1/ Following up on this with a few things.

Quick update on what I read on South Africa & some reflections on Denmark as many people have had questions/comments about it.

We continue to do a disservice to South Africa by not recognizing their experience.

#COVID19
#cdnpoli

https://twitter.com/BirinderNarang/status/1493658820249219072

2/ South Africa - Hospitalizations

Peaked at ~10K in mid December during Omicron surge, now down to 1500ish.

From the very beginning their brilliant physicians would tell us, this is behaving differently.

Our Western arrogance refused to acknowledge this reality.

1/ BC: "Ensuring Balance in Easing Restrictions"

Today BC outlined their approach to phased re-opening.

Starting tomorrow night with removing capacity restrictions at 11:59 PM & reviewing masks/vaccine card in the next 1-2 months.

#COVID19BC
#BCPoli 2/ Principles Driving Next Steps

Focusing on:

Response: Immunization, self management, protecting those most at risk

Recovery: Rescind restrictions + adopt sustainable strategies

Readiness: Prepare for ongoing waves & troughs

"Shifting to Sustainable"

1/ Reopening: #COVID19BC

Loosening of restrictions are expected to be announced today.

Sure to be some backlash from those who are not ready.

Let's look at the UK, where they removed many restrictions on January 15th. (~ 1 month ago)

Declines across the board.

#BCPoli 2/ UK Patients admitted to hospital.

Daily numbers of patients admitted to hospital (Don't think this distinguishes from the "for" or "with")

7 day average was ~2000/day 1 month ago, decreased to ~1300/day (Feb 8th)

Lowest since Pre-Christmas.

1/ #COVIDVaccine in Age 5-11 - Dec 13 - @CDCgov

Committed to sharing data as I understand it, both positives & negatives so you can make your informed decisions.

Lots of good, some to keep an eye on.

Read through.

#COVID19BC
#BCPoli #CDNPoli 2/ #COVIDVaccine Age 5-11 - V-Safe & VAERS

Data from both V-Safe (@CDCgov smart phone monitoring) & VAERS systems in the States here, looking at trends.

Majority white populations from V-Safe.

Data for Dose 1 & 2 presented.

1/ @VCHhealthcare - 🦠 PCR Result Changes

Reminder:

IF you test NEGATIVE --> don't need to self-isolate, but if you still have respiratory symptoms, stay home until you feel better.

IF you test POSITIVE --> you must self-isolate, but some changes now ➡️➡️

@CDCofBC
#BCPoli 2/ Symptoms: Reminder

Key symptoms of COVID-19 include:

• Cough 😷
• Fever/chills🥵
• Shortness of breath/difficulty breathing 🫁
• Loss of taste & smell 👃🏾
• Headaches, muscle aches, fatigue 🤯
• Nausea/Vomiting/Diarrhea 🤢
• Sore Throat 😜

#OmicronBC
#BCPoli

1/ #Omicron 🧵

Been a few weeks since we heard of #OmicronVariant

Thought I would look at what we have learned so far, and some questions that remain, using @OurWorldInData & some global reports.

So at peak, South Africa has had ~400% increase in cases.

#COVID19BC
#cdnpoli 2/ #Omicron - South Africa

Can we attribute the rise of cases directly to Omicron?

Looks like the answer is yes.

South Africa cases are 100% Omicron now.
Botswana ~20%.
Canada/UK/USA still low, but increasing.

(Other countries where it has been found for comparison)

1/ Grassroots Canadian Impact

Been feeling a bit demoralized lately (as my tweets likely indicate).

This beacon of light is rejuvenating.

Here's a summary of our massively successful @ThisisOursShotCA campaign that has helped us be #TogetherAgain

Thank you.
#COVID19
#cdnpoli 2/ Townhalls

We hosted 8 @thisisourshotca Townhalls with 7 influential hosts & 30 leading national medical experts along with many partner townhalls.

Total of 4.2 Million impressions with 3.1 Million views on @Meta answering common questions & doing some quality myth busting.

1/ #COVID19BC - @CDCofBC Data Update

This data is up until Nov 23rd (posted yesterday).

Important to go through to give a reference point of where we are at & where we can look at the potential #Omicron impact over next few weeks.

Cases/Hospitalizations dropping.

