Page 13 - DURHAM CITIZEN - JUNE 21ST 2021 - EDITION_Neat

DurhamCitizen.ca June 21, 2021 13

Even fully vaccinated, Canada will have to be

vigilant against COVID outbreaks: Dr. Tam

OTTAWA – Canada is likely to hit on Monday, removing quarantine Gooch said airports need a long-
major vaccine milestones in the requirements for fully vaccinated term picture of where things are
next month with as much as 80 per travellers, but keeping testing headed to be able to plan. He said
cent of the country fully covered, requirements in place. even just to plan for the concrete
but the country will still have to be It also did not lay out clear metrics measures like the space needed to
ready for flare-ups and outbreaks, for when further changes may test and screen passengers. He said
according to Canada’s chief public come. Tam said last week that the as travel volumes return it will
health officer. gove r n m e n t w i l l f o c u s o n become harder to process large
Vaccine shipments set to arrive in vaccination status as a guideline for volumes of passengers with some
July will be enough to cover 80 per easing restrictions and bringing of the new testing measures in
cent of Canadians with two doses, things back to normal. place.
but in most countries around the “We would look at vaccinated “We know that we will start to hit
world, especially developing ones, travellers and see how we can those capacity numbers where
vaccine coverage won’t be remove some of those layers in we’ve got people kept on airplanes
anywhere near that high. And until order for them to come to Canada or waiting in long lines at the
vaccine coverage is high across the and not put the country at risk,” she airport,” he said.
world, new variants could continue said. Gooch said he agrees with the
to emerge and strain public health Alberta will be the first province in “Even though we’re doing okay in She said it will take longer to get government’s approach to focus on
resources. t h e co u n t r y to re m ove a l l Canada, there’s still a raging international travel back to travellers vaccination status rather
Dr. Theresa Tam, Canada’s chief restrictions on July 1, including the pandemic elsewhere in the world normal, because other countries than specific countries, but
public health officer, said Canada province’s mask mandate. and we have to be mindful that we are much further behind in stressed the entire industry needs
will have to be vigilant even after Saskatchewan is looking to follow might need to pivot,” he said. vaccination efforts. more clarity.
vaccinations reach a high point. suit on July 11, and even Ontario, “You’ve got the Delta variant, you’ll “One would expect the borders are “If they’re fully vaccinated it doesn’t
“The bottom line is the public the most cautious province in have other transmissible variants not going to be the same as what really matter where they were
h e a l t h c a p a c i t y m u s t b e easing restrictions, should have emerge over time. This is so they were before the pandemic and from,” he said.
maintained in terms of our testing, most rules removed by the end of c o n t a g i o u s , i t w i l l fi n d additional measures will be Gooch said even with restrictions
sequencing, contact tracing and July. unvaccinated people and under applied for a significant length of easing the industry expects it will
then isolation capacities,” she said. Dr. Isaac Bogoch, an infectious vaccinated communities.” time, until the world is in a take years before they have
Tam said in conversations with disease specialist, said it makes Bogoch said governments should different place.” recovered.
provinces she has encouraged sense that restrictions should be be prepared to respond not just to Daniel-Robert Gooch, president of “The estimates we’re seeing
them to keep their contact tracing falling because vaccines work and new outbreaks of COVID-19, but the Canadian Airports Council, amongst airports and airlines is
and testing capacity in place. She Canadians are embracing them. for other diseases some of which said the industry expects there will three, four or five years,” he said.
said they need to be able to react “We have to recognize that vaccines have much higher potential be barriers in place to travel, but “There will be a big boost right
robustly to new cases that will afford us a significant level of mortality rates. the devil is in the details. away, with pent up demand for
creep in and prevent them from protection, both at an individual “We obviously need better global “The question is not so much travel, but I think there’s a lot of
wider spread. level and at a population level, and pandemic planning, and we also whether or not there will be questions about how long it takes
“The provinces should have the the policy should align with that,” need better national and provincial measures on travellers for the business travel to come back for
capacity to be able to do that and he said. pandemic planning, and this was a foreseeable future, but exactly example.”
investigate the outbreaks and look But he agrees with Tam that we huge wake-up call,” he said. what those measures will be and
to see if there’s actual changes in have to be prepared to prevent a slip The Liberal government took the how they will be implemented,” he Ryan Tumilty, National Post
the virus itself.” backward. first step toward normalizing travel said.