Experts want provinces to pump the brakes on reopening plans

A national group of experts is calling on several provinces including all those in the Prairies to slow down pandemic reopening plans.

The Prairie plans are tied to COVID-19 vaccination levels for first doses -- although Manitoba also includes lower second-dose targets.

But Zero COVID Canada says it's deeply concerned by those plans because mounting evidence appears to suggest that a single dose of vaccine is only about 30 per cent effective against the Delta variant. The organization "is a national group of researchers, physicians, engineers, activists, lawyers, educators, and concerned citizens who are calling on Canada’s leaders to adopt a Zero Covid strategy," its website says.

The group says the variant has already caused multiple outbreaks in Canada, including at the Foothills Medical Centre in Calgary, and warns reopening too soon could cause a fourth wave of the pandemic.

Manitoba has announced a pandemic reopening plan tied to vaccination rates -- but not to other COVID-19 factors such as test positivity rates or hospitalizations.

Other provincial reopening plans include those COVID-19 severity indicators, but Brent Roussin, chief medical officer of health, says it was important to focus on what Manitobans themselves could do.

Dr. Roussin says making a vaccination appointment can make a difference in the drive to save the summer.

The plan released on Thursday calls for restrictions on gatherings, travel, shopping and dining to be eased if vaccination targets are met over the three holidays in the summer starting with Canada Day.