‘We can have a one-dose summer’: Trudeau says health measures won’t be eased until more Canadians are treated

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says while progress is being made nationwide with more Canadians receiving vaccines, public health measures aren’t poised to be eased until COVID-19 case counts are down and at least 75 percent of the country has one shot.

Speaking in Ottawa on Tuesday, Trudeau said Canada can have a “one dose summer” that will, in turn, set us up for “a two-dose fall.”

Once that happens, the Prime Minister admitted it is then “we’ll be able to talk about going back to school, back to work, and back to more normality.”

“Almost 50 percent of eligible adults have received at least one shot. Canada is in the top 3 countries of the G20 in terms of daily vaccinations,” he added.

“By the summer, we’ll have enough vaccines so that every eligible Canadian will have gotten their first dose.”

Almost 40 per cent of Canadians have been vaccinated to date with at least one dose and government officials have said at least 75 per cent need to be vaccinated to get close to herd immunity against COVID-19.

About 85 per cent of vaccine doses given out as of May 1 were Pfizer or Moderna and more than 88 per cent of doses expected in the next two months are the same.

Canadians with at least one dose:

▓▓▓▓▓▒░░░░░░░░░ 39.44%#COVID19 #COVID19Canada

— Vaccine Tracker Canada (@vactrackcanada) May 11, 2021

Trudeau reiterated his promise that Canadians over the age of 12 should have access to their first dose before the end of June.

The news comes as Ontario’s science advisors say the province could safely reopen many outdoor recreational facilities even if it extends a stay-at-home order in the coming weeks.

The scientific director of Ontario’s COVID-19 Science Advisory Table says outdoor activities like golf, tennis and beach volleyball are low risk.

Meantime, Ontario has become the latest province to signal it will likely mix COVID-19 vaccine brands as the country prepares for a flood of Pfizer and Moderna shots while some doctors questioned further use of Oxford-AstraZeneca.

Health Minister Christine Elliott said Monday it’s likely that Ontarians who have received a dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine may get a different shot for their second dose.

“We don’t have a supply date for more AstraZeneca, so it’s very likely that we will need to mix the different products together,” she said.

Elliott said the province is waiting for the results from a U.K. study on mixing different vaccines and on advice from a federal immunization panel.

“I expect that should come very soon because there are some people who are coming up in terms of times for their second shot.”

With files from The Canadian Press