Why Canada is losing the race between vaccines and variants as the 3rd wave worsens
Variants rapidly outpacing vaccinations as third wave shows no signs of slowing down
“More than 15,000 cases of the more transmissible and
potentially more deadly variants have been reported across Canada to date, with more than 90 per cent of those being the B117 variant first identified in the United Kingdom.
But the P1 variant first discovered in Brazil is also on the rise in Canada, with cases
doubling in the past week to close to 1,000 — mostly in British Columbia, Ontario and Alberta.
And the B1351 variant first found in South Africa is also picking up steam, with
over 150 casesidentified in Quebec, more than 70 in
Ontario and over 50 in
B.C as of Tuesday.
But experts say Canada's slow vaccine roll out has failed to keep up with the exponential rise in variants in the third wave and the
premature loosening of restrictions has led to an increase in hospitalizations and deaths — even in
younger Canadians.
[...]
“Canada's Chief Public Health Officer Dr. Theresa Tam says another unanswered question that has huge implications for our ability to control the third wave is whether variants like P1 pose a threat to COVID-19 vaccine effectiveness.
"This virus might be capable of evading the immune response," she said. "But we do not have an actual vaccine effectiveness estimate that is solidified."“
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Canada Covid-19: Variants have likely replaced original virus in many parts of the country, health officials say - CNN
“Canadian public health officials say a rapidly spreading variant likely has now replaced the original Covid-19 virus in many parts of the country, and new variants are making younger people sicker and sending more to the hospital.
"This isn't the news any of us wanted, but hospitalizations are surging, ICU beds are filling up, variants are spreading and even people who had convinced themselves they didn't need to be concerned are getting sick," Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said at a news conference Tuesday, adding this is a "very serious" third wave of the pandemic.
Trudeau made a pointed appeal to young people, urging them to "stay home" as
younger Canadians are getting sicker in this third wave.
Intensive care unit admissions are up 18% in the past week alone, and the new variants are placing a "heavy strain" on hospital capacity, the Public Health Agency of Canada said.”
Coronavirus variants are ripping through Canada and Minnesota, and they're infecting younger people most, officials warn
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Canada's COVID-19 surge shows danger of virus variants | king5.com
Washington's border crossing with Canada will stay closed to non-essential travel until at least April 21.
“Canada is experiencing a surge of COVID-19 cases, driven by coronavirus variants.
“These are higher-transmission and maybe a higher-severity type of COVID-19 that was probably introduced in B.C. or started spreading in B.C. around January and early February,” said Caroline Colijn, a professor at Simon Fraser University in British Columbia
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COVID-19 variants in Canada mean Yukon rules to stay: territory's health officer
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“At what rate are the variants spreading in B.C.?
On December 27, the first case of a variant of concern was announced in B.C., and by March 1, the province announced there had been a total of 158 cases.
Since then, that number has quickly risen — to 880 cases on March 15, 2,643 cases on April 1, and 3,766 cases just five days later.
As of April 6, this included 2,838 cases of the B117 variant, 877 cases of the P1 variant, and 51 cases of the B1351 variant.
The province says 90 per cent of all positive tests are now screened for variants, a number much larger than many other jurisdictions — the United States was testing less than 10 per cent of cases for variants of concern last month.“
What we know — and don't know — about variants in B.C. right now
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“'Worrisome' spread of P1
B.C. is now being identified by epidemiologists across the world as a notable hotspot for the P1 variant that has spread unchecked through Brazil, where COVID-19 has killed more than 300,000 people.
Dr. Eric Feigl-Ding, a Washington, D.C.-based epidemiologist and health economist, says the accelerating community spread of mutations in B.C. is "worrisome."
He said that the P1 variant is more than twice as transmissible as the original coronavirus and initial data suggests it causes higher mortality rates and affects younger people more than the initial strain.
Feigl-Ding, a senior fellow at the Federation of American Scientists, raised the alarm a few weeks ago when he compared B.C. to Florida, where variants are also growing in number.“
Coronavirus variants causing growing alarm in B.C. as cases surge, hospitalizations rise
Number of cases involving more transmissible P1 variant almost doubled over Easter weekend: health minister
