ontario wastewater signals suggest that the province is knee-deep in yet another wave of covid-19. the ba.5 subvariant of omicron is now dominant and threatens to increase the likelihood of both reinfection and vaccine-breakthrough infection.
meanwhile, a concerning new study — albeit still awaiting peer review — suggests that covid reinfections heighten the risk of all-cause mortality, hospitalization, and other adverse health outcomes. and while more investigation is needed, smaller studies are seeing a relationship between infection and long-term brain impairment. it is too early to assign a level of certainty to these suspicions, but they are nonetheless concerning.
advertisement
despite ontario’s impressive rate of vaccination ( more than 81 per cent with at least two doses), the high rate of breakthrough infections and worker burnout results in regularly understaffed hospitals, businesses and other service providers. our institutions remain fragile and in need of protection. none of this is sustainable.
advertisement
which brings us to the third thing that many governments must do: incentivize the development of new vaccines. work is already underway on intranasal and pan-coronavirus vaccines, which offer durable defence against infection as well as wide-spectrum protection against many, if not all, variants. what is needed is the financial underwriting of clinical trials, much like what was done for “ project warp speed ,” to accelerate several product candidates to market.
fifth, mandating paid sick days for all workers would remove the financial incentive for visibly contagious people to infect their co-workers. several studies have shown that this simple policy change measurably reduces the incidence of covid-positive people in the workplace.
advertisement