Immunization to start Monday
BRIGHT SPOT AS PROJECTIONS SHOW CANADA HEADING INTO GRIM PERIOD AS COVID CASES INCREASE
Canada will begin its CO VID-19immunization campaign as early as Monday, with 30,000 initial doses of the Pfizer and BioNtech vaccine making their way from Belgium.
Provincial governments are awaiting shots that will be distributed to 14 sites, a sign of progress against a second wave of infections that has killed about 100 people a day over the past week.
Quebec, which has suffered the majority of the more than 13,000 virus deaths, said it expects inoculations to start Monday.
Ontario is targeting Tuesday. It is to receive 6,000 doses and will give priority to health-care workers in Toronto and Ottawa.
“In a marathon, the last kilometres are the hardest,” Quebec Premier Francois Legault said during a press conference Friday. “We are seeing light at the end of the tunnel.”
Canada is closely following the U.K., which this week became the first nation to roll out the Pfizer vaccine. The U.S. appears close to authorizing emergency use of the shot.
“There are going to be some bumps in the road. Please be patient with us. We are going to work through those bumps,” Gen. Rick Hillier, head of Ontario’s vaccine distribution efforts, told reporters.
On the ground, health- care workers who will administer the vaccines “are fired up, they can’t wait to start this program,” he said.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau warned that the darkest days of the outbreak may still lie ahead as several provinces reported record case counts and hospitalizations this week, and the government’s new modelling predicts that Canada could see as many as 12,000 new infections per day by January.
“A vaccine in a week or in a month won’t help you if you get COVID-19 today,” Trudeau told reporters on Friday.
“My message to Canadians is simple: Hold tight, and don’t give up. We know how to make it through long, cold winters. And we’re going to do that once again.”
Trudeau confirmed that Canada and the United States have agreed to extend the closure of the border to non-essential travel until at least Jan. 21.
Dr. Theresa Tam, Canada's chief public health officer, echoed Trudeau's calls for continued vigilance as she presented updated modelling on Friday portending that Canada could mark several grim milestones this holiday season.
The analysis suggests that Canada's caseload will climb by at least 90,000 new infections by Christmas Day, and that number could go as high as 135,000.
She implored Canadians to continue to limit their contacts as officials at all levels of government work through the complexities of implementing a nationwide vaccine program.
Federal Health Minister Patty Hajdu said the Pfizer vaccine doses are set to be divvied up among provinces and territories on a per-capita basis.
Ottawa is setting aside additional vaccine doses for First Nations people living on reserve, where health care is a federal responsibility. However Metis, First Nations and Inuit living in urban areas, for instance, will be considered part of the provincial population, she said.
This is “very concerning” for National Chief Perry Bellegarde of the Assembly of First Nations, who tweeted that the federal government has a responsibility to ensure Indigenous people are vaccinated regardless of whether they live on a reserve.
Meanwhile Yukon and Nunavut have indicated they would prefer to skip out on the first Pfizer vaccine shipment, suggesting the doses may be too fragile to deliver to remote communities.
Tam said they will make up for that gap by allotting the territories a larger share of the Moderna vaccine, which is already part of the federal distribution plan in anticipation of Health Canada approval.
But in their update, federal officials said all large provinces need to strengthen their COVID-19 responses “now” as the spread of the virus continues along a “rapid growth trajectory.”
“Knowing access to safe and effective vaccines for all Canadians is within sight might lead some to think COVID-19 is no longer a problem,” Tam told reporters. “But the reality is very different.”
Infections continue to climb in the six provinces west of the Atlantic region, with rates rising precipitously Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba, according to the federal data.
Tam said over the past week, an average of 2,900 patients with COVID-19 were being treated in hospitals on any given day, including 565 people in intensive care.
Deputy chief public health
THE SPREAD OF THE VIRUS CONTINUES ALONG A `RAPID GROWTH TRAJECTORY.'
officer Dr. Howard Njoo said the outbreak has pushed health-care facilities in some parts of the country to the point of being “completely overloaded,” forcing some to postpone important medical procedures.
Ontario is reporting 1,848 new cases of COVID-19, and 45 new deaths due to the virus.
Another region in Quebec learned it's moving into the highest alert level on Friday as the province reported 1,713 new infections and 53 more deaths related to the virus.
Rising cases in areas of the Laurentians, including the popular resort towns of Mont-tremblant and St-sauveur, will join the red zone on Monday, closing many public venues and forbidding private gatherings.