Perfectly healthy, fully-vaccinated people can return to life as normal during the pandemic, Haldimand-Norfolk’s acting medical officer of health says.
But those who are older, have medical issues, and have chosen, for whatever reason, not to be fully vaccinated, should evaluate their COVID-19 risks with their physician, Dr. Matt Strauss said.
“If you’re fully vaccinated, in general, COVID-19 is about as risky as to you, at least in terms of hospitalization or death, as influenza,” Strauss said at Tuesday’s meeting of the Haldimand-Norfolk Board of Health. “If you’re a healthy 25-year-old who’s fully vaccinated and you get COVID-19, the treatment is chicken noodle soup and ginger ale.”
However, Strauss said the response to COVID-19 symptoms changes for those who have medical problems, are older and not up-to-date on vaccines.
Those individuals should get tested, see a physician or nurse practitioner to get the medicine – Paxlovid – that they need, Strauss said.
It can be a family doctor, an urgent care clinic or the emergency room, Strauss said.
Strauss made the statements at Tuesday’s meeting in response to a questions about Paxlovid and safety measures people should take.
Prior to the questions Strauss said efforts to make Paxlovid more readily available in Haldimand-Norfolk paid off.
“I’m delighted to report that our advocacy on the subject of local Paxlovid availability was successful,” Strauss said.
“I do not have statistics, but I know from conversations with local physicians and community members that several high-risk community members availed themselves of this treatment of the last two weeks,” Strauss said.
Strauss with the backing of the health board last month lobbied the province to ensure the Paxlovid – an antiviral drug – was readily available in Haldimand-Norfolk.
The province announced expanded access to the drug on April 12.
Speaking about COVID-19 safety measures, Strauss said people should follow the advice of the Chief Medical Officer of Health (Dr. Kieran Moore) and Ministry of Health officials.
“We’re at a stage where we have to do more of our own personal risk evaluation rather than this idea that one size fits all and that everyone should undertake the same precautions,” Strauss said.
Strauss said he is of the view that COVID-19 is an extremely low-risk disease for individuals who are up-to-date on their vaccines, and relatively healthy.
“In terms of their risk evaluation, I don’t think they should be avoiding any activities,” Strauss said.
The sixth wave of COVID-19 was, by far, the least deadly in Haldimand-Norfolk largely because of the vaccine rollout and burgeoning natural immunity from previous infections.
The decreased severity of omicron was also a factor, Strauss said.
Overall COVID-19 mortality in Haldimand-Norfolk is declining relative to neighboring and comparable health units, Strauss said.
Meanwhile, temporary foreign workers are returning to local farms, Strauss said.
The health unit outbreak management team continues to follow provincial outbreak management guidance in this (farm) setting while exercising flexibility when required on a compassionate basis, Strauss said in his report to the board.
“I do not expect to see any COVID-19 deaths in this highly vaccinated population, particularly as standards of medical monitoring have been improved and Paxlovid is now readily accessible,” Strauss said.
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