Canada has now “passed” the peak of the Omicron wave, Federal Public Health warned on Friday, calling however to “closely monitor” the evolution of hospitalizations as the deconfinement already well underway in most provinces. .
Posted at 12:07 p.m.
“Since our last update, many indicators show that Canada has passed the peak of the Omicron wave, even though the infection rate remains high and hospitals are under heavy strain,” said the chief administrator of Public Health Canada, the DD Theresa Tam, presenting new models.
It says that it will be necessary to “closely monitor the improvement of these indicators with the aim of guiding the gradual easing of the measures”. In Quebec, “most” of the measures must be lifted on March 14, gradually. To further reduce the pressure on hospitals, the DD Tam calls on the authorities to maintain certain health restrictions to “protect the most vulnerable” and “deal with a possible resurgence” of COVID-19, which is “always possible”.
IMAGE PROVIDED BY THE PUBLIC HEALTH AGENCY OF CANADA
“Cases may go up, but as long as hospitalizations don’t go up that high, we can probably handle it,” she said. His group is urging provincial governments to find ways to “close the gaps” in vaccine coverage, and the public to protect themselves by avoiding crowds, prioritizing ventilated spaces and wearing a mask “when necessary.”
IMAGE PROVIDED BY THE PUBLIC HEALTH AGENCY OF CANADA
“While we should pursue a cautious approach to easing measures, there is room for cautious optimism. We are in a stronger position than ever before,” said Deputy Chief Public Health Officer of Canada Dr.r Howard Njoo. He says a weekly reduction in the daily number of people with COVID-19 being treated in hospitals is “particularly observed in Ontario and Quebec” which were the “first provinces to see an upsurge in Omicron and which seem now cross the summit”.
IMAGE PROVIDED BY THE PUBLIC HEALTH AGENCY OF CANADA
Currently, approximately 8,000 people are still hospitalized with COVID-19 in Canada, 900 of whom are in intensive care. Around 95 deaths are also reported daily. The DD Tam, however, clarified that about 40% of hospitalizations are “primary” cases, meaning they were admitted to hospital due to the virus. The rest were for other reasons, before contracting the disease.
An “alternative” vaccine
The two federal experts also returned to the approval given Thursday to the Nuvaxovid vaccine from the company Novavax, the fifth vaccine against COVID-19 to be authorized by the Canadian federal agency. It is a protein-based vaccine, while those from Pfizer or Moderna rely more on messenger RNA technology. It is therefore the first of its kind to be approved in Canada.
“This vaccine could be an option for those who cannot or do not want to receive messenger RNA,” Dr.r Njoo on this subject, recalling that more than 2.5 million Canadian adults are still not vaccinated. He also supports the administration of the booster dose in 12 to 17 year olds, to which Quebec gave the green light on Friday.
Infectiologists claim that a vaccine without mRNA could convince some hesitant people. Two of the vaccines already available in Canada, those from Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna, use genetically modified messenger RNA, which tells human cells to start fighting the coronavirus. This mRNA never becomes part of a person’s DNA, but some fear that it may do so and then mutate in the host’s body.
The DD Tam also clarified that polls are currently being done to determine “the proportion of Canadians” who are not vaccinated and who “would like an alternative option”. “Novavax can offer them this potential option,” she said.
Novavax is to begin production of its COVID-19 vaccine at its new National Research Council Canada (NRC) facility in Montreal. That said, the first doses of this vaccine will not be manufactured in Canada, as the Montreal plant has not yet indicated that it is ready for an accreditation inspection.
With The Canadian Press