TORONTO – Preparations for an accelerated launch of the COVID-19 booster injection were underway Wednesday in Ontario as the province braced for a growing wave of infections of the highly communicable Omicron variant.
Public Health Ontario has estimated that 80 percent of new COVID-19 infections as of this week would be Omicron. Dr. Kieran Moore, the province’s chief physician, said this week that Omicron is infecting four to eight times more people than the Delta variant.
Hours before an expected announcement from Prime Minister Doug Ford on the province’s booster policy, Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson said the city’s Emergency Operations Center was stepping up its efforts to focus on booster vaccines. amidst the community spread of the variant.
“We are working hand-in-hand to rapidly increase first, second and third dose capacity for all eligible Ottawa residents,” Watson wrote on Twitter.
The city’s public health personnel had been asked to “take a break” from routine work to help with immunizations in light of the infectious threat variant, according to Watson’s post. Several other public health units are doing the same.
The president of a professional group representing family physicians in the province also asked members to postpone non-urgent procedures so they can join the immunization effort.
In an open letter, Ontario College of Family Physicians President Liz Muggah recommended that members connect with local public health units to see how they can help with vaccination clinics. He also recommended that they contact patients eligible for the booster dose or vaccinate people in their offices when possible.
“Family physicians are being asked to be part of a concerted effort by the health system,” he wrote in his letter Tuesday, adding that the province’s medical director has made similar requests to public health units, pharmacies. and hospitals.
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Muggah said booster shots for people 50 and older are the priority for the next two weeks, based on current evidence on the effectiveness of the Omicron booster shot, and such an effort will require more than 200,000 vaccines given each day in the province.
Meanwhile, a group representing Ontario’s public health units and local health boards wrote to Health Minister Christine Elliott, requesting provincial strategies to combat Omicron, including public health restrictions when necessary, and ” clear public messages about the seriousness of the situation. “
Tuesday’s letter from the Association of Local Public Health Agencies said province-wide restrictions will be needed to deal with Omicron, suggesting capacity limits at workplaces and meetings and requiring proof of vaccination in more settings.
Based on current evidence, the group said the Omicron wave will be “substantial,” affecting all areas of the province, and even with “best effort,” the benefits probably won’t be seen until “well into the new year.”
He also called for leadership in communicating the situation to the public, noting that after a drop in cases this fall, people’s adherence to simple public health measures is declining, with “very little understanding of the threat posed. suddenly it presents itself to us. “
“Even before the appearance of the Omicron variant, many parts of the Ontario health system, including public health units and hospitals, were reaching the limit of their response capacity to COVID-19,” the letter read. “We must do everything we can now to avoid being overwhelmed by this new wave. The permanent leadership role of the province will be indispensable ”.
Ontario reported 1,808 new COVID-19 cases and nine deaths from the virus on Wednesday.
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