Canada’s top doctor says while COVID-19 case counts are declining, several trends indicate ongoing widespread activity.
“This winter, unprecedented numbers of people in Canada have been infected with the highly contagious Omicron variant,” Dr. Theresa Tam said during a news conference Friday.
“Though declining, daily new case counts averaging over 10,000 daily, together with other indicators of COVID-19 disease activity — including test positivity, the effective reproduction number, and wastewater surveillance trends — indicate widespread activity across the country.”
Tam continued to stress the importance of Canadians getting their COVID-19 vaccine.
She said the latest data shows two doses offer “reasonably good” protection against the virus.
But Tam said a booster dose provides “superior protection” against hospitalization and death.
“In general, data show that protection against hospitalizations is over 90 per cent with an mRNA booster dose, with is 15 to 40 per cent higher effectiveness than with just two doses,” she said.
As of Jan. 30, 85 per cent of all eligible Canadians had received one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, 79 per cent had two doses, and 50 per cent had a booster, according to Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos.
Meanwhile, the National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI) has released updated recommendations for those who have been infected with COVID-19.
They say a booster shot should be given at least six months after a previous dose or three months following infection, whichever is longer, according to Tam.
