New federal Health Minister Mark Holland says it is “critical” that Canadians “get their vaccinations up to date,” citing the new EG.5 SARS-CoV-2 variant.
Mr. Holland said the government is monitoring the situation “very closely” due to “EG.5 and the various subvariants of Omicron. We’re evaluating on a daily basis what the case count is and what the trajectory is.”
“We knew that as we lead into fall, we'll see an increase in the case count. This is fully expected,” he said at a press conference in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, on Aug. 16.
“There will consistently be new variants and we will consistently have new vaccines.”
The new health minister said Ottawa is already working with provincial and territorial leaders, and also monitoring the situation together with international colleagues and is “ready to take action as needed, as this situation evolves.”
Mr. Holland, the former government House leader, took on the health portfolio after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s July cabinet shuffle.
In a risk evaluation statement on Aug. 9, the World Health Organization (WHO) said that a coronavirus strain dubbed EG.5 was circulating in China and the United States. The WHO called it a “variant of interest,” claiming it may have “additional public health risks relative to the other currently circulating Omicron descendent lineages.”
Low Uptake
In response a question about whether people should wait for the new formulation of the vaccine, Mr. Holland said they should just go ahead and take what is available.“I think when you are eligible and able to get a vaccine, you should take it. When there are new vaccines are available and it’s your time, then that’s the appropriate thing to do. But I don’t think people should hesitate in getting vaccinated at any time,” he said.
Based on Health Canada vaccine coverage data, updated on June 23 with data up to and including June 18, vaccine uptake is low across the country. While 83.2 percent of the adult population has had at least one COVID vaccine dose, and 80.5 percent of the population has completed a series of doses, 5.7 percent of the total population in the last six months has received a booster dose or the primary series of COVID shots.
Among children aged 0 to 4 years old, 9.3 percent have had one shot and 5.7 percent have had two shots. Within the last six months, the highest uptake in boosters or a recent series of COVID vaccines is among those 80 years and older, at 21.9 percent of the total population. The figures for ages 5 and older do not include Quebec.
Albertans were the least likely to have received any COVID shots in the last six months, at 1.9 percent of the population agreeing to a jab. The highest uptake was in British Columbia, where 11.1 percent of the population has received a course of shots or a booster in the last six months, followed by Prince Edward Island, where Mr. Holland was speaking this week about the spread of the new variant.
NACI suggested it is “particularly important” that “individuals who are pregnant,” adults over the age of 65, long-term care home residents, and indigenous communities as well as those from “racialized or other equity-deserving communities,” get more COVID shots.
