All of Canada was aflutter this week as the highly-anticipated new COVID vaccination guidelines finally dropped:
On Friday, Dr. Theresa Tam told reporters during a briefing the COVID-19 vaccine efficiency wanes significantly over time, from 50 to 80 per cent effectiveness down to 20 per cent or lower six months after the second dose.
That's why she has recommended that any official language encouraging Canadians to be vaccinated should not emphasize a specific number of doses, but rather say Canadians should be "up to date" with their COVID-19 vaccines. ...
"Although two doses still protects significantly well against severe disease and death, two doses are not enough now to protect against infection and transmission. That is why we are transitioning now to an ‘up-to-date' vaccination definition of what it means to be adequately protected against COVID-19," Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos said Tuesday during a press conference in Ottawa.
The needles just keep on coming, folks!
And just in case it weren't clear, the Canadian government is indicating that it plans to keep at it for the foreseeable future:
Duclos said health officials plan to spend the summer months shifting their focus to trying to encourage more Canadians to get vaccinated and boosted. He cited data provided by Tam Friday that demonstrated that although the vaccine doesn't provide the same level of immunity against contracting Omicron variants of the virus, it does decrease severe outcomes and hospitalization rates.
"We will do that because we know (in) the summertime … there will be fewer cases, fewer hospitalizations," Duclos said. "That's the right time for Canadians not only to pause and deserve a summer break, but also to think of how to better be prepared individually and collectively for the fall season."
Translation: Get ready for the "fall season" because they're really going to hammer you then!
What a time to be Canadian!
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