Delta COVID-19 strain remains top variant in Ontario as province awaits omicron data

With confirmation on Sunday that the omicron variant has been detected in Ontario, it marks the latest strain in COVID-19 variants that have been seen across the world.

However, officials insisted on Monday it’s unclear how it will impact the province as the delta strain maintains its dominance.

Dr. Kieran Moore, Ontario’s chief medical officer of health, described the omicron variant situation as a “rapidly changing environment” with many unanswered questions, adding it’s too early to say if additional public health measures will be needed in response.

As of Monday, there were two confirmed cases while four others were under investigation.

“We need to understand really if this is a virulent infection, if it makes people significantly sick or leads them to hospitalization, we really don’t have that information yet,” he told reporters Monday morning, adding public health officials in Africa said the strain was discovered just on Nov. 9.

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“We need further information on how well our vaccine works against this strain, we need further information on how well some of the monoclonal antibodies … would work against it, (and) we also need more information on the severity of this virus in terms of its ability to cause severe illness and hospitalization or intensive care unit requirements.

“We also want to know if the oral antivirals that may be coming soon and available in Ontario would work effectively against that, so the body of science is getting worked on aggressively over the next two weeks.”

When it comes to variants and the foothold those had in the province to date, Moore emphasized delta became dominant over a three-to-four-month period.

According to data published by Ontario’s COVID-19 Science Advisory Table, delta variant cases didn’t start sharply climbing until June. Just before that period the alpha variant was predominant.

In a mid-November report, Public Health Ontario (PHO) estimated 99.3 per cent are infected with a variant containing mutations that include the delta strain. However, when it comes to mutations likely linked to the alpha, beta, gamma and mu, it’s roughly estimated to be around 0.4 per cent of cases in Ontario.

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The report stated variants of concern have been determined to be more transmissible and could cause more instances of severe illness.

Early evidence cited suggested the delta variant could potentially mean a lesser chance of vaccine antibodies neutralizing the strain. September modelling by the advisory table found the risk of hospitalization and admission to an intensive care unit was two to three times higher after being infected with the delta variant compared to the original COVID-19 strain. However, on Monday, Moore said vaccines have been shown to be effective.

The document said the alpha variant contains a mutation believed to make the virus more transmissible than others while the beta, gamma and mu variants of interest have a mutation believed to potentially have reduced vaccine efficacy and increased chances of reinfection.

Meanwhile, Moore encouraged people to get vaccinations as they are eligible as well as keeping social gatherings small, frequent handwashing and the wearing of masks to help combat COVID-19.