COVID-19: Provincial & Federal Briefings - Sept. 5 - 9, 2022
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A summary of developments from Monday, September 5 to Friday, September 9, 2022 follows.
Federal Government
Vaccination Programs for Fall 2022
The Council of Chief Medical Officers of Health (CCMOH) released a statement on September 7, noting that as fall approaches and we return to spending more time indoors, another increase in cases is expected. There are several other factors of concern as we head into the respiratory illness season such as the ongoing evolution of the SARS-CoV2 virus, waning immunity from previous doses of COVID-19 vaccine or infection (more than 6 months ago), and the increased circulation of other respiratory diseases like influenza.
The CCMOH reiterated that booster doses of mRNA COVID-19 vaccines are effective at bolstering waned immunity from previous doses or infection, which increases protection against severe disease including reducing hospitalization and death, and encourages individuals to follow the National Advisory Committee on Immunization’s (NACI) recommendations with respect to booster doses. The CCMOH further warned that while NACI strongly recommends that individuals 18 and over be offered the recently authorized bivalent Omicron-containing mRNA COVID-19 vaccine, individuals eligible for a fall booster dose, particularly those in groups at a higher risk of severe outcomes from COVID-19, should not delay their planned vaccination if the bivalent vaccine is not readily available.
As children head back to school, a key focus of the CCMOH is to support parents and children 5 to 11 years of age to receive their primary series of COVID-19 vaccine, since vaccine uptake for this age group in Canada stands at only 50%. For children 6 months to 5 years of age who have a higher risk of COVID-19 related hospitalizations than older children, vaccination programs recently began with a primary series of two doses of the Moderna Spikevax (25 mcg) vaccine. CCMOH will work with health providers including pediatricians and trusted community leaders to provide reliable information and lower barriers to access vaccines in the youngest age groups prior to respiratory virus season.
The CCMOH further reminds us that staying up-to-date with our vaccines means getting a fall booster for those who have not had a vaccine or infection in the preceding six months and that doing so is essential to maintaining protection against COVID-19 and other vaccine preventable diseases. The CCMOH urges eligible individuals to get their flu vaccinations as these become available and encourages everyone to think about catching up on other vaccinations (e.g., measles, polio), as the COVID-19 pandemic may have disrupted access to routine immunizations.
Finally, the CCMOH reminds us that as individuals, we can further contribute to reducing the impact of not only COVID-19, but also influenza and other respiratory illnesses, by continuing to layer personal protective measures alongside vaccinations. This includes staying home when sick, especially if you have a fever and cough, wearing a well-fitting respirator or mask in public indoor settings for additional protection, improving indoor ventilation, and washing hands regularly. These combined efforts will continue to help us in our collective transition away from the crisis phase towards a more sustainable approach to long-term management of COVID-19.
Federal Government Statement on COVID-19
On September 7, Statistics Canada released provisional data from the second cycle of the Canadian COVID-19 Antibody and Health Survey (CCAHS), which focused on self-reported COVID-19 infection. Here are some of the key findings:
Government of Canada and Air Industry Work on Reducing Congestion in Airports
On September 7, Minister of Families, Children and Social Development Karen Gould, announced four new passport pick up locations across the country. Canadians can now apply for and pick up their passport at the following Service Canada Centres:
Furthermore, on September 8, Transport Canada’s new Regulations Amending the Air Passenger Protection Regulations came into force. In an announcement, the CTA stated: “Starting today, the new regulations, which amend Canada’s existing Air Passenger Protection Regulations, apply to flights that are cancelled, or where there is a lengthy delay, for reasons outside of an air carrier’s control, including major weather events or a pandemic, where it is not possible for the carrier to complete the passenger’s journey within a reasonable time.”
The CTA has developed an information resource for Canadian travellers to know their rights under the Air Passenger Protection Regulations.
Indigenous Communities
On September 7, Indigenous Services Canada (ISC) updated COVID-19 statistics of on reserve cases. ISC only reports COVID-19 data on reserve land and these numbers do not reflect off-reserve Indigenous populations.
