COVID Update: As of November 27, Canada has total active cases at 26,396. Highest count of new cases was 4,357 reported on November 26 and highest count of deaths was 29 on November 23. COVID cases have been mostly around 24,000 range, but as of Nov 27 new cases are increasing the numbers. Furthermore, there has been concerns regarding “Omicron” variant which is considered even more deadly than delta variant. Experts say Omicron is already in Canada. Government has already announced 5 new measures to deal with this new variant. Watch official announcement here.
As of November 27, 89.26% of Canada’s population aged 12 or older has been fully vaccinated, while around 86% has received at least 1 dose. So far, government data has shown that around 81.3% of the new cases are coming among unvaccinated individuals and 7.8% of the new cases are among fully vaccinated. Percentage of new cases among fully vaccinated has increased from 6.4% to 7.8% since our update on November 7.
As per the recent statement of Dr. Theresa Tam’s (Chief Public Health Officer of Canada) on November 26.
- one area of mutations is in the spike receptor binding domain where the virus attaches to and invades our cells, which could signify a potential for increased transmissibility of the virus.
- the other area of mutations is in what is referred to as the spike N-terminal domain, which is also known as the “antigenic supersite” because it is a target for our bodies defensive or “neutralising antibodies,” so mutations to this area of the virus may impact our body’s natural immunity as well as potentially reduce immunity induced by vaccines.
- Among youth and adults aged 12 to 59 years, unvaccinated people were 42 times more likely to be hospitalized with COVID-19 than fully vaccinated people.
- Among older adults aged 60 years or older, unvaccinated people were 16 times more likely to be hospitalized with COVID-19 than fully vaccinated people.