Optimism comes during ‘period of considerable vulnerability,’ microbiologist says

As hope abounds for better things in 2021, a prominent microbiologist in Saskatchewan is warning against complacency.

In fact, Dr. Joseph Blondeau from the University of Saskatchewan said that following public health recommendations like washing hands, physical distancing and wearing masks is more important than ever.

Speaking to Gormley on Monday, Blondeau said it’s natural to be optimistic about improving statistics: A lower rolling average of 181 cases per day compared to 203 on Dec. 24, active cases dropping below 3,000 for the first time since November and thousands of doses of vaccines being administered.

“We’re all human right and we all say, ‘Oh, this is all good news. Our numbers are down a little bit, the vaccine is being rolled out, you know, this is over,’ ” Blondeau said.

“I actually think that we’re in a period of considerable vulnerability right now where if we don’t continue to practise these same measures … there is a risk that we could let our guard down and see this virus spread even more in the population before we have a chance to see the positive impact of the vaccines.”

Blondeau pointed to numbers by the World Health Organization that make clear there is a long road ahead before herd immunity is achieved. About 85 million people have been infected globally out of a worldwide population of seven billion.

“There’s still a lot more susceptible individuals out there that could still be infected with this virus before the vaccine gets manufactured to a large enough number of doses that can be distributed,” he said.

He said COVID-19 numbers in the weeks to come will say a lot about how well people adhered to public health measures during the holidays.

“If we see the numbers start to increase again, then it will be an indication that perhaps we didn’t keep our groups small over the holidays. we didn’t practise distancing and who knows what people were doing with masks,” Blondeau said.

In Saskatchewan, about 4,900 doses of the Moderna vaccine were to be administered starting Monday to health-care workers and residents of long-term and personal care homes in northern regions of the province.

The doses were sent to the far northwest and far north-central areas, which have recorded high numbers of new cases and high test positivity rates in recent weeks.

As of Sunday, 3,866 people in Regina and Saskatoon — including health-care workers and other frontline personnel — had received doses of the Pfizer vaccine. Those shots were administered as part of a pilot project as well as Phase 1 of the provincial government’s vaccine distribution rollout.