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B.C.’s top doctor says changes to COVID-19 orders and easing of restrictions to be unveiled next week
B.C.’s top doctor says changes to COVID-19 orders and easing of restrictions to be unveiled next week will be based on science and data and not on a collective fatigue of the pandemic or what other provinces are doing.
“We’re all tired of this, we want it to end, but wanting it to end and not taking the right measures to get us through this are two different things,” provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry said in a media briefing Wednesday.
On Tuesday, Saskatchewan and Alberta announced they will scrap vaccination passports, mandatory masks and almost all other COVID-19 rules in the coming weeks.
Manitoba said it hopes to lift all restrictions by spring, but like Henry, is expected to base those decisions on data. Ontario Health Minister Christine Elliott has indicated proof of vaccination and masks will be required for some time.
Changes to pandemic restrictions and orders in B.C. will be gradual, Henry said.
The B.C. Vaccine Card doesn’t expire until June 30 and vaccine mandates are still being enforced.
Henry reiterated Wednesday that all regulated health professionals must be vaccinated by March 24 to continue working. If they have only one dose, they can continue to work as long as they receive a second dose 28 to 35 days afterwards.
Those on the list include acupuncturists, audiologists, chiropractors, dentists, dietitians, massage therapists, midwives, naturopaths, nurses, optometrists, pharmacists, physiotherapists, physicians and surgeons, psychologists, speech-language pathologists and traditional Chinese medicine practitioners.
B.C. public servants who failed to show proof of vaccination by Nov. 22 were placed on three months’ unpaid leave and could see their jobs terminated by Feb. 24.
Henry noted B.C. is still seeing the highest levels of transmission “we have ever had” in the pandemic, which was declared in March 2020.
While hospitalization and death rates have dropped because of vaccination and Omicron’s lower severity of illness, the province continues to see “staggering” numbers of deaths and hospitalizations, said Henry, noting the Interior and Northern Health regions have been harder hit by the fifth wave.
“We are getting through this pandemic but we are not through it yet here in B.C. or globally.”
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Changes to COVID-19 border measures to be announced next week, Health Minister Duclos says
The federal government will announce changes to some of its pandemic border rules next week but is holding off on providing details until then, Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos says.
“With the worst of Omicron now behind us, our government is actively reviewing the measures in place at our borders and we should be able to communicate changes on this next week,” Mr. Duclos said Friday at a media conference in Ottawa.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, at a news conference on Parliament Hill held Friday, said measures requiring people to be fully vaccinated to board a plane or train and work in the federal public service are not among the changes that will be coming next week.
“I think it’s extremely important to emphasize that all the decisions we take will be based in science and indeed will be focused on Canadians getting their lives back to normal,” Mr. Trudeau said.
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There have now been more than 1,800 deaths reported so far in 2022, making the last six weeks among the most deadly throughout the nearly two year life of the pandemic.
The good news is that other indicators continue to improve with most public health officials now agreeing that the worst of this wave of the pandemic is likely behind us.
Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Kieran Moore has also indicated that he will provide the Ford government with recommendations next week that could see additional public health measures “eased” or lifted.
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Delay ahead for Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine for kids under 5
Pfizer’s early data showed two of the extra-low doses were safe for kids under 5 and strong enough to give good protection to babies as young as six months. But once tots reached the preschool age – the two- to four-year-olds – two shots didn’t rev up enough immunity.
And a study of a third dose isn’t finished yet – meaning the FDA was considering whether to authorize two shots for now with potentially a third cleared later, something highly unusual.
Friday, the FDA didn’t say exactly what new data Pfizer was providing except that it involved the critical issue of a third dose.
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COVID-19 booster protection wanes but remains strong, CDC study finds
The researchers looked at patient visits to hospitals and urgent care centers in 10 states. They estimated how well Pfizer or Moderna booster shots prevented COVID-related visits to emergency departments and urgent care centers, and how well the vaccines prevented hospitalizations.
About 10% of people in the study were boosted. Vaccine effectiveness was higher in people who had received boosters than in people who had received only the original series of shots.
But researchers also found that during the time that the omicron variant has been predominant, vaccine effectiveness against outpatient visits was 87% in people who had gotten a booster two months earlier, but to 66% at four months after.
The U.S. booster campaign was based on evidence that emerged last year that vaccine protection was fading six months after people got their initial vaccinations.
And from the beginning, vaccines have offered less protection against the omicron mutant than earlier versions of the virus. The study couldn’t address how protection will hold up against the next variant to come along.
“I’m a little surprised, according to the data, that it’s starting to wane already,” he said, adding that he would have anticipated higher estimates of vaccine effectiveness at the four-month post-booster mark.
Dr. Michael Saag, an infectious diseases physician at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, said 78% effectiveness against hospitalization “is still pretty effective.”
“Anecdotally, I’m seeing very few people die who got boosted,” he said, even among those with weakened immune systems. “The vaccines are still working.”
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