Ontario in Canada says Covid-19 is in third wave – and officials worry that vaccine launch may not happen soon enough

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“We are in the third wave. The numbers are growing slowly, they are not going as fast as the modelers predicted,” said Dr. David Williams, chief physician for Ontario. He added: “We are now starting to see the impact on our hospital rates, ICU admissions are rising again, our hospital admissions are rising again.”
It was worrying news for a province where most residents have been in a certain state of blockade since the end of last year.

Canadian public health officials have also warned that the vaccine will not be launched soon enough to stop what could be a potentially devastating third wave in other parts of the country, further underscoring the hospital’s capacity.

“COVID-19 activity has leveled off since mid-February, and the average daily number of cases is rising,” Dr. Theresa Tam, Canada’s chief public health officer, said Monday.

“As vaccination programs accelerate, it will be important to maintain a high degree of caution. Any relaxation of public health measures should be done slowly with improved testing, screening and genomic analysis to detect concerns,” he said. she in a statement.

Canada has reported more than 938,000 suspected or confirmed cases of coronavirus since the beginning of the pandemic and more than 22,000 deaths.

Public health officials have been warning for weeks that Canada has risked a third wave fueled by variants that are more communicable and in some cases can lead to more severe diseases.

A vaccine shortage

Last month, as the country was facing a severe shortage of vaccines, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau warned that a third wave was a possibility.

“We must continue to take strong public health measures,” Trudeau said during a February Covid-19 update, because otherwise we could see a third wave that is even worse than the second or first. and I know this is not the news you want to hear. “

On Monday, he said vaccine shipments will continue to grow, and Canada is expected to receive up to 2 million doses this week, the highest reception in a single week since the approval of four vaccine candidates for emergency use.

But officials across the country are now facing the possibility that vaccines may not be distributed in time to avoid a significant number of hospitalizations and deaths.

Also Monday, the province of Alberta said it would postpone reopening, as it also saw an increase in hospitalizations due to Covid-19.

“Half of those in a hospital bed for COVID are under 65 years old and almost 90% of those in intensive care for Covid are under 65 years old. Most would not be there if they were vaccinated at this time, “Alberta Health Minister Tyler Shandro said Monday in a Covid-19 update.

While variant B.1.1.7, first detected in the UK, fuels an increase in cases in Alberta, the health minister blamed the federal government for not providing enough vaccine doses in time to vaccinate the many people who it still risks severe results.

Canada received a boost from the Biden administration last week, when the two countries reached an agreement that will see the US release 1.5 million of its AstraZeneca doses to Canada in the coming days. The US is storing the AstraZeneca vaccine until it receives FDA approval, which is unlikely at least next month.

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