In an era where good news is in short supply, this analysis from Public Health England suggests that both Pfizer & AstraZeneca are highly effective against hospitalization with the Delta variant (after 2 doses):
The takeaways are pretty clear- we need to vaccinate quickly with smart 1&2 dose strategy focusing on vulnerable individuals & communities.
Unvaccinated & undervaccinated pockets (barriers to care, choice, etc) will be vulnerable and see spikes.
But polls show most🇨🇦to be vaxed
We are doing really well in much of Canada with the vaccine rollout, so if we play it smart with 1st and 2nd dose strategies, and continue vaccinating at a rapid pace we can avoid significant impact of this variant.
2/ The push for vaccine equity by pouring vaccines into 114 heavily impacted postal codes was largely successful (to date), with a higher proportion of people receiving a 1st dose in those areas compared to other neighborhoods.
Good news, but the job isn't done.
3/ Pharmacies will massively expand their administration of mRNA vaccines (Pfizer/Moderna) with an aim to have ~2500 online (in all regions) vaccinating by the end of the month.
This will significantly push our vaccination rates higher & help with the rollout.
Ontario has vaccinated >130000 people per day May 4, 5 & on track for this today too.
Over 40% of adults in the province have received at least 1 dose.
Some details on past few days & next few weeks 👇
2/ We doled out a ton of AstraZeneca when eligibility dropped from 55 to 40 yrs, but then ⬇️ supply led to ⬇️ pace of AZ vaccination.
Currently there is very little AZ administered this week following recent public discourse.
I am happy for those who received this vaccine.
3/ Equity of vaccine administration was an issue earlier in April. There is ongoing prioritization of supply to heavily impacted neighbourhoods & it's working.
This graph was when 25% of vax supply went to hot spots.
Now hot spots get 50% of supply for the next 2 weeks.
>130000 vaccines were administered May 4, and >133000 today so far.
>40% of adults in ON have received a 1st dose.
Some thoughts about the past & future weeks👇
2/ People came out in droves for AstraZeneca when the age limit dropped to 40. We had a lot of AZ in the freezer at that time & now there is not much left.
(Much has been said about AZ since then. I am happy for people who received it)
3/ AstraZeneca administered via ~1400 pharmacies & primary care (family doctors & nurse practitioners) pushed our daily vaccine rate to over 130K/day. The pace slowly dropped as supply diminished.
AZ use significantly dropped yesterday & today, likely driven by public discourse.