WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 30th July, 2021) Canada is not yet ready to roll out COVID-19 booster shots amid concerns over the highly infectious Delta variant, Chief Public Health Officer Dr. Theresa Tam said on Friday.
Booster shots are increasingly being considered as an option to curb the spread of the highly contagious Delta variant - first discovered in India - which is showing increased resistance to available COVID-19 vaccines.
"Right now, there's not enough data to suggest that in Canada we would go into boosting as of yet," Tam said during a press briefing on Friday.
Canada's chief medical officer did note that Ottawa is getting "operationally ready" for the possibility of booster shots.
On Thursday, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett announced that Israel would begin to offer booster vaccination for those older than 60 as of Sunday.� However, Canada, which still has a sizeable proportion of its population still waiting for their second dose, is months behind Israel's vaccination program.
Chief Public Health Officer Dr. Njoo noted that increased vaccine uptake among approximately 3.6 million unimmunized Canadians is the preferred option to curtailing the spread of the Delta variant.
According to the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC), over 80 percent of Canadians have received their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine and two thirds are considered to be fully vaccinated.
