TORONTO – The third wave of the pandemic is over. For some weeks now, the overall epidemiological picture in Ontario has been improving markedly, with the collapse of new daily cases, the sharp decrease in hospitalizations and intensive care admissions and, more generally, a mass immunization campaign that is finally travelling at full capacity.
In short, this is not the time to lower our guard, but after the apprehensions of recent months, cautious optimism about the future is by no means out of place. Yesterday the news that Moderna is also exponentially increasing the doses that will be sent to Canada: in June 7 million doses will arrive from the American company, which will be added to the more than 3 million already guaranteed by Pfizer. Just under half of the planned doses will be delivered to Ontario health authorities, with a potential new leap forward in vaccinations.
According to data from yesterday’covid19tracker.ca, 10,445,119 doses of vaccine have been administered in Ontario so far, 177506 yesterday alone. In the province there are 1,282,676 people who have also received the second dose and can be considered totally immunized against Covid-19. Across Canada, however, 27,122,208 doses have been administered since January – yesterday 266,561 – and 3,332,556 Canadians have been fully immunized since the start of the vaccination campaign.
These are important numbers, which suggest that the timing of the government’s road map on vaccinations could change.
Yet there are still unknowns. One is represented by the European Football Championship and with it the possible “Euro 2020 variant”. The main competition for the Old Continent national teams will start tomorrow, with Italy’s debut against Turkey in Rome. It will be a coincidence, but from tomorrow the province will enter phase 1 of its road map on reopenings and with this the bars and restaurants will open their patios, where it will be possible to consume food and drinks.
There is a limit, that of four people for each patio table and outdoor spaces. Will we all be good and disciplined? Will we be able to follow the safety guidelines while watching European games? No screams of incitement, no hugs, no gatherings: the stakes are very high and are worth much more than a victory or a defeat. At stake are our future and the possibility of returning as soon as possible to a normal life from pre-pandemic or almost.
We must therefore all strive to ensure that the Euro 2020 variant remains just one hypothesis. We have all already taken the real vaccine: a “dose”, indeed two “doses” of common sense, is enough.
