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Ontario medical authority urges vaccination ahead of alarming flu season

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An organization representing the province’s physicians is calling for all Ontario residents to get vaccinated this fall.

The Ontario Medical Association (OMA) is warning we could see a record-breaking flu season, partly due to rising numbers of people avoiding immunization.

OMA president Dr. Zainab Abdurrahman says the reasoning behind the prediction is the number of infections seen in Australia earlier this year.

“We always look to Australia and surrounding areas because they experience the season ahead of us,” she says. “Those similar trends are often predictive of what we’ll be seeing here and they had another record-breaking season from influenza infections and seeing the complications of that.”

In a release, OMA noted that Australia recorded more than 410,000 lab-confirmed flu cases this year — surpassing the previous high of 365,000 in 2024.

“That is why we are really pressing hard in terms of pushing for everyone to be vaccinated and be prepared for this winter,” adds Dr. Abdurrahman.

She says OMA calls on all Ontarians to take advantage of the free flu and COVID vaccinations made available to all residents as of this past Monday.

While vaccines are available to all members of the public through pharmacies, family doctors, and public health units, Dr. Abdurrahman encourages residents to talk to their doctor if they have any concerns.

“Unfortunately, we know that there is a lot of misinformation that is online,” says Dr. Abdurrahman. “So we really want to ensure that people can have these conversations with someone that they trust.”

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Flu Shot Campaign Introduced By Province

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The Ford government says its starting up a $70 million flu immunization campaign, the largest of its kind in Ontario’s history.

Premier Doug Ford says the campaign is part of the province’s plan to prepare the health system for the second wave of COVID-19.

He says it will be more challenging because of the flu season and the because of the need to avoid cancelling hospital surgeries.

“We’ve been working through the summer to put in place a robust and comprehensive plan to tackle a potential, more challenging second wave of COVID-19,” said Premier Ford. “It’s important that we prepare for any scenario in order to protect all of our citizens, especially our seniors and most vulnerable. Our government is doing everything it can to defeat this deadly virus, including delivering an unprecedented flu shot campaign to maintain capacity in our hospitals.”

Up to 5 million flu shot vaccines have been ordered in the province with 1.3 million being a special high dose for seniors.

The Keeping Ontarians Safe plan will:

  • Maintain strong public health measures, including continued expansion of testing and case and contact management;
  • Quickly identify, manage and prevent COVID-19 outbreaks;
  • Accelerate efforts to reduce health service backlogs;
  • Prepare for surges in COVID-19 cases;
  • Recruit, retain, train and support health care workers, while also continuing to engage families and caregivers; and
  • Implement the largest flu immunization campaign in Ontario’s history.

The province will release details over the coming days.

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Local Influenza Cases On The Rise

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The Northwestern Health Unit warns both gastrointestinal and respiratory illnesses are circulating local communities at a higher rate than usual,

Symptoms may include vomiting, diarrhea, and stomach cramps as well as flu like symptoms including a cough, fever, runny nose and extreme tiredness.

However, Manager of Infectious Diseases Donna Stanley assures the public that COVID-19 doesn’t pose any significant risk in our area.

Stanley notes what we are experiencing right now is high rates of influenza.

She recommends washing your hands often, cover your cough, and stay home when ill.

 

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Health Officials Address Coronavirus Concerns

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The Northwestern Health Unit stresses the coronavirus is an evolving, on-going situation and information changes on a daily basis.

Acting Medical Officer of Health Dr. Ian Gemmill says they are working with their health partners to monitor the situation, stating they are are learning new things each and every day.

Local hospitals and healthcare centres have been instructed to report any signs of the possible virus and keep that person in isolation as a precautionary measure.

Residents are also urged to wear masks at health facilities if they are feeling under the weather.

Dr. Gemmill says unless you have been in direct contact with someone from Wuhan and other parts of affected China, it’s highly unlikely you have the new virus.

He believes the biggest threat to northerners right now is influenza.

“Influenza is still very active. We know that there are hundreds of thousands of cases in Canada every year. Tens of thousands of hospitalizations and 3,000 to 5,000 deaths.”

Dr. Gemmill says you should still continue to follow normal practices to protect yourself.

-Clean or sanitize your hands often
-Stay well hydrated
-Get your flu shot
-Cover coughs and sneezes with a tissue or sleeve
-Cough into your elbow
-Stay home when sick
-Do not visit hospitals, long term care homes or young infants when you are sick

Dr. Ian Gemmill says it’s important to be vigilant of all types of respiratory infections that may circulate our area.

“In 1965, the Surgeon General of America said the fight against communicable diseases is largely over. Well I think that’s been proved wrong, because in my experience, every couple of years there’s ether a new or
resurgent communicable disease that we need to think about.”

More than 7,700 people in China have been diagnosed with the new coronavirus and 170 of them have died.

There are three confirmed cases in Canada; two in Ontario and one in British Columbia.

Air Canada has announced it is temporarily suspending all direct flights to Beijing and Shanghai.

The federal government has issued an advisory to avoid non-essential travel to mainland China due to the coronavirus.

Air Canada operates direct flights to China from Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver.

The airline says affected passengers will be offered other options or a full refund.

Canadian Border Service is screening returning travellers from high-risk locations.

Dr. Ian Gemmill will be featured on the February 2nd edition of Northwest Monitor.

You can hear that piece by visiting the Audio link below.

For additional information, go to http://www.nwhu.on.ca