The country’s top doctor says Canada is now in the fourth wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, and it’s being driven by the Delta variant.
Dr. Theresa Tam is urging younger Canadians to get vaccinated, noting how a majority of the new cases are people under 40 who have not received a jab.
Dr. Tam’s news conference coincided with reports a federal election could be called for September 20.
When asked about the safety of holding an election at this time, Dr. Tam’s key advice would be to continue following public health guidelines.
“You do have to watch the local epidemiology and the local public health advice as well. So that could vary over time. Anyone who is campaigning must observe those best practices.”
“Different rules are being applied in different areas of the country,” adds Dr. Tam.
At the same media briefing, federal procurement minister Anita Anand reiterated the importance of public health measures in any situation when asked about an election campaign during the pandemic.
Anand urged Canadians to get fully vaccinated if they haven’t done so already.
Anand also announced the federal government will donate another ten million vaccines to other countries noting how Canada now has enough vaccines to vaccinate all Canadians twice.
