COVID-19: Canada to update its ‘fully-vaccinated’ definition
Global News
The federal government says it plans to change its definition of what it means to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 to reflect advice from Canada's top doctors.
The federal government plans to change its definition of what it means to be fully protected against COVID-19 to reflect advice that a number of health experts have been recommending for months, including Canada’s top doctors.
Currently, federal employees are considered fully vaccinated if they have two doses of one of Health Canada’s approved vaccines.
On Friday, Dr. Theresa Tam told reporters during a briefing the COVID-19 vaccine efficiency wanes significantly over time, from 50 to 80 per cent effectiveness down to 20 per cent or lower six months after the second dose.
That’s why she has recommended that any official language encouraging Canadians to be vaccinated should not emphasize a specific number of doses, but rather say Canadians should be “up to date” with their COVID-19 vaccines.
“(A) mandate is a policy decision that takes account many different factors and it’s up to the policymakers at this time to make that difficult decision. But I would always be going with recommending ‘up to date,’” Tam said Friday, referencing the preferred policy wording.
“The difficulty, I think, right now is that the federal definition of vaccine mandates for administrative or travel or other purposes is not up to date. And I am encouraging everybody to adopt the definition.”
On Tuesday, federal cabinet ministers said they indeed plan to implement this policy change.
“Although two doses still protects significantly well against severe disease and death, two doses are not enough now to protect against infection and transmission. That is why we are transitioning now to an ‘up-to-date’ vaccination definition of what it means to be adequately protected against COVID-19,” Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos said Tuesday during a press conference in Ottawa.
