oughton: the approved vaccines unquestionably work well against preventing severe disease, even from ba.1 and ba.2. vaccines continue to be effective. but half of our vaccinated population are not yet optimally protected (with a third dose). so, we should be pushing getting people to have that third dose right away, especially when faced with something that is as easily transmissible as ba.2.
hospitalizations are now starting to increase. we’re nowhere near the levels that we were at a month or two months ago. but i think the system is still relatively fragile. i think we still have the potential for seeing major pressure on hospital beds and icu beds like we did a few months ago.
face masks unquestionably work well to protect both those around the mask wearer, as well as the mask wearer him- or herself, and yet, here we are. we’ve selected an arbitrary date of april 15 (quebec’s original deadline for mask mandates to be lifted, but which may be extended). when faced with increasing cases, to me it would be a very good idea to reassess that policy. viruses don’t follow schedules. they don’t follow calendars.
unlike most previous waves, people don’t have easy access to pcr testing, except in very limited circumstances. so, our knowledge of how much disease is out there, where it is and therefore people’s ability to govern their risk, based on the prevalence of disease in communities around them, is greatly limited now, compared to what it has been for most of the previous waves.