More than two years after the pandemic, Dr. Nija Bakshi is still routinely announcing painful news to families that their loved one is dying of COVID-19.
“It simply came to our notice then. “Knowing that we will continue to see the devastation of this virus is hard to see,” said Bakshi, an internal medicine specialist at Royal Alexandra Hospital in Edmonton.
“It’s kind of demoralizing.”
The number of COVID-related deaths in Alberta so far in 2022 is higher than in the previous years of the pandemic.
There were 1,247 deaths between January 1 and June 6 this year, compared to 1,038 in the same period last year and 152 in 2020.
“We have seen death from other viruses. We have seen death from the flu. We have never seen this amount of death,” Bakshi said.
“I think the amount is still staggering for those of us in healthcare to see. That this is still a really powerful virus. It’s still a virus that can cause serious damage. “
Low absorption of the 3rd dose
Omicron hit Alberta particularly hard. If you consider both BA.1, the original version of the Omicron, and its sub-variant BA.2 – which passed through Alberta in the back in early 2022 – it was more deadly than the Delta wave in the autumn of 2021.
Dr. Nija Bakshi, an internal medicine specialist and physician at COVID-19 in Edmonton, says patients who end up in hospital are just as sick as they were during each previous wave. (Submitted by Nidja Bakshi)
“We – in the current wave – see more deaths per capita than Ontario and Quebec,” said Dr. Daniel Gregson, an infectious disease physician and associate professor at Cumming School of Medicine at the University of Calgary.
“With the Omicron wave and our removal of all restrictions, we see a lot more people getting infected, and as a result we have a little more deaths than in other years.”
Similar trends have been reported in other jurisdictions, including Massachusetts, he said.
According to Gregson, there are several factors that contribute to the high number of deaths, including the high number of people infected with BA.1 and BA.2 and the low absorption by the province of third doses of the COVID-19 vaccine.
Anyone aged 12 and over can book a third dose in Alberta at least five months after the second dose.
The fourth dose is available for all elderly people aged 70 and over, people of first nations, mestizos and Inuit aged 65 and over, as well as for all adults in municipal care, regardless of age, and for people with certain immunocompromising conditions. .
Still, Alberta lags behind all other provinces, with only 38 percent of the population rolling up their sleeves for a third shot.
“Our lack of third doses has certainly played a role in our poor performance against British Columbia and Ontario,” Gregson said, noting that one in every 1,000 Alberts has died from COVID-19 since the pandemic began.
Alberta’s latest health statistics show that over the past 120 days, mortality has been higher in almost all age groups among unvaccinated people and those who have had two immunizations than those who have received three doses.
“Unfortunately, individual choices often lead to poor choices in the absence of an update on your immunization. Our biggest blow to vaccines … has been the imposition of restrictions on people who are not fully vaccinated.
The number of daily COVID-related deaths has declined in recent weeks, but the baseline for both deaths and hospitalizations remains high.
‘Take your photos’
Dr. Noel Gibney agrees that the backlog of vaccination rates in Alberta is a key driver for the high death toll in 2022.
“COVID has not disappeared. It’s still there. We have to defend ourselves. We need to protect our families and understand that full vaccination now means at least three vaccinations, “said Gibney, an honorary professor of critical medicine at the University of Alberta.
“The bottom line is that if you have significant comorbidities, if you are over 50, you are at significant risk of becoming seriously ill. And that’s why you get the vaccines – which means your third and fourth vaccines if you qualify. “
Dr Daniel Gregson, an infectious disease physician at the University of Calgary, says high levels of Omicron transmission, combined with low absorption of third doses of Alberta’s COVID-19 vaccine, contribute to the high death rate in 2022. (CBC)
Doctors are urging Albert residents who qualify for treatment, including the antiviral Paxlovid, to test and get help immediately if they have symptoms. And they say immunocompromised people need to talk to their specialists about taking Evushold, a preventative therapy that has recently become available in the province.
According to Gibney, while many people who die tend to be older, COVID still takes the lives of younger Alberts who do not have serious underlying health conditions.
“Obviously, statistically, if you’re 20 or 30, your risk is pretty low, but it’s not zero.”
Bakshi believes that delayed health care during the earlier waves of the pandemic also played a role in the high number of deaths.
“I think what we’re seeing now is something like this merging of really sick patients from everything else. And then, if they get COVID, the result is worse, “she said.
Gibney expects the number of deaths to temporarily decrease in the summer as people spend more time outdoors.
But he worries about a resurgence in the fall, something the province’s chief medical officer warned Alberts should expect.
With 4,567 lives lost in the province due to COVID-19, Gibney warns not to underestimate the ongoing threat.
“If it was for some other reason – to assume that the planes were crashing, to assume that our cars were crashing… we would be extremely worried and upset… This is a huge problem,” he said.
“And the way a lot of people are trying to deal with that is to say I won’t think about it anymore. It’s over.”
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