Some immunocompromised Canadians face anxious future with lifting of COVID-19 restrictions

Joel Bhikoo has multiple sclerosis, needs an IV infusion of medication every six months and for the most part has been isolating himself since the COVID-19 pandemic hit nearly two years ago.

The Drumheller, Alta., resident is immunocompromised and said he has had to be "extremely careful" to avoid getting infected, a situation that has also led to some psychological counselling to deal with the isolation.

But with his province's announcement that it would be lifting some COVID-19 restrictions, he said he feels that despite acting responsibly, he's now being treated as a "second-class citizen."

"I enjoyed going out for lunch with my brother once a week. And we can't even do that because I don't know if the person in the next table is carrying COVID," he said.

"And now people that aren't immunized are being able to do things and [it's] putting me into jail again."

Bhikoo is just one of thousands of Canadians whose medical condition has put them more at risk for developing complications in case of infection from COVID-19. And some of them are now facing a more anxious future as many provinces, in an attempt to get things back to normal or learn to live with COVID-19, announce the lifting of measures.

Alberta has announced a three-step plan to ease public health measures in the province, including the scrapping of the vaccine passport and an intention to remove the mask mandate and lift capacity limits at all venues by March.

Saskatchewan ended its vaccine passport and will scuttle its indoor masking requirement by the end of the month. 

Quebec will drop its vaccine passport Mar. 14, while Manitoba is looking to end all restrictions in mid-March. P.E.I. is hoping to phase out most of its COVID-19 restrictions in the next two months.

Meanwhile, Ontario is planning on keeping masking requirements in place but end the vaccine passport by March 1.

B.C. has lifted many restrictions but is keeping indoor mask requirements and vaccine passports in place for now.

"With restrictions being lifted, it changes the dynamic where instead of it being sort of society's job to help these people live as normal life as they possibly can, it [falls] on them," said Dawn Bowdish, Canada Research Chair in aging and immunity and assistant professor at McMaster University in Hamilton.

According to Statistics Canada data in 2020, around 14 per cent of Canadians aged 15 years or older have a compromised immune system that increases their risk of adverse outcomes from COVID-19.

Around 38 per cent of Canadian adults living in private households reported having one or more underlying health conditions that could put them at elevated risk of complications following COVID-19 infection, StatsCan found.