Why the new guidelines for vaccinated Canadians leave a lot of room for confusion

In one infographics Posted on the Public Health Agency of Canada’s website late Friday afternoon, fully vaccinated Canadians learned they can now congregate outdoors with partially vaccinated or unvaccinated people without mask or physical distancing.

This means that a small family reunion, swimming, camping, and even cuddling are now allowed between those who have one, two, or even no shots – but only “if everyone’s around. ‘comfortable with that,’ the document says.

Canadians who are two weeks away from two doses of COVID-19 vaccines have even been told they can gather in small groups indoors without masks or distancing for the first time.

WATCH | Tam presents tips for fully vaccinated people in social settings:

Canada’s Chief Public Health Officer, Dr. Theresa Tam, describes some of the new pandemic guidelines for people in social settings. She said Canadians should always check with local health authorities for the latest measures and restrictions in the event of a pandemic. 1:41

“Being fully vaccinated gives you tremendous protection,” Canada’s Chief Public Health Officer Dr. Theresa Tam said at a press conference on Friday, “so you can walk into some of these environments at inside with a much better feeling that you are protected. “

“If you have an underlying health problem, you might want to consider protecting yourself further, but even unvaccinated people can go out without a mask with people who have been vaccinated. “

Yes, even those who have only received a single dose or no dose can “consider removing their masks and being physically close to fully vaccinated individuals” indoors, but again, only if everyone is “comfortable” and that no one is at risk of severe COVID-19, the document said.

For Canadians patiently awaiting national guidance on how to navigate the pandemic six months after the arrival of the first shipment of COVID-19 vaccines, that’s it.

But the infographic’s release followed a confusing hour-long press conference in which officials criticized similar rules from the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that have been out for months, and told Canadians a risk calculator from Ryerson University which directly contradicts some of the PHAC guidelines.

“I’m not sure what the guidelines are,” said Dr. Nathan Stall, a geriatrician at Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto and a member of the National Advisory Committee on Immunization who does not speak for the group.

“Because there is the information that was communicated at a press conference, there is the information that was communicated on the website about life after vaccination, and then there’s the infographic – and to me they’re all in conflict with each other. ”

Stall said that while he thinks the infographic’s indications are “reasonable”, they are also “vague and indirect” and came “millions of doses too late”.

“At the end of the day, these are directions and it’s up to the provinces and territories to implement them,” he said. “My hope now is that we have national guidelines in one form or another, local public health guidelines will be updated accordingly. “

Concern about the lack of supervision of children

One notable omission in the guidelines is how exactly Canadians are expected to interact with one of the largest groups of unvaccinated people in the country – children.

Stall said that unlike the CDC guidelines, which include guidelines for children, the PHAC document makes “no accommodations” for meeting with children in small groups, which is particularly difficult given that they could be unvaccinated for many months.

“A lot of things are still not resolved by this,” he said. “Although it’s a small step in the right direction.”

Dr David Naylor, who led the federal inquiry into Canada’s national response to the 2003 SARS outbreak and now co-chairs the federal government’s COVID-19 immunity task force, said the results clinical trials for children under 12 are not expected until at least the fall, so it would have been helpful to include some type of counseling for families.

“It’s really important to clarify given the growing proportion of cases among those under 19,” he said. “And the reality that many families include children or grandchildren aged 11 or younger who will not be vaccinated all summer long, if not longer.”

“Oh damn,” he added Twitter. “I’m just going to give them a hug anyway.

Dr Fahad Razak, epidemiologist and internist at St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto, said he hopes that in the next few days the directions will be consolidated around the infographic, which he says is a “really good start “, as opposed to conflicting information. on the PHAC website and the Ryerson University Risk Calculator.

“Then consider extending it to children,” he said. “This is the next step.”

No explanation for the lack of advice so far

Canadians have placed enormous trust in COVID-19 vaccines and public health officials throughout the pandemic, agreeing to mix and match injections and delay second doses for months in hopes of resuming more life. normal earlier.

But while the fruits of our labor are finally paying off – with COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and deaths having declined dramatically in recent weeks – little has changed in the guidelines for what fully vaccinated Canadians can do in completely safe so far.

Regardless of the shortcomings of the directive or why it took so long to get here, experts say that while it was never going to satisfy everyone, it will hopefully prevent Canadians from establishing their own rules in the meantime.

“The overall goal is not to think of all the potential situations that every Canadian might find themselves in, but simply to have high level advice on what is reasonable to do and where we should always be careful,” said infectious disease specialist Dr Isaac Bogoch. physician and member of the Ontario COVID-19 Vaccine Task Force.

“The other thing too that could get lost here is that a lot of people already knew this and already appreciated what the vaccination offered them and were already doing it quietly.”

For the many Canadians who are suffering from “collective PTSD” from the pandemic and who have struggled to move forward without some type of guidance to help them navigate life after vaccination, this will hopefully help. -le, some relief, said Bogoch.

“For the past 15 months we’ve been isolating ourselves, we’ve been wearing masks, we watch out for gatherings, we distance ourselves – and everyone knows someone who has COVID, we also probably know someone who has been hospitalized or who is even died of COVID, ”he said.

“It really touched a lot of us very, very close to home and some people just need that advice and that green light from senior public health officials to say, ‘You know what? It’s OK to start moving forward and it’s OK to start getting together with others and you can take your mask off in certain situations. So I think it’s very, very useful. ”

This is an excerpt from Second Opinion, a weekly summary of health and medical science news emailed to subscribers every Saturday morning. If you have not yet subscribed, you can do so by clicking on here.