Top doc gets behind vaccine mandates

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This article was published 23/08/2021 (1525 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

As Manitoba’s COVID-19 case count inches up, the province’s top doctor says it makes sense that employers mandate vaccines.

“We’re going to see a fourth wave, dominated by cases in the unvaccinated,” chief provincial public health officer Dr. Brent Roussin said Monday.

“As we see in other jurisdictions, we’re going to start seeing those case numbers climb.”

Doctors Manitoba has “a reasonable position” by calling for all health-care workers to get vaccinated and for private businesses to consider doing the same, he said.

The Winnipeg Blue Bombers game on Aug. 5, which was only open to vaccinated people, produced no spike in cases, he said. Manitobans should expect that sports leagues will allow only fully immunized fans to attend games.

“It really supports the position a number of places are taking where they’re really encouraging vaccine uptake for staff and patrons,” said Roussin.

Yet he was circumspect about what the province will do to lower the risk of a fourth wave.

“Tomorrow, we’ll be out to discuss some of the public health restrictions and measures moving forward,” he said.

Premier Brian Pallister suggested Monday he would be at the Tuesday news conference with Roussin.

Public health officials say 109 cases of COVID-19 were diagnosed over the weekend. Of those cases, 46 were reported on Saturday, 36 on Sunday and 27 on Monday. No new deaths were reported.

As of Monday morning, there were 345 active cases of COVID-19 in the province, with 63 people in hospital and 16 in intensive care.

To date, 1,188 Manitobans have died of the virus.

Roussin said he is concerned about rising case numbers and test positivity in the Southern Health region. For example, just 21.8 per cent of eligible residents of the RM of Stanley, which neighbours Winkler, had had their first dose as of last Thursday.

“We certainly don’t exclude the possibility of regional approaches,” he said of restrictions, adding that officials are focusing on boosting vaccine uptake in those areas.

Delta variant projections, which were promised months ago, will be released before September, Roussin promised.

“We are going to be moving forward with a modelling presentation, definitely by the end of the month; probably by this week we’re going to have that out there, and that modeling will include delta,” he said.

The pandemic requires layers of prevention, from masks and vaccines to hand-washing, distancing and staying home when sick, Roussin noted.

“We want to ensure that wearing a mask doesn’t give people a sense they don’t have to worry about the other interventions.”

Roussin had nothing to say about whether public health officials will ramp up monitoring of people who visit Manitoba. The rules state that people who aren’t fully vaccinated must isolate for two weeks.

dylan.robertson@freepress.mb.ca