By Canadian Press

PHAC eyeing COVID-19 variant evolution as fall resurgence looms

Oct 18, 2022 | 10:28 AM

OTTAWA — Canada’s chief public health officer says she is preparing for “worst-case scenario” COVID-19 variants, as early signs show a fall resurgence of the virus.

At the House of Commons health committee, Dr. Theresa Tam says the Public Health Agency of Canada is keeping a careful eye on the evolution of Omicron variants, which are the most common subvariants in the country.

Tam says in the early days of the pandemic the virus would mutate in all sorts of ways, because there was no immunity from previous infection or vaccines.

Now, she says, the mutations have been constrained as the virus is pressured to find ways to evade immunity.

Tam says the worst-case scenario is that variants find a way to sidestep the effectiveness of vaccines and treatment with monoclonal antibodies. 

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She says there appears to be a slight uptick recently in people opting to get booster shots, now that they offer protection against more recent strains of the virus. 

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 18, 2022.

Laura Osman, The Canadian Press