Sask. top doc predicts life in the 'Omicron era'
Saskatchewan Medical Health Officer Saqib Shahab compared living with the Omicron COVID-19 variant to the annual flu season.
"While we are moving to a different phase, you know, I've called it the Omicron era, we need to be cautious that each infectious disease is unique and each infectious disease evolves," he said Thursday in an online media briefing.
A well-matched flu vaccine can prevent 60 per cent of illnesses and even in those years, seniors in long-term care get a high-dose vaccine. Those people still have a worse response to the flu, but antivirals and other treatments are available for people at high risk, he said.
"Obviously, everyone doesn't take antivirals for influenza, people at high risk are able to take antivirals. So using the same analogy, you know, our the evolution of COVID has evolved, where we now have booster doses available. The vaccine effectiveness, especially after a booster dose, is extremely high to prevent hospitalization.
"But as we know through our breakthrough analysis that people at high risk — older, immune-suppressed — are still at higher risk of being hospitalized."
He said the province's breakthrough case data for January will show the same experience as other provinces who are further ahead on the Omicron curve, as well as the United Kingdom: that COVID-19 is moving more from a severe illness in the unvaccinated, which Omicron can still be at any age, to also affecting those with two doses of vaccine — and rarely those with a booster — and older people with underlying risk factors.
"So that's now more similar to how influenza behaves when there's a poor vaccine match. And we know that while the vaccine is still very effective for most people in preventing hospitalizations, it is there's some loss of efficacy due to the Omicron variant which will show some vaccine escape, and that's why boosting is important and also, where appropriate, access to therapeutics."
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
Cuban government apologizes to Montreal-area family after delivering wrong body
Cuba's foreign affairs minister has apologized to a Montreal-area family after they were sent the wrong body following the death of a loved one.
What is changing about Canada's capital gains tax and how does it impact me?
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
'Anything to win': Trudeau says as Poilievre defends meeting protesters
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is accusing Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre of welcoming 'the support of conspiracy theorists and extremists,' after the Conservative leader was photographed meeting with protesters, which his office has defended.
Northern Ont. lawyer who abandoned clients in child protection cases disbarred
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.
'One of the single most terrifying things ever': Ontario couple among passengers on sinking tour boat in Dominican Republic
A Toronto couple are speaking out about their 'extremely dangerous' experience on board a sinking tour boat in the Dominican Republic last week.
Boeing's financial woes continue, while families of crash victims urge U.S. to prosecute the company
Boeing said Wednesday that it lost US$355 million on falling revenue in the first quarter, another sign of the crisis gripping the aircraft manufacturer as it faces increasing scrutiny over the safety of its planes and accusations of shoddy work from a growing number of whistleblowers.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Fair in Ontario, flurries in Labrador: Weather systems make for an erratic spring
"It's a bit of a complicated pattern; we've got a lot going on," said Jennifer Smith of the Meteorological Service of Canada in an interview with CTVNews.ca on Wednesday. "[As is] typical with weather, all of these things are related."