As Fourth Wave accelerates, Ontarians urged to get vaccinated
TORONTO, ON, August 25, 2021 – Ontario’s COVID-19 case count is rising quickly, with hospitalizations and admissions to intensive care also on the increase, while representatives from the Ontario Hospital Association (OHA) say uptake of vaccines, on the other hand, has slowed significantly. The OHA say that without even higher rates of vaccination, the province’s fourth wave of COVID-19 will accelerate and deepen through the fall and winter,” said Anthony Dale, President and CEO, Ontario Hospital Association.
“We have all struggled with uncertainty and made very difficult sacrifices during the pandemic. After a taste of normalcy this summer, no one wants to go backwards. But that is a possibility if a significant number of Ontarians choose to remain unvaccinated,” said Anthony Dale, President and CEO, Ontario Hospital Association.
“People who are unvaccinated are placing themselves and others at direct risk. This is especially true for school children under the age of 12 who cannot yet be vaccinated. Given this risk, Ontario’s children’s hospitals are working with provincial authorities to ensure ongoing access to paediatric critical care services through the fall and winter. This planning complements their broader efforts to strengthen health services and supports for children during the pandemic,” said Dale.
The OHA president also reaffirmed that “COVID-19 vaccines have been proven safe and effective, with over five billion doses administered worldwide. In Ontario, over 90% of COVID-19 patients in intensive care and over 80% hospitalized but not in in intensive care are not fully vaccinated. By increasing our vaccination rate, we can reduce the burden on hospitals and the people who work in them and minimize further disruption to hospital services unrelated to COVID-19.”
Vaccines allow us to take back some of the control we’ve lost to COVID-19,” said Dale. “Getting vaccinated is an active choice to protect ourselves, our loved ones, our communities and the exhausted health care workers who have already fought three waves of COVID-19. It is a conscious choice to steer our province away from strict public health measures towards a brighter and more predictable future,” he adds.
“On behalf of Ontario’s hospitals, we are grateful to the millions of Ontarians who have already chosen to protect themselves and others. If you have not yet received both doses of vaccine, we urge you to do so as soon as possible and to reach out to your family physician if you have any questions or concerns. As we face another difficult fall and winter, our collective future will be determined by the sum of our individual choices,” concludes Anthony Dale, President and CEO, Ontario Hospital Association.
SOURCE Ontario Hospital Association
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