Great numbers with a caution:
These are great numbers.
The number of new cases in Ontario today is 1057 which is the lowest it has been since March 16th.
The seven day rolling average is 1353. It was 4370 on April 18th.
The R value is down to .8, the number in hospitals down to 934, in ICU 626 and on ventilators 430.....all down.
This is the combined effect of vaccines ( 70 % of Ontarions have had at least their first dose of vaccine - 8.8 million vaccinated) and strict public health measures.
Here is the caution. We cannot loosen public health restrictions yet. The Indian variant is in this province with cases found in both Waterloo and Guelph Wellington. The UK has had a recent resurgence of cases due to this variant which is infecting folks who have had just one dose of vaccine and some who have had both doses. It is a nasty variant.
Dr Theresa Tam has announced that we are coming out of this third wave of COVID-19 and this graph proves it.
Yes, as usual, scroll down to New Cases Analysis by Date in Ontario and click on '7-day rolling average'. That is a remarkable image. Three waves. Look at the decline off the peak of the third wave. We earned that. We suffered for that. It's an achievement. Vaccines are contributing a huge amount to that success. Before we can safely open up, 75 % need to have the the first dose of vaccine and approximately 50% need to have the second. Personally, as these new variants develop and spread, I think we will need to be very careful until more than 80 % of us have had two doses. No country has achieved that yet.
We can.
2.4 million doses of Pfizer will arrive in this country, every week starting this week. We are less certain about the number of Moderna doses Canada will receive but it will be up in the millions and this vaccine, let's get this straight, creates immunity in exactly the way the Pfizer vaccine does. They are both mRNA vaccines. They are equally effective. The risk of rare, serious events is almost zero with both. Other than the basic background ingredients which do not differ very much at all, Moderna is the same as Pfizer. Moderna has been the victim of ridiculous mis-information recently. Can it folks. Anyone who is willfully spreading mis-information is indirectly responsible for deaths from COVID-19.
Yeah, pretty harsh. But if the information you spread leads to vaccine hesitancy, COVID-19 will linger for years and a new wave with new variants will arrive.
The answer: Get a vaccine.
The province will ramp up the administration of second doses very soon. Get one of those too! The more people in this country that receive two doses, the less likely any new variants will be able to grab a foothold.
Two doses. Get both.
As for the AZ vaccine, there is so much confusion. I remain steadfast in my advice. Sit tight. You will be offered a second dose if you received the first dose. Word on the street is you will have the option of getting a second dose of the AZ vaccine or a second dose of a mRNA vaccine ( Moderna or Pfizer).
Ontario is still awaiting guidance from the National Advisory Committee on Immunization about whether it is safe to mix AstraZeneca with a shot of mRNA vaccines from Pfizer or Moderna, but we expect the answer this coming Thursday. I am 99.9 % certain, it will be a go!
The powers that be will find a way to get you that second dose. Have no fear. The road has been bumpy. No one has ever attempted this kind of global vaccine production or this kind of massive vaccine roll out. It simply cannot be done to perfection. But it will be done. All hiccoughs included, this will be done.
Your job is the same. If you have not yet registered for a vaccine, register now. Ages 12 and above can now register. In GWD, register here:
We need 5,000 more registrants before we reach our goal of 75% vaccinated with their first dose. Let's get this done.
Anne-Marie
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