Experts warn Sask. residents, government to take measures as Omicron variant spreads

While COVID-19 case numbers in Saskatchewan have declined in the past few weeks, they're trending upwards in other provinces, as the Omicron coronavirus variant — first identified as a variant of concern less than three weeks ago — spreads across Canada.

Federal Chief Public Health Officer Dr. Theresa Tam has warned the Omicron variant caseload could "rapidly escalate" in the coming days, and that it's on its way to becoming the dominant coronavirus strain in Canada.

Saskatchewan medical experts say that could happen here unless residents and the provincial government vigorously safeguard against COVID-19 transmission.

The province has only reported five COVID-19 cases stemming from the Omicron variant so far. In Alberta, there were 60 as of Wednesday.

"I think right now what we're seeing is that cases of Omicron are increasing quite quickly," said Dr. Alyson Kelvin, a virologist at the Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization (VIDO) at the University of Saskatchewan. 

"It does seem that this could be the dominant circulating variant."

Kelvin says it is too early to say how Omicron will affect Saskatchewan, since there are still many unknowns about the variant and how effective vaccines against it.

"What it seems is that we're getting mixed results coming back. There is evidence showing that people who have been vaccinated do have some type of protection against severe disease, so that's really important," said Kelvin.

"But other research studies are showing that there's less binding of antibodies developed in people who are vaccinated toward the Omicron variant."

That could increase after a third vaccine dose, "but really, to get a complete picture ... we're not there yet," Kelvin said.

Dr. Cory Neudorf, an interim senior medical health officer with the Saskatchewan Health Authority and professor at the University of Saskatchewan's college of medicine, echoes Kelvin's cautiousness about Omicron.

"It's still a little bit unclear as to the differences between the Omicron variant and the Delta variant," he said.

"The health system needs to watch closely, as does the government, to see where it's hit first and get a better idea of the seriousness of it."

Both Kelvin and Neudorf suggest taking precautionary measures, like getting booster shots.