Canada's COVID-19 pandemic response is often compared to other countries.

Author: Virginie Ann

Canada has managed the first two years of the COVID-19 pandemic and has survived the turmoil better than some other countries with comparable medical and economic infrastructure, a new study said. Suggests.

Published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal on Monday, the study recognizes Canada's strong work on the success of restricted and sustainable public health measures and vaccination campaigns.

A team of researchers in Ontario analyzed data from February 2020 to February 2022 in a group of industrialized countries known as G10, which actually has 11 members. .. They compared Canada, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States. All of these have similar political, economic and medical systems.

"The difference is huge when you look at Canada compared to the G10," study co-author Dr. Fahad Razak said in a recent interview. “Our vaccination coverage was the highest overall for the G10.”

Canada has the second lowest rate of infections and the second highest rate of deaths after Japan. He added that it was low. According to the survey, Japan is considered an outlier within the G10 for unclear reasons. According to the

survey, the cumulative rate of COVID-19 cases per capita in Canada was 82,700 million, compared to over 100,000 in all other countries except Japan.

Canada's COVID-19-related mortality rate is 919 per million, which is also the second lowest after Japan. All other countries had more than 1,000 per million.

Razak said that if Canada had the same mortality rate as the United States, at least 70,000 Canadians would have died in the first two years of the pandemic. .. COVID-19 related deaths.

"That is, most of us would know our grandparents, or friends and family personally ... if we lived in Canada today and had the same trajectory as the United States, we would have died. Let's do it, "Razak said.

He pointed out that there were also structural disadvantages to other health systems that had to be overcome nationwide at the start of the pandemic, even if they were vaccinated later than most countries. Nonetheless, he said it had relatively positive results for Canada.

"Some hospitals were overwhelmed enough to have to ambulance or airlift patients to other hospitals," he said.

But Canada was different from other developed countries when it chose to implement strict and lasting public health measures, he said. Such measures have sparked fierce opposition in some circles, but Razak said he helped mitigate the overall impact of the pandemic.

"Compared to many other countries ... there are strict time limits, but we will withdraw soon," he said. "In the case of Canada, the first two years were almost completely at such a high and lasting level."

But Razak said the success of Canada's immunization drive came from a study. He said it had emerged as the most powerful takeaway, and praised the authorities for engaging with the public and making the vaccine readily available nationwide.

As of June, more than 80% of eligible Canadians have been fully vaccinated with two doses. Studies show that the proportion of vaccinated populations in other G10 countries is 64-77 percent.

"In Canada, there was magic around the deployment of these vaccines during the first and second doses," Razak said.

"When talking to colleagues around the world, Canada was the envy of the world in terms of the population around it. With the right strategy, very high engagement can occur. Is a lesson for the world. ”

This study also shows that each country's response to a pandemic leaves an economic burden, government debt increases in all countries, and Canada has the highest relative increase. Shown that you are recording one.

"We have had these very significant financial implications. There are very strict restrictions on individual freedom, leading to quarantine, etc ... but controlling the effects of the virus. That was also one of the best results, ”Razak said.

"Was it worth it? It's not a scientific question, but a question of values, morals and policy."

This report by Canadian Press was published in 2022 6 First published on the 27th of March.