Thread by @Lidsville

This briefing by @Protect_BC is today at 12:30. I'm volunteering to live-tweet it. I'll use the #covid19bc & #bcpoli hashtags, but sparingly. Follow this thread.. this is tweet #1. See you at 12:30.

The @Protect_BC briefing on #Omicron is in 5 minutes. Here's the link to the 3 livestreams (no reg'n required).
protectbc.ca/Livestream/
You can watch via YouTube, Facebook, or Twitter. I'll be on the YouTube:
youtube.com/channel/UCvTh-… #covid19BC

@Protect_BC While we're waiting, this warning from @MoriartyLab:

Welcome to the @Protect_BC briefing on #Omicron. It's led by @DrFiliatrault, the doctor who stopped SARS in its tracks in Vancouver in 2003 by correctly applying the precautionary principle. Lyne is joined in this briefing by guest @GosiaGasperoPhD #bcpoli #Covid19BC.

Land acknowledgement by @DrFiliatrault, before a video by a member of the Ontario Science Table on Dec 13 - which almost sounds like a long time ago now, but he's correctly predicting rapid exponential rise of #Omicron - he's urging vaccination for those who haven't had 1st shot

He's saying that vaccines alone aren't enough, we also need other measures, but boosters are important

"3 doses are key to limit breakthrough infections" - we need to cut transmission to the unvaccinated

#omicron skyrocketing in Ontario. @DrFiliatrault: cases have increased by 88%! Two doses of Pfizer offers you much less protection against Omicron than it did for Delta. It's significant. Good news is 3rd dose increases protection from 70-75%.

Note that immunity has 2 parts, and this is only antibody response; there's also cell-mediated response and we don't know yet what that will be, so we must be precautionary.

We can't compare ourselves to South Africa; different variables. But we can compare BC to Ontario...

In Ontario, they are accelerating boosters, they're distributing rapid tests, and they're ramping up protections for the vulnerable.

We're similar in first two doses for Ontario; where we're lagging behind ON and AB is in boosters.

BC is really behind in vaccinating children and in boosters.

We're in a tough situation now in BC, based on #Covid19BC alone (never mind climate disasters and opioid disaster). Surgeries have been cancelled & we've lost too many healthcare providers to stress/burnout/early ret

Compared to ON, BC is 55% more covid patients admitted right now, per capita. We have NOT recovered from our 4th wave in BC

Now @GosiaGasperoPhD explaining transmissibility numbers for Omicron vs Delta and prior variants

This is from BC CDC. We're in the purple in BC, the steepest curve.

Graph via @DFisman for Ontario - Gosia talking about rapidly accelerating exponential curve for #omicron - the R value increases very quickly over time. Rt of Omicron is higher in vaccinated population than R0 of original variant in unvaxxed pop'n

Omicron vs Delta is 4.7x faster. If it grows like this in BC, we coudl have 3-4000 cases in early January. Even if milder, it will generate more ICU and deaths than previous more severe variants - and we don't even know yet if it's really milder.

Gosia: the more transmissible variant, even if less lethal, over time it generates more deaths just because it infects so many more people. Also long covid, hospitalizations, severe cases. /end of Gosia's presentation #bcpoli #covid19BC

So, what can we do? @DrFiliatrault Layer up! #Omicron #bcpoli #covid19BC

You need to up your game.
Cloth mask not good enough any more. No nose sticking out, no chin wearing, no baggy masks
Rapid antigen tests - if you can get them, do, but that's an equity issue..#freetheRATs

..@DrFiliatrault head of the Ontario Science Table FINALLY uttered the word "airborne" today. We need to clear the air, ventilate, clean the air, in all spaces. Plexiglass and surface cleaning - no. Need to focus on the air. Open doors and windows! HEPA filters. Bathroom fans on!

Keep your gathering numbers very small. Limit your contacts as much as possible. Big events, esp when you don't know who's unvaccinated and there's no policing of mask wearing - dangerous.

Get your 3rd dose when you can. Try to convince others to do the same.

Sorry, forgot to attach all the screenshots of the slides.
Remember all our layers of protection - they work best all together. And BC must act now to communicate these and put measures into place. Last one is a plea from a HCW. #Covid19BC #boosters #FreetheRATS #ReleasetheRATs

Now we go to Questions, with @DrFiliatrault & @GosiaGasperoPhD.

