Canada faces disappointment with the delay of vaccine deliveries, as reported by health professionals on Friday. This comes amid increased rates of covid-19 infections in the country, with health institutions struggling to provide the necessary help to control the resurging coronavirus.
On Friday, during a press conference, the Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, said Canadians have to buckle down and stay calm as a good way through winter. He added that the covid-19 situation in many countries around the world are far much worse as people are chosen for ICU beds and various treatments. The PM said he wouldn’t want the Canadian health situation to reach this point as the government continues controlling the virus.
Most Canadians have been adhering to the shelter in place orders as daily cases continue reaching high figures. A worrying factor is the daily reports of more and more deaths of covid-19 victims exceeding the estimated peak levels. On Friday, Dr. Theresa Tam, a top Canadian public health official, told reporters that they were yet to reach the kind of sustained widespread declines in the daily figures to be sure that they are bringing the virus under control.
Health experts showed a modeling on Friday that indicated the rapid growth of case numbers in the country. Recent figures have surpassed the first peak with more people getting hospitalized every day. Earlier in the week, provinces like Ontario warned that one of its hospitals is short of ICU beds. The data released on Friday shows that Canada has one of the highest numbers of patients in hospitals, with the figure close to 5,000. Twenty percent of these patients are in ICU.
All this comes when covid-19 preventative measures are taking place with citizens of Ontario and Quebec sheltering in place. This contributes to the 60 percent of Canadian citizens under the lockdown rule, with most retail stores and restaurants closed for delivery and pick up only. Health officials have asked the provincial administration to ensure stringent measures are put in place to address the pandemic as health institutions struggle with the ever-growing number of patients.
Dr. Tam said that if the country eases the measures taken to control the pandemic, the pandemic will surge even stronger. This is why there should be consistency in the implementation of regulations. She added that this would help suppress the pandemic growth in the long run.
The unpleasant forecast comes after officials announced that the country would receive fewer Pfizer vaccines in the coming months. Pfizer-BioNTech has announced a temporary slowdown in its manufacturing facilities in Europe. Canada’s procurement minister, Anita Anand, said that the company believes that Canada would catch up and be on track to the Q1 doses by March. She added that though the situation is unfortunate with frequent delays bound to happen, it is expected since the supply chains are stretched globally.
The Canadian health data shows that about 1 percent of Canadian have been vaccinated. Given the rising problems in supply, health experts predict the rollout to be slow and have adverse effects on infection rates in the coming weeks.
