On Friday, Dr. Jazz Atwal announced that certain Manitobans — including anyone 65 and older and Indigenous people 18 and older — will be among the first in the province to be eligible for an updated vaccine from Moderna that targets both the original strain of the coronavirus that causes COVID-19 and the Omicron variant. When asked to describe the current spread of COVID-19 in the community, Atwal said the focus should be on the serious effects of the disease, not the number of active infections. He drew a comparison with the common cold to make his point. “Before COVID … colds were going around. Most people were fine. Some people even ended up in the hospital then. That was a serious outcome,” he told a news conference on Friday. “There’s such a focus on infection right now, but it’s okay to get infected,” Atwal said. “You’re building up your natural immunity, so that’s good.” Dr. Jazz Atwal, deputy provincial public health chief, announced initial eligibility for the new bivalent vaccine from Moderna on Friday. He also cautioned against focusing too much on the number of COVID-19 infections in the province, saying “it’s okay to be infected.” (Jeff Stapleton/CBC) Manitoba is not seeing the level of serious outcomes from cases of COVID-19 caused by the Omicron variant compared to previous variants, according to Atwal — in part because vaccine uptake in the province has been good. Focusing on how many people have an active infection in Manitoba rather than serious outcomes “doesn’t help the situation at all,” he said. But Dr. Gillian Horton, a hospitalist specializing in internal medicine in Winnipeg, says there’s a risk when health leaders minimize COVID-19 infections. “The problem I have with framing it that way is that it doesn’t give people the full picture,” she said in an interview with CBC News on Saturday. The province has encouraged vaccination against COVID-19, he notes, and “certainly reassurance, where appropriate, is an important part of communicating with the public.” But, he said, “the bigger picture is that it would have been much better if you hadn’t gotten this infection in the first place.” A Winnipeg epidemiologist said while infection with COVID-19 could bring some immunity, it’s still best to avoid getting infected at all. Responding in an interview Friday to the province’s recommendation that people wait to get booster shots until the bivalent vaccine is available, Cynthia Carr, founder of EPI Research in Winnipeg, noted that “the vast majority of us have probably been infected with Omicron at the very least’, which leads to some level of immunity. “That’s not at all a recommendation to get infected — but it’s a fact, especially if you’ve had … at least two or three shots with it, you have hybrid immunity,” he said.
‘Infections matter’: Stanford researcher
Horton said she has hope from a well-vaccinated population in Manitoba and more vaccine developments possibly on the horizon. But infections are sure to increase once kids return to the classroom, he said, and covering indoor spaces and improving indoor air quality should continue to be a top priority through the fall. He fears that Atwal’s comment may minimize the risk of contracting COVID-19, which is not “helpful to people as they try to navigate what personal decisions are right for them, especially knowing that we’ve abandoned really large-scale public health strategies to try to mitigate the spread of COVID.” The comments could have a negative effect on people’s behavior, he said. “So you have people who were previously concerned… maybe they’re moving away from that and saying, ‘Well, why should I upgrade my ventilation at my own expense, in my business or in my workplace, if it’s OK?’ Why should my child continue to mask indoors if they are fine?’” Dr. Abraar Karan, an infectious disease physician and medical researcher at Stanford University, also disagreed with Atwal’s comments in an exchange with Horton on Twitter. Infections matter. The full cost of repeated infections is unclear, but there is a risk of morbidity to susceptible hosts. better to be humble to strangers, especially in public communications. Comparisons with common colds also don’t help much. Investing in public infrastructure for clean air is critical — @AbraarKaran “Infections matter,” he tweeted in response to Horton. There are still significant risks from the disease to vulnerable people, according to Karan, and it’s “best to be humble” about the unknowns surrounding COVID-19, especially in public communications. “Comparison with common colds [are] also not very helpful,” Karan tweeted. “Investment in public infrastructure for clean air is key.”
