which alerted the world to omicron’s existence, it only took two weeks for omicron to out-compete delta as the dominant variant in genomically sequenced samples, said Jody Boffa, a Canadian epidemiologist currently working as a research fellow at Stellenbosch University in Cape Town.
It’s not yet clear what Canada’s exact experience will be, given the differences in vaccination rollouts, timelines, and vaccines used in different countries and our overall two-dose vaccination rate — which is far higher than many countries’ around the world at more than three-quarters of the population, with boosters now rolling out as well.
Vaccination differences aside, even a less virulent variant transmitting this quickly “would result in many more absolute hospitalizations and deaths in a short span of time,” Boffa said in an email exchange with CBC News.
A fresh update today on the <a href=”https://twitter.com/COVIDSciOntario?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>@COVIDSciOntario</a> dashboard puts omicron at close to a third of Ontario’s <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/COVID19?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#COVID19</a> cases. It was at 20% just yesterday. <a href=”https://t.co/YjUGTwatct”>pic.twitter.com/YjUGTwatct</a>
The concern over omicron’s expected dominance has less to do with its impact on individuals — given how many Canadians are still somewhat protected by one, two or even three vaccine doses — and more on what happens when it finds its way to those at higher risk of serious infections, including anyone unvaccinated, older or immunocompromised.
The usual COVID-19 numbers game, several epidemiologists agreed, means a fast-spreading, more-contagious variant could again put pressure on hospital systems.
“If it is not severe in everybody, we are lucky. But we don’t know if that’s true,” said Otto. “If it’s even half as severe among the unvaccinated, that’s still too severe. So skyrocketing among unvaccinated cases means more exposed hospitals overrun in mid-January.”
Early proclamations of mild disease have given way to a collective pause, as medical experts warn that more time and data are needed to understand the true picture of how omicron infections progress.
WATCH | Data on severity of omicron variant still preliminary, but Tam urges caution:
Data on severity of omicron variant still preliminary, but Dr. Tam urges caution
3 days ago
Duration 1:19
Chief Public Health Officer Dr. Teresa Tam says the data on the severity of the omicron variant is still premature but that Canadians should still exercise caution. 1:19
South Africa hasn’t yet seen a surge in severe illness or deaths roughly a month into its omicron experience, though it’s important to note the country has a relatively younger, lower-risk population.
The seven individuals each had three doses of COVID-19 vaccines, yet developed mild symptoms — including a runny nose, sore throat, shortness of breath, and for all of them, a dry cough — echoing broader evidence that this variant can evade some level of vaccine-based immunity.
A line in the preprint case held promising news: “This suggests that full vaccination followed by a booster dose still provides good protection against severe COVID-19.”
But will the potential for milder infection hold true as this variant spreads more to older adults, particularly those who aren’t yet vaccinated or have pre-existing health issues?
“I really want to emphasize [that] we do not know it’s milder for everybody,” said Otto.
Protect community through ‘individual actions’
Given the uncertainty over omicron’s severity, and the mounting evidence that it can spread through both unvaccinated and vaccinated populations, it may be time to brace for the worst, even as the world hopes for the best.
One Canadian modelling expert — speaking on background due to their role with a federal advisory body — noted early data from Ontario shows the province was already in a period of exponential growth, even without omicron in the mix.
“Once it becomes more established here, we’re going to very quickly have an overwhelmed health-care system,” they said in an email to CBC News. “Vaccinations are coming online too slowly to markedly change that trajectory, and beyond hoping for boosters to save us, we’re not doing anything.”
While most of the serious COVID-19 infections would likely be among the unvaccinated, as seen throughout the pandemic, enough breakthrough cases tied to a more contagious variant could mean a rising number of serious infections among vaccinated Canadians as well — if the virus has the opportunity to spread.
As millions of families are set to gather for the holidays, and as most Canadians continue going about their daily lives with few public health restrictions to dissuade them, Otto stressed there’s a renewed need to maintain basic precautions, even if you’re vaccinated.
“We protect our community by all of our individual actions,” she said.
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.
