Ottawa, July 31 (AP) Canada’s chief public health officer said Friday that the country could face a fourth wave of COVID-19 by the end of summer if restrictions are eased quickly and before enough people arrive. Is. Vaccination was done.
Dr Theresa Tam said strong vaccination rates have helped reduce hospitalizations and deaths, but vaccinations must increase further to avoid renewed strain on hospitals and the health care system.
She urged young adults to be fully vaccinated as soon as possible, saying they are lagging behind in age groups but associated with the highest rates of disease transmission.
Tam told a news briefing that about 6.3 million Canadians have not received the first dose and more than 5 million have not received a second dose.
“With just five weeks until Labor Day in Canada, this timing is critical to building safety in schools, colleges, universities and workplaces ahead of this fall,” she said.
As of last Saturday, 89 per cent of senior citizens aged 70 or above had received two doses of the COVID-19 vaccines, according to government data. But only 46 percent of Canadians aged 18 to 29 were fully vaccinated, as were 54 percent of those aged 30 to 39.
Tam said vaccine coverage should be more than 80 percent across all age groups to establish better protection.
The more infectious Delta variant is expected to gain steam among young unvaccinated people, fueling a resurgence that could stifle health care capacity if personal contact also increases, she said.
Tam said the current COVID-19 case count has declined by 93 per cent since the peak of the third wave, with an average of 640 new infections being recorded daily over the past seven days.
Deputy Chief Public Health Officer Howard Njoo said Canada’s strong vaccination rate means any increase in infections will likely not be commensurate with a significant increase in deaths and hospitalizations.
He warned that millions of uneducated Canadians are “at risk of really dire consequences.” (AP) CPS
(This story is published as part of an auto-generated Syndicate wire feed. Headline or body have not been edited by ABP Live.)
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