In the month of August 2022, ISC reported an average of 815 daily active cases, 16 newly reported hospitalizations, and 12 newly reported deaths.
To date, there have been 117,802 reported cases on reserve with 116,275 of those patients recovered. There are currently 773 active cases on reserves. Between August 28–September 2, there were 0 cases in the Atlantic region, 27 in Quebec, 130 in Ontario, 41 in Manitoba, 39 in Saskatchewan, 9 in Alberta and 11 in British Columbia.
Vaccination data was last updated on August 30. There have been 1,186,371 vaccine doses administered, 447,495 were second doses and 187,974 were third doses. 90% of individuals aged 12+ have received a second dose and over 39% have received a third dose. More than 53% of children aged 5-11 have received their first dose.
687 communities are reporting continued vaccination efforts.
COVID-19 Data Trends
The Canadian COVID-19 statistics were updated on Friday, September 9 at 8:00 a.m. EDT.
In the past week, The Public Health agency of Canada (PHAC) reported 20,842 new COVID-19 cases in Canada and 262 deaths, bringing the cumulative total of cases to 4,179,337 and deaths to 44,086.
National Vaccination Coverage
As of August 14, the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) reported that 85.24% of the Canadian population was vaccinated with at least one vaccine dose. In the last 4 weeks, many people received vaccines:
Update on Monkeypox in Canada
Today, Chief Public Health Officer of Canada Dr. Theresa Tam, and Deputy Chief Public Health Officer of Canada Dr. Howard Njoo provided a technical update on the spread of monkeypox in Canada.
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While there are over 55,451 confirmed cases of monkeypox globally, PHAC reported a total of 1,317 confirmed cases of monkeypox across Canada: 631 in Ontario, 505 in Quebec, 139 in British Columbia, 34 in Alberta, 3 in Saskatchewan, and 1 in Manitoba, 1 in New Brunswick, 1 in Nova Scotia and 2 in the Yukon.
Ontario
Yesterday, National news outlets reported that Ontario has received its first limited shipment of the new Moderna bivalent vaccine. Ontario’s Minister of Health, Sylvia Jones stated that long-term care residents and health-care workers will be the first to receive the vaccine. More information regarding a wider roll out is expected to follow.
Furthermore, on September 6, Ontario’s Minister of Education, Stephen Lecce, announced that students will remain at schools until June of next year regardless of whether the province experiences a spike in COVID-19 cases. This week marks the first time students will return to the classroom without any COVID-19 restrictions. In the statement, Lecce noted increased preventative measures in schools including: “additional HEPA filters, enhanced cleaning, self-screening of students and staff and the provision of rapid antigen tests for those who want them.” This announcement has been critiqued by numerous educational organizations in the province including the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario and the Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation.
COVID-19 Data Trends
Note that as of September 8, 2022, the Ontario COVID-19 Science Advisory Table Dashboard is no longer being updated in an effort to streamline the ongoing collection, analysis and reporting of provincial COVID-19 data in Ontario. Public Health Ontario (PHO) will continue providing important surveillance data on COVID-19 activity in Ontario via their COVID-19 Data Tool.
As of today, the COVID-19 statistics for Ontario for the week of September 5 are currently not available.
Quebec
Dr. Luc Boileau, the province’s National Director of Public Health, held a press conference on September 7, regarding the current state of COVID-19 in Quebec. He was accompanied by Dr. Caroline Quach-Thanh, pediatrician, microbiologist-infectiologist at CHU Sainte-Justine and president of the Comité sur l'immunisation du Québec (CIQ). (The press release was in French only.)
Dr. Boileau announced that the bivalent COVID-19 Omicron variant vaccine, produced by Moderna, would be available as of September 8 at most vaccine centres across Quebec. Those who are under 30 are recommended to remain with Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine, as Quebec’s vaccine committee says Moderna’s shot presents a higher risk of myocarditis (inflammation of the heart muscle) in the under-30 age group. Those under 30 will, however, be eligible to get the Moderna shot if they prefer, and will be able to choose between the older or newer generation of vaccine.
