Ontario doctors advise vaccine catch-up ahead of fall flu, COVID-19 season
Ontario doctors are advising people to keep up with vaccinations ahead of the fall, when illnesses including COVID-19 and influenza are expected to spread amid health system challenges one physician said he expects will likely worsen.
Physicians spoke at a virtual panel hosted by the Ontario Medical Association to for a lookahead discussion about the pandemic and other health-care issues in the coming months.
Infectious diseases specialist Dr. Zain Chagla at St. Joseph's Healthcare Hamilton said other countries have seen influenza spikes this year and Ontario should brace for something similar, as well as a likely increase in COVID-19 cases in the fall when people begin gathering indoors more often.
"I think with our ... globalization, global travel, everything back on the table, really does mean that flu will be introduced more in Ontario, emphasizing the need for people to get their influenza vaccine," he said.
Flu shots can help avoid serious symptomatic illness and related health-care strain as the system deals with staffing shortages and other challenges, Chagla noted.
After a summer of long wait times and temporary closures in emergency departments due to staffing shortages, emergency physician Dr. Andrew Petrosoniak said he anticipates hospital strain will worsen in the fall.
"I think there's about a 99 per cent chance that the emergency departments in Ontario will be worse in the fall than in the current situation," he said. Petrosoniak said the expected increase in respiratory illness spread could have a big impact in an already strained hospital system.
"We tend to see a rise in volumes (in the fall)," he said. "Even if it's a small rise, when you've maxed out a system, any small increase has a risk of really overwhelming it."
Petrosoniak said hospital staff are able to provide care for people in life-threatening situations, and will continue to do so. But the doctor at Toronto's St. Michael's Hospital he's concerned that people with less obviously severe health concerns may slip through the cracks and have their conditions worsen as a result.
"I'm sure things will get missed. I think that that's almost a certainty," Petrosoniak said.
On the topic of immunizations, pediatrician Dr. Sloane Freeman, who also works at St. Michael's Hospital, added that she's concerned about children falling behind COVID-19 vaccinations and other routine shots that were missed during the pandemic. Ontario children were out of school for a particularly long time compared with other provinces, and missed many routine immunizations as a result.
That's of particular concern as countries around the world are detecting vaccine-preventable diseases like the virus that causes polio, she said.
Polio was found in New York City's wastewater, and a positive case was detected last month. Canada has said it intends to start testing wastewater for the virus soon.
"We really have to focus on children maintaining and getting these routine immunizations that otherwise before we sort of took for granted," Freeman said, adding that physicians also want children to get influenza vaccines.
As for COVID-19 shots, Freeman said children are "not covered at the rate that we need and that we hope for," noting that children experiencing poverty are the furthest behind in their immunizations for the virus.
"We really need to focus on increasing this for children, especially as we move into fall, we think about back to school, being indoors," she said. "As COVID rates go up, we really want our children protected."
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 17, 2022.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
American millionaire Jonathan Lehrer denied bail after being charged with killing Canadian couple
American millionaire Jonathan Lehrer, one of two men charged in the killings of a Canadian couple in Dominica, has been denied bail.
LeBlanc says he plans to run in next election, under Trudeau's leadership
Cabinet minister Dominic LeBlanc says he plans to run in the next election as a candidate under Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's leadership, amid questions about his rumoured interest in succeeding his longtime friend for the top job.
Sports columnist apologizes for 'oafish' comments directed at Caitlin Clark. The controversy isn’t over
A male columnist has apologized for a cringeworthy moment during former University of Iowa superstar and college basketball’s highest scorer Caitlin Clark’s first news conference as an Indiana Fever player.
U.S. vetoes a widely supported UN resolution backing full membership for Palestine
The United States has vetoed a widely backed UN resolution that would have paved the way for full United Nations membership for the state of Palestine.
Grandparent scam suspects had ties to Italian organized crime, police allege
A group of suspects that allegedly defrauded seniors across Ontario and other parts of Canada using a so-called emergency grandparent scam appear to have ties to 'Italian traditional organized crime,' according to an investigator involved in the OPP-led probe.
Health Canada to change sperm donor screening rules for men who have sex with men
Health Canada will change its longstanding policy restricting gay and bisexual men from donating to sperm banks in Canada, CTV News has learned. The federal health agency has adopted a revised directive removing the ban on gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men, effective May 8.
Prince Harry formally confirms he is now a U.S. resident
Prince Harry, the son of King Charles III and fifth in line to the British throne, has formally confirmed he is now a U.S. resident.
Cat found on Toronto Pearson airport runway 3 days after going missing
Kevin the cat has been reunited with his family after enduring a harrowing three-day ordeal while lost at Toronto Pearson International Airport earlier this week.
N.L. gardening store revives 19th century seed-packing machine
Technology from the 19th century has been brought out of retirement at a Newfoundland gardening store, as staff look for all the help they can get to fill orders during a busy season.