The rapid spread of the Omicron variant of concern in Ottawa has the local public health unit putting all available hands back into its mass vaccination campaign in an effort to get as many COVID-19 booster shots into residents’ arms as possible.
Dr. Vera Etches, Ottawa’s medical officer of health, said in a letter to city councillors Wednesday that the Omicron variant is to blame for the spike in people testing positive for COVID-19 in the city.
OPH said Tuesday that Omicron is overwhelming its contact tracers and called on Ottawa residents who test positive to inform their own high-risk contacts about the need to self-isolate and get tested.
“Unfortunately, these pressures are not anticipated to be alleviated soon, as cases are likely to continue to rise with the highly transmissible nature of the Omicron variant,” Etches said.
While it appears the Omicron variant of concern is spreading more rapidly than Delta and other strains of the virus, Etches said in her statement that mRNA vaccine protection remains effective, especially with a booster shot given six months after the second dose.
OPH is now shifting its resources to vaccinate as many of the eligible residents as possible, especially targeting the 283,000 residents over 50 who don’t have a third dose yet.
An additional 7,000 COVID-19 vaccine appointments were added for the 12-plus age group at community in clinics Ottawa on Wednesday morning.
The health unit already rushed to release more than 12,000 extra vaccine appointments for ages 12 and up in the past two days after all available slots until the new year were snapped up when residents aged 50 and older became eligible for boosters on Monday morning.
The city’s emergency operations centre, which wound down most of its pressing operations over the summer, is now being re-escalated to the “activated” level used to co-ordinate the city’s initial pandemic response and mass vaccination drive — a campaign that began exactly a year ago with the first dose of COVID-19 vaccine locally administered at The Ottawa Hospital.
OPH employees working across the organization have been pulled into the immunization effort, Etches said, and the health unit is reaching out to physicians and other providers to get as much help as possible for the vaccination push.
“OPH is in the process of modifying the existing immunization strategy to offer doses to as many people as possible, as soon as possible,” Etches said.
“OPH will provide additional information regarding the changes to the immunization strategy in the following days, once details are confirmed.”
The Ontario government cabinet is also meeting Wednesday to discuss efforts to expand the booster dose strategy after Premier Doug Ford met with other premiers and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to discuss Omicron response measures in a call Tuesday night.