We should be using our time advantage in BC to start acting now! HCWs are overstretched and burned out, so delaying measures to ensure a 'normal' Christmas is probably not the right move. Lacking #bcpoli measures..

Lacking measures from #bcpoli, we can do some of this on our own. But as @GosiaGasperoPhD says, there are many things that workers for example simply can't do to protect themselves without the govt's help.

We need govt giving people respirators, rapid tests, & better education

Gosia: imagine a public health official saying it's airborne and urging people to be more careful - official public health has a much bigger audience than a grassroots group like @Protect_BC!

Great Q from @brish_ti:
@DrFiliatrault - we need more outside air brought in, vs just filtering the same air. I'd love to see PC O2 monitors in classrooms - tells you how much air you're rebreathing - shouldn't go above 800. Govt should get this for schools over the holidays.

@DrFiliatrault also adding that we need better test and contact tracing, and gives a thanks to the parents of Covid Trackers BC following exposures at schools [in absence of BC govt willing to do this]

And @DrFiliatrault also adding that rapid tests would really help in schools too - catch asymptomatic cases

In BC we have "jurisdictional exceptionalism" (coined by @jvipondmd) where in BC we ignore what others do. We need to stop this & shamelessly steal other's best practices

Another q from @brish_ti
- answer is .. yes!

Yes, Covid vaccines will soon be a multi-dose vaccine to be considered full, tho not yet.
YEs, 2 doses give you *some* protection, but we have to worry most about those who aren't yet vaccinated or those who can't be. Now is the time. "I'm really worried."

Without 3 doses you can transmit to others. That's the new reality.

Lyne: Again, this is jurisdictional exceptionalism. BC is one of the only major provinces not widely distributing rapid tests. Other provinces are repackaging rapid tests for wide distribution, using volunteers. Why aren't we?

..@DrFiliatrault : I do not understand why BC doesn't test no symptom people. Other provinces do. We can't stop this thing in its tracks unless we catch people who are transmitting this to others unknowingly while asymptomatic. #bcpoli #covid19bc #FreeTheRATs #ReleasetheRATs

...@DrFiliatrault :
The rapid antigen test (RAT) doesn't replace your other layers but it's an additional layer we'll have to use in BC
@GosiaGasperoPhD
Don't use RATs as a free pass. Don't do things differently than w/o the RATs - but not to get more free than you were before

.@DrFiliatrault - another thing tho not what Moira is asking: we also simply don't have enough testing in BC in general. We're not catching infection in the community. Our positivity rate, over 5%, indicates it - with Delta! Wont' be nearly enough w #Omicron. Must ramp up now!

.@DrFiliatrault - and to regular testing we should add rapid tests. Next Q...

.@DrFiliatrault - It's not clear yet. Note: the rapid antigen tests allow you to have a better sense of whether your scratchy throat means I'm infectious right now, so that would help with this. Gosia agrees.

..@GosiaGasperoPhD : when they say BC isn't showing the strong growth seen elsewhere yet - sure, but it's just a matter of days. It's like a melanoma on your skin. If you wait, you're in trouble. It has to be dealt with now. Same with a few cases. That's the math. #bcpoli

...@DrFiliatrault summing up, as we are through with Qs.
#omicron will make everything we'll not doing now for delta (which is also growing fast) worse. Don't wait on public health in BC to tell you what to do. You already know what to do. But pressure govt to say it's airborne!

Let's keep ourselves safe, push for ventilation, faster boosters, more testing, rapid tests! Stay safe! Shout out to hardworking team at @Protect_BC

Ending on a video...

Video is of Dr. Strang, PHO for Nova Scotia - what a contrast with BC. He's telling Nova Scotians that 'you have to keep testing! One or two vaccines is not enough! Get your rapid test kits & test yourselves!'

End of briefing. Thanks for following along everyone.

Adding this key article to the end, as this was referenced in the @Protect_BC briefing:

"Ontario needs to address myth that Omicron is mild, head of science table says"

" People cannot imagine the sheer scale of what we are talking about here."

toronto.ctvnews.ca/ontario-needs-… #bcpoli

@Protect_BC .."There is a myth out there that Omicron is mild. We need to address this myth now."

"We have about 20% of the population completely non-immune, & only very few people, 10%, who received their 3rd dose or 2 doses + an infection."

It's enough to crash the health system, #bcpoli

@Protect_BC Please also see this link from the Ontario Science Table this morning. s3.documentcloud.org/documents/2115…