“and that’s bad news.”
the good news is that areas with higher vaccination rates are showing fewer infections even among the delta variant, he said.
the vancouver coastal region has a vaccination rate of about 80 per cent while it is 65 per cent for the interior and that is reflected in covid-19 case numbers, tupper said.
dean karlen, a physics professor at the university of victoria, said the emergence of the delta variant is stronger than scientists expected, and canada’s next wave has the potential to be similar to what is happening in the united states if no special measures such as mask mandates are reintroduced.
“but right now, in alberta and british columbia, it’s very clear that delta is starting to play a big role,” he said.
the exact trajectory and intensity of growth will become clearer as more data comes in over the next few weeks, he said.
otto said b.c. is beginning a fourth wave of covid-19 infections, but how high it will get and how fast it will rise depends on everybody’s behaviour.
the two things people can do to prevent the wave from getting “very high” is get vaccinated and avoid indoor crowded spaces without a mask, she said.
the province and the country will continue seeing such waves as new, more transmissible variants arise, but otto noted that “vaccinations are really protecting people from the worst ravages of this disease.”