Canada’s Chief Public Health Officer says the race between vaccines and COVID-19 variants is at a critical point.
Dr. Theresa Tam says modeling predictions from two weeks ago that forecasted a resurgence is playing out in current data. She adds it is clear the country needs stronger control to combat variants of concern that are driving rapid epidemic growth. “Over the past week there has been an average of over 6,800 new cases and 30 deaths reported daily, and the number of people experiencing severe and critical illness continues to rise.” Tam says last week the country saw a 7 percent increase in hospitalizations and 23 percent increase in intensive care patients, from the week before.
She adds over the past week the number of new variant cases has more than doubled, with almost 25,000 variant cases being reported across Canada to date. Tam reiterated that the only way to get out of this crisis is by staying home as much as possible, and by consistently maintaining our distance and wearing a mask when we must go out.
AstraZeneca Vaccine Being Reviewed
Dr. Tam says this week Health Canada attended the European Medicine Agencies safety meeting on the AstraZeneca vaccine. She explains the EMA has reviewed current evidence around the vaccine and the rare occurrences of combined blood clots and low blood platelets. “Their assessment concluded that while there is a possible link between the AstraZeneca vaccine and this very rare blood clotting disorder, the overall benefits of the vaccine and preventing COVID-19 and it’s severe outcomes, outweigh the risk of side effects.”
Tam says Health Canada will consider this evidence, along with information provided by AstraZeneca, to determine if there will be changes to Canada’s current recommendation that doses are only given to those 55 and older. Tam states, to date, no links to AstraZeneca and blood clotting symptoms have been reported in Canada.
Tam says vaccine supplies continue to increase with over 10 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine distributed to date across the country. She adds provinces and territories have administered over 7 million of these doses to date.
