Manitoba's deputy chief public health officer says the detection of the province's first case of the Omicron COVID-19 variant was not unexpected, and notes Public Health is prepared to address it.
Dr. Jazz Atwal said today, it was a matter of time before the variant made it to Manitoba, and now that it's here, he says Public Health is doing all it can to reduce the spread.
"We are keeping a watchful eye on the variant as there is still much to learn about it, including its infectiousness, if there's any vaccine escape, and virulence," said Dr. Atwal. "The laboratory is screening positive COVID-19 specimens for mutations associated with variants of concern to allow early detection. These are followed by a confirmation test. Public Health is aggressively conducting case and contact management."
Additionally, Dr. Atwal added they are reviewing public health measures to align with changing national guidance, and incorporating emerging evidence. At this time, Dr. Atwal says there is no pending changes to the current public health orders in Manitoba.
Dr Atwal noted, news of new foe in the fight against COVID-19 wasn't what anyone wanted to hear, especially as we head into a season of gathering with friends and family. On Wednesday, Public Health confirmed an additional four cases of the Omicron variant for a total of five cases in Manitoba.
Dr. Atwal noted the public has a role to play in further preventing the spread of COVID-19 and its variants by continuing to follow public health orders, limit contact with others, and focus on the fundamentals. Ultimately, he said the best line of defence is to get fully vaccinated.
"Yes, we are seeing breakthrough cases where those who are fully vaccinated are testing positive for COVID-19, but what we are also seeing is that the symptoms are more mild if you are fully vaccinated which helps reduce the strain on our healthcare system," explained Dr. Atwal.
He noted, in Manitoba, the unvaccinated are 5.5 times as likely to become infected, 8.4 times as likely to be hospitalized, 19 times as likely to end up in ICU, and 11.8 times as likely to die of a COVID-19 infection compared to those who are fully vaccinated.
Meantime, the head of Manitoba's vaccine implementation task force says with the initial detection of the Omicron variant this week, many are once again turning their attention back to vaccines and the benefits of a booster dose. A third dose of the COVID-19 vaccine is now available to all adults a minimum of six months after their last dose with limited exceptions.
Dr. Joss Reimer says she is often asked why the third dose is important.
"The COVID vaccines are highly-effective, but no vaccine offers you one hundred per cent protection and, over time, the effectiveness of your vaccine may decrease. That happens at different rates for different people depending on the strength of their initial immune response, their health or health conditions, their age and many other factors," she explained. "This means that while being fully vaccinated provides excellent protection, it doesn't mean that every single person who is fully vaccinated shares the same level of protection. Over time, it's natural for your immune response to weaken. This happens with infections as well as vaccines, and this is why we get booster shots for many other vaccines like influenza or tetanus."
While it will take time for vaccine manufacturers to create and obtain approval for a new vaccine that is specifically targeted to the Omicron variant, Dr. Reimer said emerging medical evidence suggests current COVID-19 vaccines will likely offer some protection against the new variant because at its core, it is still COVID.
"When you get that dose, your body will be flooded with antibodies, bringing the antibodies to a much higher level than they were before and compensating for the fact that Omicron looks a little bit different," she explained. "This is because when you have such a high level of antibodies, many of them will be able to recognize and target Omicron. So, while we're certainly worried that a smaller percentage of our antibodies will be effective at recognizing and targeting Omicron, after a booster when you have such a high number of them overall, this still means that there will be a large enough number of antibodies to work and protect you."
According to public health, a total of 2,221,246 doses of vaccine have been administered in Manitoba, including 32,500 first doses given to children ages five to 11. This represents 26 per cent of children in that age group. As of today, 82.6 per cent of all eligible Manitobans ages five and up have received at least one dose of the vaccine and 77.8 per cent have received two doses.
Additional online resources are available on the following topics:
vaccine campaign in Manitoba at www.manitoba.ca/vaccine and https://protectmb.ca.
possible exposure locations by region at www.gov.mb.ca/covid19/updates/flights.html#event
data related to COVID-19, variants of concern, outbreaks and some downloadable and historic data at https://geoportal.gov.mb.ca/.
up-to-date information on COVID-19 in Manitoba at www.manitoba.ca/COVID19.