Do COVID-19 vaccines work on the Omicron variant? Your top questions answered

At the end of November 2021, the first case of the Omicron variant was identified in Canada. Since then, it has rapidly spread across the country—infecting more than 10,000 people per day in Ontario alone.

And yet, two months later, Canadians still have lots of questions when it comes to this new dominant strain of COVID-19.

On this week’s episode of Life Unmasked, the team brings in four experts to answer those questions and offer insight into what this variant means for the pandemic. Is the Omicron variant really milder than the Delta variant? Are the symptoms different? Do vaccines work against it?

And ultimately, will the Omicron variant lead to an endemic?

The team is joined by four infections disease specials—including Dr. Sumon Chakrabarti with Trillium Health Partners, Dr. Susy Hota and Dr. Isaac Bogoch with the University Health Network, and Dr. Zain Chagla with St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton.—who answer those questions and discuss the province’s recent move to break down hospital admissions between patients admitted for COVID-19 and patients who happen to test positive for the disease.

Life Unmasked airs first on the iHeart app every Tuesday morning before becoming available on other streaming platforms. If you have questions for the podcast team, or an idea for an episode, please email [e-mail].