‘Boost your defences’ ahead of winter viral spread, Ottawa urges in mail campaign – National

The federal government has shipped postcards out to six million households across Canada ahead of the holiday season, urging Canadians to step up their precautions as multiple viruses — including COVID-19 — continue to spread.

The postcard warns that “more time indoors this fall and winter could lead to more COVID-19 illness.”

It goes on to remind the recipients that bivalent COVID-19 vaccines, which provide protection against the Omicron variant, are now available — and that you should consider getting a booster shot if it’s been six months since your last COVID-19 vaccine or infection.

The postcard also tells the reader that additional individual public health measures, like masking in crowded areas and staying home when sick, are “always a good idea.”

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The postcards were sent to six million households with a forecasted price tag of $1.08 million, according to a statement from Anna Maddison, a spokesperson for Health Canada and the Public Health Agency of Canada.

“Surveillance indicators, including clinical and wastewater testing, show that (COVID-19) is still circulating across the country,” Maddison explained.

“While we are past the peak of the last COVID-19 resurgence, it is too soon to let our guard down.”

Variations in the Canadian population’s level of immunity, as well as current global trends, are suggesting that Canada could experience an uptick in COVID-19 cases in the new year, Maddison said.

“In recent weeks, genetic sequencing data on SARS-CoV-2 viruses shows continuing increases in immune evasive variants, notably BQ.1 and BQ1.1, while the previously dominant BA.5 lineage variants are declining,” she added.

“With the increased prominence of these variants in Canada, at a minimum we could see a slower decline and higher plateaus in the number of…