Vaccines key to controlling surge in COVID-19 hospitalizations
With intensive care units (ICU) reaching a breaking point in Alberta, an Alliston-based physician says he supports the province's move to help.
While making a separate announcement in Tweed Friday afternoon, Ontario Health Minister Christine Elliott confirmed the province will provide assistance to Alberta as it sees a surge in hospitalized COVID-19 patients. Dr. Barry Nathanson, the chief of staff at Stevenson Memorial Hospital, says this is the right move.
"Alberta is going through something that was without meaning to be hurtful entirely predictable and could have been planned for and avoided," Nathanson says to CTV News.
The province lifted most of its public health measures earlier this summer, something many physicians say laid the groundwork for the current surge in hospitalizations. Nathanson says there are lessons to learn from what the province is going through.
"We can see that when we underestimate the capacity of the COVID-19 virus…when we underestimate its capacity to leverage human behaviour to transmit itself and spread, it will take advantage of that," Nathanson says. "It leverages human behaviour, our social contacts, to spread itself, and to not only multiply but to also evolve. Alberta has given it the chance to do that."
Dr. Nathanson says the number of Ontarians who have chosen to be vaccinated against COVID-19 has played a pivotal role in controlling hospitalizations here. The Stevenson Memorial chief of staff also notes its key that the Ford government has remained cautious throughout the summer months.
"Ontario, in contrast to other jurisdictions, has maintained much of its guard politically, socially, through the summer, not declared a free-for-all, and we are reaping the rewards of that caution that we've maintained over the summer and now into the fall," Nathanson says.
At Stevenson Memorial, Nathanson says a majority of admitted COVID-19 patients are unvaccinated. While many express regrets over not getting a COVID-19 vaccine once their symptoms worsen, Nathanson says some remain steadfast in their decision, relying on misinformation spreading online.
"We're hearing, and we're seeing statements that they are unwilling, and we're seeing attitudes amongst those people that are not all that appreciative of the efforts of health care workers today and over the past 18 and more months," Nathanson says.
However, with most Ontarians fully vaccinated against the virus, Nathanson says the situation the province faces would be much worse if vaccines were not available.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Several flight attendants from Pakistan have gone missing after landing in Canada
Multiple flight attendants from Pakistan International Airlines have abandoned their jobs and are believed to have sought asylum in Canada in the past year and a half, a spokesperson for the government-owned airline says.
Doctors visiting a Gaza hospital are stunned by the war's toll on Palestinian children
An international team of doctors visiting a hospital in central Gaza was prepared for the worst. But the gruesome impact Israel’s war against Hamas is having on Palestinian children still left them stunned.
BREAKING Ottawa public school board, 3 Toronto-area school boards launch lawsuit against social media giants
The Ottawa-Carleton District School Board and three school boards in the Toronto-area have launched legal action against social media giants, accusing them of "disrupting students' fundamental right to education."
Crypt near Marilyn Monroe and Hugh Hefner could fetch US$400,000 at auction
A one-space mausoleum crypt in the vicinity of Marilyn Monroe and Hugh Hefner will go on auction Saturday, when it is expected to reach between US$200,000 and $400,000.
This Toronto restaurant is no longer accepting tips. Here's how it's going
A Toronto restaurant introduced a surprising new rule that reduced the cost of a meal and raised the salaries of staff – tipping is no longer accepted.
A Nigerian woman reviewed some tomato puree online. Now she faces jail
A Nigerian woman who wrote an online review of a can of tomato puree is facing imprisonment after its manufacturer accused her of making a “malicious allegation” that damaged its business.
Premiers not being truthful about carbon tax, Trudeau says while sparks fly in Ottawa
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says Conservative premiers across the country are 'not telling the truth' when it comes to the carbon tax. Trudeau's comments came as fresh sparks were flying in Ottawa at a recalled House of Commons committee.
Far North police 'dispatch' polar bear stalking schoolyard
Police and local hunters in an Ontario Far North First Nation community have “dispatched” a polar that was showing abnormal behaviour and treating the area as a hunting ground.
Cargo ship had engine maintenance in port before Baltimore bridge collapse, officials say
The cargo ship that lost power and crashed into a bridge in Baltimore underwent 'routine engine maintenance' in port beforehand, the U.S. Coast Guard said Wednesday.