Ontario hospitals continue to see a steady influx of COVID-19 patients

Barrie, Ont. -

Unvaccinated individuals dominate the number of COVID-19 patients in hospitals and intensive care units across the province, and Stevenson Memorial Hospital's chief of staff says "it's hard to tell" if the situation has hit a plateau.

"What we are seeing is a steady influx of about 10, 15, maybe 17 patients per day now," Dr. Barry Nathanson shares.

"We've gone from about 90 or so critical care patients across the system in around August to almost 190 as those numbers rise slowly," the critical care doctor adds.

Nathanson maintains that vaccination is the key factor to bringing those numbers down.

On Thursday, the province reported 130 COVID-19 patients are in ICUs. Of those, 106 are unvaccinated, 12 partially and 12 fully. Additionally, 161 individuals are in the hospital but not in the ICU, with 119 unvaccinated, eight partially vaccinated, and 34 fully.

Nathanson believes the province has "achieved great success" now that about 85 per cent of eligible Ontarians have received at least one dose of vaccine, with 80 now fully vaccinated, but adds it's still not enough.

"We do need higher to see maximum quelling of disease spread, and the target right now is about 90 percent," he notes.

It's a number that could be achieved when children ages five to 11 become eligible for the vaccine.

According to a recent article by the Associated Press, Pfizer announced its vaccine works for the target age group and will soon seek authorization for the vaccine in the United States.

Coronavirus: Pfizer says COVID-19 vaccine works in kids ages 5 to 11 | CTV News

Nathanson is cautiously optimistic, suggesting it's too early to get excited about the shot for children.

"It was a small trial that led to that statement from Pfizer," he says. "However, it is certainly a step in the right direction. Once we can achieve safe and effective vaccination for children, I think we need to dive into that pretty quickly," Nathanson says.

"Whether it achieves herd immunity or not, that sector of the population for which we as adults are responsible, we owe it to them as quickly as possible deliver vaccination so long as I said it's effective but also demonstrated, rigorously demonstrated, to be safe."," Nathanson finishes.