As protesters drive toward Ottawa to oppose mandatory vaccinations for truckers crossing the border, federal Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos called for unity against COVID-19 rather than standing up against the vaccine.
“We are all in the same convoy to get out of this pandemic and the best road to get out of it is through vaccination. We understand that there is a lot of frustration with the pandemic, but the only way to get out of it is to get vaccinated,” he said at a press conference on Friday.
Minister Duclos was accompanied by the Chief Public Health Officer of Canada, Dr. Theresa Tam, and the Deputy Chief Administrator, Dr. Howard Njoo, to provide an update on the pandemic in the country.
“The threat is not vaccination. The threat is COVID-19. […] We are in a convoy to get out of COVID-19 as quickly as possible. And it is when we are united in this convoy by vaccination that we can get there as quickly and as efficiently as possible, ”supported Mr. Duclos, inviting the demonstrators to benevolence and respect.
Convoys of truckers from several parts of Canada plan to meet in downtown Ottawa on Saturday to protest against the compulsory vaccination of truckers crossing the border with the United States. Activists supporting far-right views have also joined the movement.
Full vaccination against the coronavirus has been mandatory since January 15 for truckers entering Canada from the United States.
Asked whether data justified such an obligation, Dr. Tam and Minister Duclos did not provide information explaining precisely how this decision could help limit the spread.
Rather, they replied that compulsory vaccination is part of a package of measures offering protection and making it possible to get through the current crisis.
In addition, the National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI) this week recommended the third dose for children 5 to 11 years old and adolescents 12 to 17 years old who are moderately to severely immunocompromised.
Federal public health says the Omicron variant has led to an uptick in children infected with COVID-19 requiring hospitalization, although they are less likely than older adults to suffer serious consequences.
Deconfine with caution
Various indicators suggest that infections have peaked nationally, despite a still large and underreported number of new cases, Dr. Tam and Dr. Njoo argued.
But caution is still required in the application of relaxations gradually authorized by several provinces, argued the federal authorities.
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Dr. Njoo invites the provinces to closely monitor the epidemiological situation and to be ready to adjust the course if the indicators should start to rise again, particularly for hospitalizations.
Hospitals remain under pressure across the country, Drs Njoo and Tam said. Nearly 10,800 patients with COVID-19 have been treated on average daily, including more than 1,200 people in intensive care, over the past week.
As for new cases, as of January 26, the seven-day average number is down 28% from the previous week. This decline was seen across all age groups. The average positivity rate of 19% is also on a downward slope.
“This reassures us that individual efforts, including layering personal protective measures like mask-wearing and limiting contact, have helped slow transmission and mitigate severe disease trends,” said Dr Njoo.