Calls for Justin Trudeau’s government to drop its mandatory vaccination orders are increasing. Now elected Liberals have joined their voices to those of the Conservative opposition, which has been calling for it for weeks. And even federal public health confirmed Friday that the current policy is outdated, requiring only two doses of vaccine which has become ineffective. The government has announced the temporary lifting of random screening at airports, in the hope of easing congestion problems that cause significant delays for travellers.
“Two doses are not sufficient to provide vaccine efficacy against the infection [au variant] Omicron,” Dr. Theresa Tam, chief administrator of the Public Health Agency of Canada, said Friday. “Because immunity weakens over time and especially after six months. We therefore need a booster dose, or a third dose to strengthen immunity again, ”she explained, while this federal vaccination obligation is increasingly criticized.
Ottawa requires two doses of the COVID-19 vaccine for travel by train or plane. Unvaccinated Canadians can still return from abroad, under the Constitution, but must meet certain screening and quarantine requirements. Domestic flights are prohibited. The federal government also requires the double vaccination of its civil servants.
However, after six months, these two doses of vaccine which were effective at a rate of 50% to 80% in preventing infection and transmission of COVID-19 are no longer effective at best at around 20%, said Dr. Tam. The protection of two doses of vaccine against a severe form of COVID-19 also greatly decreases over time. Massive vaccination campaigns for the first two doses date back to spring and summer 2021 for the general population.
An outdated policy
Public health, however, did not want to officially comment on the relevance of the current vaccination policy and that, or not, of extending it beyond June 30, 2022 – date on which it was recently renewed.
It is a “political decision that takes into account several factors”, such as the evolution of the pandemic in the world and the hospital capacity of the provinces, and which “now comes back to the political decision-makers”, contented itself with comment on Dr. Tam.
“The difficulty at present is that the federal definition of the vaccination decree […] is not up to date,” she admitted, however. “And I encourage everyone to adopt the definition, no matter how they view this policy. [de vaccination]which speaks to the need to have the best possible protection,” she added.
Nearly 82% of Canadians have received two doses of the vaccine (or 31.2 million people aged five and older), according to federal data. This figure drops to 49% for three doses (or 18.6 million people).
Among federal civil servants, 98.5% of them attested to being doubly vaccinated (279,124 people). And 0.9%, or 2,598 people, requested accommodations to be exempt.
The parliamentary newspaper the Hill Times revealed on Friday, quoting some elected officials who spoke on condition of anonymity, that an “overwhelming majority of Liberal MPs” want the decrees of vaccination or mandatory masks to be abolished.
The Conservative opposition hammers this same demand daily in the Commons. “When will the Liberals finally listen to the experts, the doctors within their own caucus and end the executive orders? asked Alberta elected official Michael Cooper again on Friday.
“While COVID-19 cases in Canada have peaked, other countries are seeing an upswing and we must remain vigilant,” said Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Health, Adam van Koeverden.
Screening suspended, for some
Congestion at Canadian airports is also causing resentment in the country. Images of endless lines at Toronto’s Pearson Airport and testimonials from travelers who missed their flights have been making headlines.
To try to help remedy this, the government announced on Friday that it was suspending from this Saturday until June 30 random testing for COVID-19, which allows it to monitor the evolution of the waves of COVID-19. 19 and the emergence of new variants.
However, screening on arrival will remain mandatory for non-vaccinated travellers. As of July 1, these tests, like the random tests that will resume, will be done off-site outside of airports.
Conservative MPs are also calling for Ottawa to drop its ArriveCAN app, which requires travelers returning to Canada to enter their vaccination status and non-vaccinated people to register their screening test results and a quarantine plan if necessary.