Ontario doctors are advising people to keep up with vaccinations ahead of the fall, when illnesses including COVID-19 and influenza are expected to spread amid health system challenges.
Physicians spoke at a virtual panel hosted by the Ontario Medical Association to for a lookahead discussion about the pandemic and other health-care issues in the coming months.
Infectious diseases specialist Dr. Zain Chagla says other countries have seen influenza spikes this year and Ontario should brace for something similar, as well as a likely increase in COVID-19 cases in the fall.
Chagla says Ontarians should get their flu shots to avoid serious symptomatic illness and related health-care strain as the system deals with staffing shortages and other challenges.
Dr. Andrew Petrosoniak, an emergency doctor in Toronto, says he anticipates hospital strain will worsen in the fall after a summer of long wait times and temporary closures in emergency departments due to staffing shortages.
Pediatrician Dr. Sloane Freeman says she’s also concerned about children falling behind COVID-19 vaccinations and other immunizations that were missed during the pandemic, and says efforts must be made to help them catch up.
© 2022 The Canadian Press