Ontario's top doctor suggests new vaccination target to account for risk posed by Delta variant
Ontario’s top public health official says that the more transmissible Delta variant will continue to threaten the progress that the province has made until about 90 per cent of eligible residents have been fully vaccinated.
The Doug Ford government has said that the final step of its reopening plan lifting virtually all remaining public health restrictions can’t begin until at least 80 per cent of those 12 and older have been partially vaccinated and 75 per cent have been fully vaccinated.
But during a briefing on Tuesday Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Kieran Moore suggested that the province needs to set a higher target in order to fully account for the risk of Delta.
“Certainly I'd love Ontario to have one of the highest vaccination rates in the world. The modelling, though, tells us that once we're at around 90 per cent of the eligible population immunized that the risk of Delta will be less for us,” he said.
“If we remain at around 20 per cent of the population unvaccinated we won't build a community immunity and you'll get breakthrough infections in those individuals that are vaccinated because not all individuals, especially those that are elderly or vulnerable or immune suppressed, will get full protection from the vaccine. So the higher the proportion of our population immunized the less we'll have to worry about those vulnerable people getting COVID despite getting vaccinated.”
Ontario has administered more than 18 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine but Moore said that there are still about 2.4 million eligible individuals who have yet to receive even their first shot.
That, he said, has him concerned given surging case counts in some jurisdictions with lower vaccination rates, particularly in the southern United States.
The problem is that Ontario’s vaccine rollout has slowed particularly when it comes to the administration of first doses.
On Monday the province administered more than 132,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccine but only about 17,000 of those were first doses.
At that rate it could take months for Ontario to hit the 90 per cent threshold among eligible residents.
“I have heard of multiple different immunizers starting to review the possibility for incentives and I think that's reasonable in this environment,” Moore said on Tuesday. “It is the last mile or last kilometre where we are trying to really reach protection at the highest level for Ontarians and I think we will look at all possibilities for trying to achieve that whether it is through different partners in immunization incentivizing or ensuring that the accessibility and availability of immunization increases.”
The Delta variant is believed to account for more than 90 per cent of all new COVID-19 cases in Ontario.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Canadian gov't proposes new foreign influence registry as part of wide-spanning new bill
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's government is proposing a suite of new measures and law changes aimed at countering foreign interference in Canada, amid extensive scrutiny over past meddling attempts and an ever-evolving threat landscape.
Boeing Starliner capsule's first crewed test flight postponed
The long-awaited first crewed test flight of Boeing's new Starliner space capsule was called off for at least 24 hours over a technical issue that launch teams were unable to resolve in time for the planned Monday night lift-off.
Teacher charged in historical sexual assault of Calgary teenage girl
Calgary police have charged a teacher with the alleged sexual assault of a teenage girl more than 20 years ago.
Winnipeg man admits to killing four women, argues he's not criminally responsible
Defence lawyers of Jeremy Skibicki have admitted in court the accused killed four Indigenous women, but argues he is not criminally responsible for the deaths by way of mental disorder – this latest development has triggered a judge-alone trial rather than a jury trial.
Man banned from owning animals after fatal Calgary dog attack
The owner of three Calgary dogs that got loose and mauled a woman to death in 2022 has been ordered to pay a $15,000 fine within one year and banned from owning any animal for 15 years.
East-end Ottawa family dealing with massive rat infestation
Residents in Ottawa’s Elmridge Gardens complex are dealing with a rat infestation that just won’t go away. Now, after doing everything they can to try to fix the issue, they are pleading with the city to step in and help.
Mediterranean staple may lower your risk of death from dementia, study finds
A daily spoonful of olive oil could lower your risk of dying from dementia, according to a new study by Harvard scientists.
An El Nino-less summer is coming. Here's what that could mean for Canada
As Canadians brace themselves for summer temperatures, forecasters say a weakening El Nino cycle doesn’t mean relief from the heat.
Newfoundland and Labrador latest province to tighten rules on Airbnbs
Newfoundland and Labrador is the latest jurisdiction to bring in stricter rules for short-term rentals, with a coming set of regulations that will force operators to register with the provincial government.