What you need to know as XBB.1.5 Omicron subvariant detected in Québec

With the first cases of the very contagious Omicron subvariant XBB.1.5 – also known as Kraken – detected in Québec last week, we discussed what this means with Dr. Christopher Labos.

1. If we look at what happened south of the border this particular COVID-19 variant is extremely contagious. So what does this mean? Could we see a spike in numbers and hospitalizations once again?

The U.S. has seen a spike in hospitalizations. They do seem to see things trending upwards. And, the same could happen here. It is a more infectious variant, it went from 0 per cent of cases to over 40 per cent of cases and even higher in many parts of the Northeastern United States so could we see a replication of that here? Yes, we could. It really depends how people behave. If people get their booster shots, then that will obviously help. If people wear masks in indoor spaces, that will obviously help. And, if people take steps to clean the air by having improved ventilation in indoor spaces that will clearly help. We know what we have to do, it’s really just a question of whether we’re going to do it or not, because how much of an impact the virus has on our society depends not just on the virus, but also on our own behavior.

2. It seems the Omicron variants were found to respond less to the vaccine – but you’re saying we should continue with those booster shots – what else should we be doing to protect ourselves and the most vulnerable?

It’s true that as the virus changes, the vaccinations seem to have a lesser benefit, but they do still have a benefit. The preliminary evidence that we have does show that the vaccines do actually work against this variant. It’s not as if the vaccines have no benefit anymore, they just have a lesser benefit than we did right at the beginning of the pandemic. But you are still less likely to die, to be hospitalized, and frankly, less likely to get sick if you had a booster, especially if your booster has been within the last six months. So anybody who has not had a booster shot in the last six months should definitely get it. It will give you a little bit better protection and give you a bit of a more broad based immune response to vaccination. Our uptake of booster shots is actually quite low in this country. The number of people who have gotten a booster shot in the past six months is only about 20 per cent nationwide, which is a lot slower than most people realize it is. We should definitely get our booster shots and we should definitely wear masks in public indoor spaces. It’s is a low cost, low risk, consequence free intervention that people can do and make it significantly less likely that you’ll get sick from either COVID-19, RSV or Influenza that are circulating.

3. The triple threat – COVID, RSV, and the flu – how are we doing right now in Québec at managing those three?

Not very well. The emergency rooms are overwhelmed. The hospital system is overwhelmed. Flu cases and RSV cases are trending down, although there still is a lot of that going around. It’s just trending in the right direction. A lot depends on what happens with COVID. Do COVID cases stay stable or will they start to tick up again. And – here’s the thing – even stable is not necessarily good because stable at a high level still puts a lot of strain on the health care system. I think what a lot of people don’t realize is that you just assume that when you get sick, you will be able to go to the hospital and get the care you need. And, you will, but you’ll have to wait for a long period of time. I don’t think most people realize what it means to wait for hours or days to get the care you need.