#BCPoli 2/ #COVID19BC - Vaccines + Kids

Will come back to this.

Slight uptick in cases from 9-11 yo recently.

Only ~35% of kids from age 5-11 yo are registered for #COVIDVaccine right now.

Recent data in 12-18 yo from @CDCgov showed Pfizer 93% effective.

Expect similar in 5-11 yo.

1/ #COVID19BC - Age 5-11 Vax Rollout

Vax program announced today.

Some background:
Cases down w/ 457 new cases in past week, 15,917 total since beginning.

~20% new cases now in under 12 yo.

Most kids mild illness, but CAN get #MISC (19 in BC so far, average age 9)

#BCPoli 2/ Age & Vaccination

This graph shows that children under 12 years‐old are
generally at lower risk of infection than other age groups, even after returning to school in September.

Lower # of cases among fully vax individuals compared to unvaxxed across all age groups & time.

1/ Last week there was a @UBCCPD Webinar "Addressing Anti-Indigenous Racism in the B.C. Health Care System"

I found it super insightful.

The summary will be available soon on the CPD website, but want to share a few highlights/takeaways.

Photo from Dr. James Liu.

#BCPoli 2/ Avoid Pathologizing Indigenous Peoples

This was a theme that came up a few times.

Dr. Evelyn Voyageur shared this thought:

“The lifestyle they have chosen is a defence mechanism to the trauma they experienced” as a reflection to residential school survivors.

1/ Wishing everyone who celebrates a Happy Diwali & Bandi Chhor Divas.

To those who do not know the historical significance, I will briefly share what I have learned about it through the years.

As per @SikhRI, Bandi Chhor Divas represents "Emancipation Day" 2/ Sikh Gurus

Sikhi is guided by the teachings of 11 Gurus (leaders who guide us from darkness to light) from Guru Nanak Sahib to the Guru Granth Sahib (our scriptures in homes/Gurduaras).

Guru Hargobind Sahib was our 6th Guru; Bandi Chhor Divas remembers his imprisonment.

1/ New Opportunities

For the new people here, a brief bio/background.

A Sikh Family Doc, grandson of a 2x refugee Physician.

To be a Sikh is not only an articulation of Faith, but also to me means one who is always learning/unlearning.

Same applies to medicine.

#BCPoli 2/ Training

I grew up in the UK, Halifax & BC.

Completed undergraduate at @SFU, Medicine at @Sydney_Uni in Australia.

Returned to Canada as an #IMG completing my residency in @umanitoba

Now work in Long Term Care & Longitudinal Family Medicine at @REACHCHC inc. Addictions.

1/ Booster Doses - 9/12 later

Worth it? Rationale?
With global vaccine inequity - should we feel guilty?
Why I chose to mix...

Also co-incidentally this is my Halloween costume:

"Government Agent"
"Big Pharma Shill"

Take your pick.

Some thoughts ahead.

#COVID19BC
#BCPoli 2/ Why Now?

First dose Dec 20 & second dose Jan 31st.
At the time we weren't sure what optimal dosing interval was & had ongoing supply issues, so many got 2 doses at varying shorter intervals.

Now we know ~12 weeks is a good interval, but also are seeing waning immunity.

1/ #COVID19BC - Vaccines in 5-11 year old - Thoughts

This morning it was announced (by media) that 5-11 yo can now be registered.

A friend asked me if I had a child in that age range, would I be getting them vaccinated?

I said probably, but that isn't good enough...

#BCPoli 2/ #COVID19BC - Questions

Before we get into whether it makes sense yet, why do we keep hearing this stuff from anywhere but Public Health?

Another "soft launch" of systems? Like vax bookings, card registration & now this kid vax reg system, @BCGovNews announces after launch.

1/ Vaccines in Canada:

We all heard that #AstraZenecaVaccine was approved for use in Canada on Friday.

We now have 3 #COVID19 vaccines, but with that there are discussions re: "Which one is the best vaccine for me?"

Docs say "the best vaccine, is the one in your arm".

Why? 2/ Some thoughts:

But AstraZeneca is only ~62% effective against COVID? That's not good enough, right?

We need to examine & reflect on where we were, and where we are going.

March 11, 2020 - @WHO declares global pandemic.

Within 1 year, we have 3 vaccines (in Canada).

WOW!