A third of young Montrealers aged 12 to 17 have still not received their first dose of COVID-19 vaccine and about 60% of them do not have their second dose, Montreal Public Health warned Thursday. , by calling on adolescents to get vaccinated “before the start of the school year”.
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“We know that there are still about a third of our teenagers, our 12-17 year olds, who have not yet had their first doses of vaccine, and we know that there is about 60%, so six in 10 teens who do not have their second doses. These vaccines are accessible, are available, and everyone who is vaccinated by the start of the school year contributes to this effort, ”said the medical chief in urban environment and population health of the Public Health of Montreal. , the Dr David Kaiser.
He says that for a few days now, the metropolis has started to witness “a small increase in the number of hospitalizations”. “For us, this is really a signal that we are not going in the right direction three weeks before the start of the school year”, judges the doctor.
Faced with a “greater” increase in new cases of COVID-19 which has been observed in the last week, Montreal Public Health also invites the population to continue to comply with basic measures. “We didn’t get out of the woods. We are not at the end of the vaccination campaign, ”says Dr Kaiser, who recalls that the mask inside and the distancing must be applied.
The authorities also recall that it remains important “not to put yourself in risky situations where there are a lot of people in smaller spaces and where we know that with the Delta variant which is progressing in Montreal, it contributes to outbreaks and an increase in the number of cases ”.
A message to travelers
In recent weeks, a third of new infections identified in Montreal came from “travelers outside Canada”, also said the expert. “It’s very important because that’s also how we see many of our Delta variant cases coming in,” he said.
“In there, unfortunately, there are also doubly vaccinated travelers who do not have to isolate themselves. So there is a message of caution. Even if you are vaccinated and come back from travel, you may be at risk of transmitting. We risk not being sick, because vaccines are very effective for that, but we can transmit, ”he also pleaded.
Side outbreaks, Public Health affirms that the transmission is after all fairly distributed throughout the metropolis, and is not necessarily “in the usual environments”. “The schools are closed, there are no outbreaks in daycare services and very few in the workplace, so it is really diffuse on the territory at present,” David Kaiser raised on this subject.
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