The latest statement from the Chief Public Health Officer of Canada suggests the latest guidance from the National Advisory Committee on Immunization will help provinces and territories continue to rollout COVID-19 vaccination programs. Dr. Theresa Tam is referring to the use of Moderna vaccine for adolescents 12 years and older. In May 2021, the committee recommended vaccination of adolescents with Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine.
Although, a higher rate of myocarditis and pericarditis adverse events were recently reported after administration of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine, compared to Pfizer they are considered rare and verification of a potential difference between the two vaccines continues. The Committee is also actively reviewing the benefit of an additional dose for certain populations like the immunocompromised and seniors in congregate living.
The last modelling update was on July 30th and Dr. Tam says national daily case counts are following the “strong resurgence” trajectory. The latest national seven day average of cases reported daily is an increase of 29 per cent over the previous week. And after several weeks of rising case counts, national severity trends have begun to increase, primarily involving unvaccinated people. The latest provincial and territorial data show that an average of 917 people with COVID-19 were being treated in Canadian hospitals each day during the most recent 7-day period (Aug 20-26), which is 39% higher than last week
The fourth wave of the pandemic is begin characterized by several factors including the Delta Variant of Concern, nationally, accounting for the majority of recently reported cases. It is also associated with increased severity and may reduce the effectiveness of vaccines. As well, most reported cases, hospitalizations and deaths are occurring among unvaccinated people. Finally, virus spread in areas with low vaccination coverage presents an ongoing risk of, and replacement by, new variants of concern with the potential to be immune to vaccine.
And Dr. Tam says they do know that vaccination in combination with public health and individual measures continue to reduce disease spread and severe outcomes. She notes that for each week for the period July 11 – Aug 7, on average the rate of new COVID-19 cases among unvaccinated individuals was 11 times higher than in fully vaccinated individuals while the rate of COVID-19 hospitalized cases among unvaccinated individuals was 30 times higher than in fully vaccinated individuals.
