it’s not exactly pre-pandemic life, but it’s better than the worst case scenario. what could still happen, the report warns, is that a variant could emerge that’s highly transmissible and causes more severe illness, against which the vaccine is less effective. if that were to happen, hospitalization and death numbers could continue to mount, especially among people “in the most vulnerable groups.” older adults, the immunocompromised, and people with chronic illnesses or disabilities are among some of the people most likely to get severely ill or die.
the best case scenario, meanwhile, would involve future variants that are both less severe and less transmissible, allowing us maintain public health standards without the need for regular boosters or alternations to the existing vaccines.
winding down testing a ‘weakness’ for public health
one of the most important ways to avoid the worst case scenario is to keep tracking the virus’ spread, the report says, criticizing the jurisdictions who have let up on tracing as restrictions begin to lift. “the covid-19 pandemic continues to expose marked weaknesses in multiple aspects of public health intelligence in nearly all countries, with many countries now beginning to scale down sars-cov-2 testing programmes.”
ontario, for instance,
stopped tracking covid data in schools
at the beginning of the year. (some school boards, including the toronto district school board, have
reinstated notifications
after parent complaints.) saskatchewan also moved from providing covid updates every day to
once a week
, a decision that’s prompted much criticism in the province.