COVID-19: Provincial & Federal Briefings - June 20 - 23, 2022
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Developments from Monday, June 20 to Thursday, June 23, 2022 follow below.
Federal Government?????
Government Progress on Reducing Wait Times ?
Transport Canada announced on June 20 that with the beginning of the busiest travel season of the year, the Government of Canada is working to make progress on recent airport delays.?
Wait times at security lines continued to go down at the major Canadian airports, with about 91% of passengers being screened within 15 minutes at the Toronto Pearson International Airport, and about 84% of passengers being screened within 15 minutes at the Vancouver International Airport.?
Some additional actions taken by the Government of Canada and the air industry include:?
The Government of Canada will continue to work on reducing delays in the travel system.?
Canada to Contribute $200-million to Enhance COVID-19 Vaccine Demand in High-Need Countries?
Minister of International Development Harjit Sajjan, announced $200 million in funding for a new signature initiative aimed at supporting vaccine delivery and distribution in 13 targeted countries. Canada’s Global Initiative for Vaccine Equity (CanGIVE) will support country-led efforts to enhance vaccine delivery and distribution, increase vaccine confidence and generate demand, as well as support.?
The CanGIVE initiative includes $100 million for UNICEF to build up vaccine logistics and supply chains. This initiative builds on Canada’s long-standing commitment to investing in and supporting health systems worldwide.?
?Covid-19 Data Trends?????
The government has officially switched to weekly reporting on Friday of COVID-19 data, after more than two years of daily updates.?
In the past week, the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) reported 15,726 new COVID-19 cases, and 174?new deaths in Canada: bringing the cumulative total of cases to 3,897,876 and a total of 41,363 deaths.??????
Ontario?
As of Thursday, there were 529 people with COVID-19 in hospitals. That is down from 586 at the same time last week. Of those patients, 109 were being treated in intensive care.?
Over the course of the last seven days, the estimated number of daily COVID-19 cases was 642, down from 749 cases for the same time last week. Another 33 Ontarians with COVID-19 died in the last seven days.?
Currently, 90.5% of Ontarians, aged 5 or older have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and 87.2% have received both doses. In addition, 61.8% of people aged 18 or older are vaccinated with three doses.?
Québec
There were no press conferences and two press releases on COVID-19 this week.
The Minister of Health and Social Services Christian Dubé issued a press release (French only) on June 20 announcing two new recommendations from the Québec Immunization Committee (CIQ) on vaccination against COVID-19. The CIQ is recommending that the province prepare for another round of COVID-19 vaccination that could see some adults receive a fifth dose by the fall.
The CIQ recommends that COVID-19 vaccination should be scheduled to begin for the first priority groups as early as late summer 2022. The priority groups include people 60 and over, the immunocompromised, healthcare workers, pregnant women and people living in isolated regions. Vaccination is recommended even for members of those groups who have already received one or two booster doses, as long as their last shot or COVID-19 infection occurred at least three months prior to the next injection.
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The CIQ has clarified the number of doses that constitute basic vaccination against COVID-19, meaning the number of doses an individual should have received to develop a satisfactory immune response, which can then be consolidated during periodic vaccination campaigns.
The CIQ explained that the number of doses required for basic vaccination against COVID-19 varies according to age, medical history and history of confirmed infection. For adults with no history of infection, a two-dose primary vaccination, followed by a booster dose, is the basic vaccination against COVID-19. The CIQ noted this provides adequate protection against severe consequences in the context of Omicron being the dominant variant.
COVID-19 vaccinations will be offered as part of periodic immunity-building campaigns and not based on the number of previous doses received or history of infection. The CIQ explained that if an individual has received the recommended doses for their basic vaccination, they would only receive a booster dose if they are in one of the groups targeted for an immunity consolidation campaign.
Minister Dubé issued a press release (French only) on June 22 announcing that Québec’s Health Department has begun releasing data on the presence of?COVID-19?in wastewater. Québec’s Health Department has begun releasing data on the presence of?COVID-19?in wastewater on Wednesday. This data will be used as a potential screening tool for detecting trends in the evolution of the pandemic and provide early warning of new pandemic waves or the emergence of new variants. According to the Health Department, it is possible to detect COVID-19 virus in the feces of infected individuals, even if they are asymptomatic or have not been tested. The detection of the virus in wastewater is intended to provide an early signal of trends in a territory. The data obtained are complementary to other indicators.
Santé Québec reported 5,894 new cases with 36 virus-related deaths in the last 7 days. There was a net weekly increase of 76 hospitalizations, bringing the total number of people being treated in hospital with the virus to 1,080. There was also a net increase of 3 patients in intensive care in the last 7 days, bringing the total to 30.
More than 20.3 million vaccine doses have been administered to Quebecers residing in and outside the province. The Santé Québec COVID-19 dashboard shows that 91% of the total eligible people aged 5 years and older have received their first vaccine dose and 55% their third dose while 15% of the total eligible people have received their fourth vaccine dose.
Alberta
On Wednesday June 22, Health Minister Jason Copping and Chief Medical Officer Dr. Deena Hinshaw held the province’s last regularly scheduled COVID-19 update. The halt to regular in-person updates is part of a transition of de-escalation in Alberta’s COVID-19 response, said Dr. Hinshaw. On June 30, 2022, as part of this de-escalation, Alberta will also rescind public health orders for continuing-care facilities. However, protective policies will stay in place as part of operating standards. In the fall, Alberta Health will report COVID-19 data in line with the province’s influenza dashboard to make public health monitoring more sustainable moving forward.
The province released updated COVID-19 statistics this week. As of June 20, there were 140 new cases reported and on a 7 day average, of which 17 are currently in intensive care. The positivity percentage, on a 7 day average is 12.31%. To date, 90.6% of the population 12 years and older are vaccinated with one dose and 87.1% of the population 12 years and older are vaccinated with 2 doses.
British Columbia
The province has not yet released updated COVID-19 statistics this week. On June 16, on a 7 day average, there were 273 people hospitalized with COVID-19, 28 of which were in critical care. There were 642 new cases this week and 28 deaths. British Columbia’s average testing rate is 2,628 per 100,000.
Canada’s COVID-19 Tracker reported this week that on a 7 day average as of June 21, 2022, 86.637% of all people in British Columbia have received at least one dose of a vaccine. 83.920% of all people in British Columbia have received at least two doses, but only 52.915% of all people in British Columbia are fully vaccinated with a third dose.
British Columbia Liberal Party leader Kevin Falcon told reporters on Friday, June 17, that the current decline in COVID-19 cases warrants the immediate lifting of vaccine mandates for healthcare and public service workers. There are approximately 190,000 health care workers in hospitals, long-term care homes, and community centers in the province that are under a provincial health order. The British Columbia Public Service Agency also requires it’s 30,000 employees to be fully vaccinated.
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