Canada managed the first two years of the COVID-19 pandemic better and weathered the ensuing upheavals better than many other countries with comparable health care and economic infrastructure, a new study finds.
The research, published Monday in the Canadian Medical Association Journalattributes Canada’s strong performance to restrictive and persistent public health measures and a successful vaccination campaign.
A team of Ontario researchers compared data from February 2020 to February 2022 in 11 countries, dubbed the G10 because of the late inclusion of one of them. They analyzed data from Canada, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States. United ― all countries with similar political, economic and health systems.
“If you compare Canada to the G10, the differences are huge,” study co-author Dr. Fahad Razak said in a recent interview.
“If you look at our vaccination rate, we had the highest in all of the G10, we had the lowest number of people infected and the lowest number of people who died. »
The research suggests that the cumulative per capita rate of COVID-19 cases in Canada has been 82,700 per million, while all countries – except Japan – had rates above 100,000 per million.
Canada’s COVID-19 death rate was 919 per million, again second lowest behind Japan. All other countries had more than 1000 per million.
Dr Razak said at least 70,000 more Canadians would have died in the first two years of the pandemic if Canada had the same death rate as the United States, the country with the highest cumulative death toll. related to COVID-19.
“That means most of us would probably know a grandparent, friend or family member personally. […] who lives in Canada today and who would have died, if we had followed the same trajectory as in the United States,” noted Dr. Razak.
He said Canada’s relatively positive results came despite having access to vaccination later than most countries, noting that there were also other structural health system disadvantages to overcome across the country in the early stages. of the pandemic.
“Some hospitals were so overwhelmed that we had to transport patients by ambulance or by plane to other hospitals,” he said.
Restrictions
But Canada, says Dr. Razak, stands apart from other developed countries when it chooses to implement public health measures that are both tough and persistent. Although such measures have met with vehement opposition in some circles, Dr Razak said they have helped to mitigate the overall impact of the pandemic.
“Compared to many other countries […] they had periods with strict restrictions, but they were withdrawing them quickly, he said. For Canada, it was really that high and persistent almost entirely for the first two years. »
But Dr. Razak noted that the success of the vaccination campaign in Canada emerged as the strongest point of the research. He applauded officials for engaging with the public and ensuring vaccines were readily available across the country.
More than 80% of eligible Canadians were fully immunized with at least two doses by June. The percentage of vaccinated populations in other G10 countries is between 64% and 77%, according to the study.
“There has been magic in Canada around the rollout of these vaccines for doses one and two,” Dr. Razak said.
“When we talk to our colleagues around the world, Canada is the envy of the world in terms of rallying our people around this. This is a lesson to the world, that very high engagement can happen with the right strategy. »
The study also showed that countries’ response to the pandemic has left an economic burden, with public debt increasing for all countries and Canada registering one of the highest relative increases.
“We had these very significant economic impacts, we had very strict restrictions on our individual freedom which led to things like isolation […]but we also really had some of the best results in terms of controlling the impact of the virus,” Dr Razak said.
“Was it worth it? This is not a scientific question, it is a question of values, morals and policies. »
This article was produced with the financial assistance of Meta Grants and The Canadian Press for News.