Dr. Boileau also added that this season’s Influenza vaccine will be available sooner than usual — advanced to October versus November. People wishing to get both vaccines at once will be able to do so. Finally, he reminded Quebecers to continue taking measures to reduce the spread of the virus like wearing masks or opting to gather outdoors — even if they are up to date on their boosters.
Santé Québec reported 3,993 new cases with 51 virus-related deaths in the last 7 days. There was a net weekly decrease of 134 hospitalizations, bringing the total number of people being treated in hospital with the virus to 1,594. There was also a net decrease of 7 patients in intensive care in the last 7 days, bringing the total to 30.
More than 20.8 million vaccine doses have been administered to Quebecers residing in and outside the province. The Santé Québec COVID-19 dashboard shows that 91% of the total eligible people aged 5 years and older have received their first vaccine dose and 56% have received their third dose, while 21% of the total eligible people have received their fourth vaccine dose.
Alberta
A Global News Article reported that Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Deena Hinshaw said in written statement that it is reasonable to expect more respiratory viruses like influenza, RSV, and COVID-19 to circulate in the fall and winter. Alberta Health Minister Jason Copping said the upcoming flu season and a potential wave of COVID-19 will impact health care capacity but the government is putting plans in place to manage it. At a press conference, Premier Jason Kenney said that he believes that the new variants of the disease continue to come with less severity and lower levels of hospitalization. However in her address on Wednesday, Dr. Maria Kherkova, COVID-19 technical lead for the World Health Organization, said that the virus is still evolving and lacks predictability.
CTV News reports that Alberta infections disease experts are encouraging Albertans to receive the new bivalent omicron-specific booster approved by Health Canada. Created by Moderna/Spikevax, the vaccine uses MRNA technology to increase an immune response to earlier editions of SARS-COV2 and has been designated to specifically target the Omicron variant BA.1. One infectious disease expert said the updated version may lag behind more recent virus mutations in circulation, but the development is an encouraging tool in the pandemic.
The province released updated COVID-19 statistics this week. As of September 7, on a 7-day average, 799 people were hospitalized, of which 20 were in intensive care. There were 1,084 new cases reported this week, making the positivity rate for testing on a 7-day average 16.68%. There have been 9,217,066 doses of COVID-19 vaccines administered in Alberta in total. 90.8% of the population 12 years of age and older are vaccinated with 1 dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and 87.3% of the population 12 years of age and up are vaccinated with 2 doses.
British Columbia
According to a Ministry of Health Report, the newly approved bivalent vaccine will be available to all adults over the age of 18 and youth from 12 to 17 years who are at high risk of severe outcomes form COVID-19. Invitations will go out over the coming days. As with the previous doses, the timing of invitations will be based on risk and age, as long as it has been six months since the previous dose. Priority groups will continue to include people over the age of 60, Indigenous Peoples of all ages, people who are clinically extremely vulnerable and people, such as eligible health care workers, who work with high-risk and vulnerable individuals. Parents and guardians will receive invitations to book booster appointment for children and youth aged 5 to 17 when their children become eligible.
CTV News reports that the recent surge in total number of patient with COVID-19 in British Columbia can be traced almost entirely to one region of the province. New data from the British Columbia Centre for Disease Control (BCCDC) shows the number of COVID-19 positive patients has decreased in most health authority regions and remained the same in others with the exception of Fraser Health, the most populous health authority regions in the province. Fraser Health also experiences more variable swings in hospitalization number than any other healthy authority region. The BCCDC’s hospitalization totals now include both patients who are admitted because of a serious COVID-10 infection and those who are admitted for other reasons and test positive incidentally.
The province released updated COVID-19 statistics this week on their COVID-19 Dashboard. As of September 8, on a 7-day average, there are 324 people hospitalized with COVID-19, of which 22 are in critical care. There were 617 new cases this week and 22 new deaths.
Canada’s COVID-19 Tracker reported this week that 12,343,991 vaccine doses have been administered in British Columbia in total. 87.290% of all people in British Columbia have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and 84.298% of all people in the province have received at least two doses of a COVID-19 vaccine. Only 54.154% of all people are fully vaccinated with a third dose.
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