B.C.’s top doctor says she’s unlikely to issue health orders this fall to manage COVID-19 unless something entirely new emerges. At a news conference Tuesday about the province’s fall booster vaccine launch, Dr. Bonnie Henry said high population immunity to COVID-19 — both from vaccination and natural infection — means the vaccines are no longer needed. more commands. “The tools we used when we had no immunity and where we needed to take drastic measures to slow the spread of the virus are no longer effective in some cases and are no longer needed for the most part,” he said. Henry said injunctions and legal requirements are tools of “last resort.” “I don’t see us getting there unless we have the appearance of something very new and different, where we have that sensibility again,” he continued. Henry referred to the “disruption to learning” that last year’s temporary measures such as grouping, distancing and masking have had on the school system. “But we also know that there are certain things that we all have to continue to do, take care of indoor ventilation, take care of cleaning, take care of our health,” Henry said, referring to staying home when we don’t feel like it. . well and hand washing. “These are the things we can never lose. And I hope we are ready. But we can trust people now, I think, in our community to take those steps. We don’t need the heavy hand of imposing legal restrictions, in my opinion.”
