Canadian health officials said on Friday (14) that the third wave of contagion by coronavirus is decreasing and during the summer in the country (from June) the population will be able to start socializing outside, since the percentage of vaccinated with at least one dose has reached 75%.
Health Minister Patty Hajdu and Canadian Medical Director Theresa Tam told a press conference that, in the meantime, restrictions must remain to reduce the number of new cases of covid-19.
Tam added that this week, more than 50% of Canadians eligible to be vaccinated against the disease received their first dose.
Faced with supply problems in Canada, health officials decided to delay the second dose for up to four months to increase the number of people receiving the first, a decision unique among the wealthiest countries.
This move allowed Canada to quickly become one of the 25 countries in the world with the largest proportion of the population partially immune. Among the members of the G7, for example, it now occupies third place, behind only the United Kingdom and the United States. In contrast, it falls to 90th in the world in terms of fully immune population, with 3.54%, behind Argentina, El Salvador, Colombia and Mexico, for example.
Speeding up the arrival of vaccines in the North American country could be a quick game-changer. Next week, Canada will receive 4.5 million doses of Pfizer and Moderna, more than expected. Today, 665,000 have been delivered by AstraZeneca, which Tam says will be used in people who have already had their first injection.
In recent days, all provinces of the country have announced that they will temporarily suspend vaccination with the immunizing agent from the Anglo-Swedish laboratory, mainly due to supply problems. However, some, like the most populous Ontario, with nearly 15 million people, also cited cases of inoculation-related thrombosis.
A total of 28 people developed clots after receiving the Oxford vaccine in Canada, and at least three women have died.
Authorities are awaiting the results of several studies to determine whether it is safe to give the second dose of Pfizer or Moderna to those who received the first dose of Oxford.
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