Canada has coped with the first two years of the COVID-19 pandemic and withstood subsequent catastrophes better than several other nations with comparable health and economic infrastructure, a new study shows.
The study, published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal on Monday, attributed Canada’s strong performance to restrictive and ongoing public health measures, as well as a successful vaccination campaign.
A team of researchers from Ontario compared data from February 2020 to February 2022 in 11 countries called the G10 due to the late inclusion of one site. They analyzed data from Canada, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States, all countries with similar political, economic and health systems.
“If you look at Canada compared to the G10, the differences are huge,” said study co-author Dr Fahad Razak in a recent interview.
“If you look at our vaccination rate, we had the highest in the entire G10, we had the lowest number of infected people and the least dying people.”
The study shows that the total percentage of cases of COVID-19 per capita in Canada is 82,700 per million, while all countries – except Japan – are over 100,000 per million. The death rate from COVID-19 in Canada is 919 per million, again the second lowest after Japan. All other countries were over 1,000 per million.
Raivat Deonandan, an epidemiologist and associate professor at the University of Ottawa who did not participate in the study, said the research methodology was stable, even if it could be a challenge to compare infections and deaths across jurisdictions.
“Ultimately: Canada’s relatively strict approach has led to fewer infections and deaths,” Deonandan said in an email.
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“Constant level” of restrictions
Razak said at least 70,000 more Canadians would have died in the first two years of the pandemic if Canada had the same mortality rate as the United States, the country with the highest cumulative COVID-19-related deaths.
“This means that most of us would probably know our grandparents personally, or a friend or family member … who lives in Canada today, who would die if we had the same trajectory as the United States,” Razak said.
He said Canada’s relatively positive results came despite gaining access to vaccination later from most countries, noting that there were other structural weaknesses in the health system that needed to be addressed across the country at the start of the pandemic.
A member of the Governor-General’s bodyguard wearing a mask waits on the red carpet for the Governor-General’s gala concert at the Performing Arts Awards in Ottawa on May 28. (Patrick Doyle / The Canadian Press)
“Some hospitals were so congested that we had to transport an ambulance or transport patients to other hospitals,” he said.
But Canada, he said, was different from other developed countries when it chose to implement public health measures that were both rigorous and permanent. Although such measures have sparked fierce opposition in some circles, Razak said they have helped mitigate the overall impact of the pandemic.
“Compared to many other countries … they would have periods with strict restrictions, but they withdrew quickly,” he said. “For Canada, it was really such a high and sustainable level almost entirely in the first two years.
Highest ratio with two doses
Razak said the success of Canada’s immunization initiative is emerging as the strongest result of the study, praising staff for working with the public and ensuring that vaccines are readily available across the country.
More than 80% of eligible Canadians were fully vaccinated with two doses by June. The percentage of vaccinated populations in other G10 countries is between 64 and 77 percent, according to the study.
“There was magic in Canada about these vaccinations during the first dose and the second dose,” Razak said.
“When we talk to our colleagues around the world, Canada has envied the world for our people who gather around it. It’s a lesson to the world that a very high level of commitment can happen with the right strategy. “
Dr. Eleanor Fish, a professor of immunology at the University of Toronto who did not participate in the study, said the findings were consistent with her own assessment of the pandemic in Canada.
Like Razak, she said the high vaccination rate plays an important role in the country’s strong performance.
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Fish also warned that there could be challenges this fall when COVID and other respiratory illnesses are likely to strain the health care system.
“We need to plan this now,” Fish said.
Economic burden
The study also showed that the response of the countries to the pandemic has left an economic burden, with government debt rising for all countries and Canada recording one of the highest relative increases.
“We had these very significant economic impacts, we had very strict restrictions on our individual freedom, which led to things like isolation … but we also really had some of the best results in terms of controlling the impact of the virus,” Razak said. .
“Was it worth it? This is not a scientific question. It’s a matter of values, morals and politics. “
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