It’s too early to abandon all restrictions on COVID-19, including evidence of indoor vaccination, as infections rise in British Columbia due to a “let it rip” approach to virus management, says a retired doctor at urgent. Dr Lyne Filiatrault said the end of the vaccine card on Friday, as masks were no longer required earlier this month, sends the wrong message as Omicron’s highly contagious BA.2 subtype spreads rapidly. “We believe there will be another BA.2 wave and we do not think it will be any different from what other jurisdictions, such as Ontario and Quebec, see because we make the same mistakes,” said Filiatrault, who spoke to Protect Our Province BC, a team of health professionals, scientists and advocates calling for evidence-based policies. However, Ian Tostenson, president of the BC Restaurant and Foodservices Association, said there was no longer a need for the vaccine card in a county where 91 percent of residents aged 12 and over had received two doses of the vaccine. “The goal was more to motivate people to get vaccinated,” Tostenson said. He said he believed 99 per cent of restaurants would no longer check on the vaccination status, even if they could choose to continue to take the plunge. The vaccine card has never been required at fast food outlets that have not been reported to have cases, he said, adding that extra hygiene vigilance is likely to continue in some restaurants. Filiatrault said that hygiene is not the main issue with an airborne disease, although ventilation is still not as important, especially as BA.2 is highly contagious. People with two doses of the vaccine should no longer be considered “fully vaccinated” when this leaves others vulnerable to re-infection with COVID-19, as seen in jurisdictions such as the UK, he said. Some in her team have argued that third doses will be included in vaccine cards, Filiatrault said. The provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry announced this week that the fourth installments will be given to people aged 70 and over, highly immunocompromised and indigenous people aged 55 and over as protection from doses given six months ago is reduced. Henry also said that about 50 percent of the population has now developed immunity to COVID-19, either through vaccination or through infection. Filiatrault said it was concerned about the increase in hospitalizations, as in England, where restrictions were lifted very quickly and people became re-infected with COVID-19. Fifty-nine percent of British Colombians aged 18 and over have received a third dose of the vaccine, which Filiatrault said is not high enough as BA.2 spreads. Henry also announced that weekly, not daily, data on the number of hospitalizations would be provided, for example, but Filiatrault said he left people unaware of the virus as the pandemic continued. Sewage surveillance will continue to provide an idea of how much of the virus is in the community, Henry said, but is currently only available in the Lower Continent.
