Omicron infects over 1,675 people during Christmas weekend in Hamilton

Over 1,675 people got infected with COVID-19 from Christmas Eve to Boxing Day, according to data from Hamilton Public Health Services.

The local public health unit reported 1,675 new confirmed or probable cases detected by contact tracers on the final weekend of 2021.

Public health officials say the actual number of infections in Hamilton is much higher because not everyone is getting a PCR test or reporting their case to public health. There is also a delay in testing and delivering testing results.

Experts have said the key metric to watch is the number of people in hospital since official case counts can't capture the true magnitude of COVID-19's Omicron variant.

Data from St. Joseph's Healthcare Hamilton and Hamilton Health Sciences (HHS) show over 75 Hamiltonians were in local hospitals with COVID-19 as of Christmas Eve.

St. Joe's is caring for 10 COVID patients and HHS is tending to 68 COVID patients. There are no more than eight people with the virus in both hospital networks's intensive care units, according to the data.

Provincewide, there are 480 people are hospitalized with COVID-19 and 176 people are in intensive care units. 

The city's case positivity rate is at 8.3 per cent — for context, local contact tracing is overwhelmed at about three per cent.

All this comes as the city tries to vaccinate as many people as possible with first doses, second doses and booster shots.

Booster shots vital in fight against Omicron: expert

Matthew Miller, an associate professor of infectious diseases and immunology at McMaster University, told CBC Hamilton while Omicron seems to lead to more mild symptoms, the general public may not understand what "mild illness" means.

"It doesn't mean you're walking around with sort of a minor sniffle, it basically means anything short of having to be hospitalized," he said.

"It doesn't mean you don't feel really awful for a really long time ... we don't have a good grasp on [long-term effects] of people with Omicron."

Miller adds that while two shots offer great protection against severe illness, people with only two doses are at much higher risk of getting infected by Omicron because it has more mutations that impact how antibodies bind. 

"What these third doses do is they really ramp up the amount of antibodies present in our blood and those antibodies, when present in high numbers, can protect us from ever being infected at all," he said.

"When you get a third dose, those antibody levels rise really quickly [compared to the first and second dose]."

He also recommended people who already have COVID-19 should get a booster instead of relying on natural immunity.

"Studies are showing that vaccination of previously infected people gives really outstanding immunity. They make, sort of, a special class of antibodies that even people who are triply vaccinated don't seem to make," Miller said.

He said getting a booster will also stop people from spreading Omicron, which will prevent hospitalizations and ultimately end the wave of infections.

"What if you get in a car crash and hospitals are overwhelmed with COVID patients and can't look after you? Those are the unintended consequences the average person doesn't think of and that's why it's imperative we protect health-care capacity."

Local doctor calls for booster walk-ins

Hamilton public health data shows as of Monday, there have already been 115,850 booster shots put into arms.

In comparison, there have been and 443,687 first doses administered since they've been available.

The city says 79.9 per cent of locals have the first shot and 75.1 per cent have the second dose.

Still, Dr. Jill Wiwcharuk, an inner city family doctor, said public health-led vaccine clinics aren't as efficient as they should be.

In a video posted on Dec. 23, Wiwcharuk recalled responding to an urgent call for help at a vaccine clinic and only jabbing about 20 people in three-and-a-half hours.

"I had long periods of time with nothing to do, looking at all the empty chairs in this huge space," she said.

She said the public should be "outraged" the province pays doctors up to $220 per hour to vaccinate people despite the "gross inefficiencies."

She added while health-care workers are eager to vaccinate people and locals are eager to get vaccinated, bureaucracy is preventing clinics from being more efficient.

"Third doses are fast to give ... we could be vaccinating many more times the numbers now if public health opened clinics to walk-ins for third doses," Wiwcharuk said.

"Waiting on this ... is simply unethical in my opinion, not to mention it once again leaves behind the most marginalized individuals in our communities who may not have reliable access to phones and computers for booked appointments."

In response to comments from Wiwcharuk, Hamilton public health told CBC "that booked appointments rather than walk-ins are a more effective strategy during this phase of the local vaccine program." 

Aisling Higgins, a city communications officer, said feedback is "encouraged and welcomed" from healthcare partners to ensure "improvements are continually made to the operations of vaccine clinics across Hamilton." 

"We do encourage our community partners who are working with vulnerable populations to use the most effective strategy to provide COVID-19 vaccines to the individuals they are serving, in the vaccines clinics that they are operating," she added. "That has been a key part of the success of reaching vulnerable populations."