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Jul 03, 2022 • 2 hours ago • 2 minutes read • 32 comments A jar full of empty vials of COVID-19 vaccine is displayed at the Junction Chemist pharmacy during the COVID-19 pandemic in Toronto, April 6, 2022 Photo by Nathan Dennett/THE CANADIAN PRESS
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A few days ago, Dr. Brad Waters tweeted:
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“BA.5 averages 70% this week in Toronto. The official third wave of Omicron is here. It will peak in July/August. Mask and boost as guaranteed.”
Waters — executive vice president, science and research, University Health Network and senior scientist at Princess Margaret Cancer Center — later noted on Twitter that this third wave of Omicron was actually the seventh wave of COVID.
Three new Omicron variants are making their way onto the planet right now: BA.2.12.1, BA.4 and BA.5.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has already said that these have a “growth advantage” over the early Omicron and can evade immune responses even better than their predecessors, according to SaturdayPaper.com.
Here in Ontario, political leaders are debating the timing of fourth boosters. Mask mandates were dropped weeks ago.
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But doctors, nurses and other health workers are sounding the alarm.
The number of COVID is increasing in Canada, UK and US
Masking in all healthcare scenarios and fourth-dose COVID booster vaccines are the demands of people on the front lines of the pandemic, who are – as always – light years ahead of politicians in their response to the ongoing pandemic.
Currently, a fourth booster is only available to people over 60, various local groups and the immunocompromised.
That’s the status as of April, although Premier Doug Ford said last week that word on fourth boosters would come soon.
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Given the rapid rise in new options and the spike in evidence of sewage and hospitalizations, many in Ontario should get that fourth booster now.
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The province is lagging behind other jurisdictions, so some health workers are traveling to Quebec and the U.S. to get that booster immediately.
Meanwhile, a group of doctors signed a letter demanding the return of mask mandates in healthcare facilities, and this petition is being circulated on social media.
It was started by emergency room doctor Stephen Flindall (@flindall_steve) and signed by around 100 doctors.
It is absurd that masks are not required in doctor’s offices or hospitals.
At the end of June, Public Health Ontario highlights included the information that the weekly number of cases increased by 23% among those eligible for testing.
Reported cases increased for the first time since April.
Hospital admissions and deaths “stopped falling.”
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All care centers and gathering places except hospitals reported more outbreak-related cases.
It is known that the next major COVID wave is expected this fall.
Canada’s chief public health officer, Dr. Theresa Tam, told the Commons health committee earlier in June that a seventh wave was a real threat and that the pandemic was not over.
As various politicians began grumbling about mandates, Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos reminded attendees that 10,000 Canadians died from COVID between January and May.
Mask mandates may return if the health system is overwhelmed.
A very high percentage of the population in Canada is vaccinated against COVID, which will likely protect people from further lockdowns.
Vaccines are believed to have saved almost 20 million lives worldwide, according to new data published online in The Lancet Infectious Diseases.
The global death toll from COVID is now 6.3 million.
Anyone hoping to avoid COVID should continue to mask indoors. Research shows that multiple infections with COVID lead to susceptibility and potentially prolonged COVID.
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