The independent COVID-19 modeling team has predicted that the Omicron BA.5 sub-variant, which is believed to be responsible for the majority of new cases, will fuel another wave that could peak in August, although it is unclear what impact has on the already strained health care system. “My prediction is that cases will increase, hospitalizations will increase, but my current hope is that it won’t be as bad as the BA.2 wave,” researcher Dr. Sarah Otto told The Canadian Press. Last week. On Monday, BC Health Minister Adrian Dix said the province’s pandemic response planning is currently focused on the possibility of a “very challenging downturn” and suggested second boosters will be a key aspect of the government’s strategy. “Everybody should be planning to get another dose in the fall — everybody,” Dix said during a press conference on the development of a new hospital in Surrey. The minister suggested that the next booster could be tailored to specific strains of COVID-19, similar to annual flu shots, but noted that current vaccines have proven effective in reducing the chances of hospitalizations and serious illness through a range of variants and subvariants. Asked if the government could reinstate any of its previous COVID-19 restrictions, such as the indoor mask mandate, Dix said the province would again follow the advice of public health officials. “No option is ever ruled out,” he added, noting that officials still recommend wearing masks indoors. “I’m the health minister, I have access to a lot of information about health care; I wear masks indoors in public,” Dix said. In the meantime, the minister pointed out that there remain more than a million British Columbians who, for whatever reason, have not responded to their invitation for an initial boost. “Right now, it’s important that if you’re called to get your shot – fourth, third, second or first – you get it,” he said. COVID-19 hospitalizations have been declining for weeks, although the province has recently seen an increase in the number of health care workers sidelined by illness. About 16,400 health care workers took at least one day off work during the week of June 20, Dix said, up from about 15,000 recorded a few weeks earlier. The highest levels of disease are recorded in areas of highest transmission, notably North Health, Interior Health and Island Health. Hospital Workers Union policy and planning co-ordinator Mike Old said health workers were facing a “worrying” situation with regard to COVID-19. “We’re seeing health care vacancies because of illness that we haven’t seen since late January,” he said. “Employees are really, really burned out.” Old said a poll of their members found that one in four said their employers are not filling in for sickness or other vacancies, and one in three are considering leaving health care in the next two years. “It’s really important that members of our community understand that when they are protecting themselves from the transmission of COVID, they are also protecting our health care system,” he said. “Healthcare workers need all the help they can get.” BC Nurses Association president Aman Grewal said nurses are also tired and understaffed, and while hospitalizations are lower than in the past, there are still patients with COVID-19 who need high-level care. “This is not gone. There is another wave happening and there may be another in the fall,” he said. “We’re seeing fewer and fewer people wearing face masks as well. And they’re gathering and going out in public places that they weren’t before, so the spread is happening.” Grewal said that with the current short staffing, nurses may also be taking over the work of others. “There has been no break at all for our nurses,” she said. “They’re going to wear out, they’re going to get tired, they’re going to be exposed to the virus and they’re going to get sick.” Both health care unions said investing in employee recruitment and retention is critical. Two years into the pandemic, public health care has been strained across Canada, with staffing problems leading to delayed treatments and, in some cases, temporary closures of emergency rooms. Dix said BC is preparing to strengthen “every facility in the health care system” while recruiting and training more workers to prepare for any pandemic-related curveballs that may occur during the next respiratory illness season. “We’re planning what we’re going to face in the fall,” he said, “but we don’t know what we’re going to face in the fall.”
