Unvaccinated driving the COVID-19 fourth wave, says president of hospital association

With the provincial COVID-19 cases on the rise daily and the numbers of residents getting vaccinated dropping at a similar rate, the Ontario Hospital Association (OHA) isn’t being shy about stating the reason why.

The unvaccinated are driving the rising numbers of the COVID-19 fourth wave as they remain hugely susceptible to the Delta variant, said the OHA in a statement today (August 25).

Anthony Dale, OHA President and CEO said in the release, “After a taste of normalcy this summer, no one wants to go backwards. But that is a possibility if a significant number of Ontarians choose to remain unvaccinated.”

He singled out the unvaccinated by adding, “Ontario’s COVID-19 case count is rising quickly, with hospitalizations and admissions to intensive care also on the increase. Uptake of vaccines, on the other hand, has slowed significantly.”

Dale said that without even higher rates of vaccination, the province’s fourth wave of COVID-19 will accelerate and deepen through the fall and winter.

“We have all struggled with uncertainty and made very difficult sacrifices during the pandemic. Vaccines allow us to take back some of the control we’ve lost to COVID-19.”

Echoing the sentiments of nearly every medical professional in the province, Dale said if residents aren’t willing to do it for themselves, then they should be doing it for the safety of their children.

“People who are unvaccinated are placing themselves and others at direct risk. This is especially true for school children under the age of 12 who cannot yet be vaccinated.”

Not to mention the community-at-large, he added. “Getting vaccinated is an active choice to protect ourselves, our loved ones, our communities and the exhausted health care workers who have already fought three waves of COVID-19.”