‘Wartime footing.’ Doug Ford to announce expanded booster plan, as Ontario looks at province-wide measures to stop Omicron

Premier Doug Ford will announce an expanded COVID-19 booster shot plan Wednesday while his government develops new province-wide measures to slow the surge of the super-contagious Omicron variant.

We're going on wartime footing to get as many needles in arms as possible, working with unions and business to pull out all the stops," a senior official told the Star.

There is mounting frustration in the government with Ontario's chief medical officer Dr. Kieran Moore and the science table over delays to a booster plan and widespread rapid testing. The doctors resisted boosters for months because they did not want Ontario hoarding precious vaccines and were hesitant about rapid tests and false positive results.

We have enough vaccine. We just need to get it out to people," said the senior official.

Under pressure to quickly expand boosters to everyone over 18 instead of waiting until Jan. 4 as scheduled last week, Ford's cabinet is meeting to debate options for a rapid expansion of the third doses.

Omicron is spreading among fully vaccinated individuals," Moore warned at a news conference Tuesday. Omicron is becoming a game-changer."

While some regional public health units hard hit by the Delta variant have been reimposing their own restrictions such as capacity limits at restaurants and sports venues and smaller in-home gatherings, Moore said it's time for a more consistent approach" across Ontario because Omicron is spreading to all regions.

It is a threat," Moore added, noting each person infected with Omicron spreads it to four to eight times more people than those who have contracted Delta, which took over the province last spring and summer but is quickly being replaced.

He was tight-lipped when asked what new restrictions Ontario residents might see later this week.

Sources say the government is looking at closing sports stadiums and concert venues and limiting capacity at public events and in homes to gauge the impact on hospital and intensive care unit admissions.

But sources added Moore - who has repeatedly said he does not like to backtrack on restrictions - is resisting some of that because he believes the ventilation systems at indoor arenas and concert halls and the fact proof-of-vaccination is required for entry makes them safe.

We're reviewing all of our policy directions in light of Omicron," Moore told reporters when pressed. But again, they have to be proportionate. They have to be prudent. They have to be reasonable against the risk of Omicron."

Epidemiologist Todd Coleman of Wilfrid Laurier University said speed is of the essence to disrupt the chains of Omicron transmission and encouraged a return to capacity limits, improved masking in venues like sports arenas where it is lax, and more testing to catch and isolate more cases.

The vaccinations are wearing off for the largest proportion of Ontarians who received second doses in the summer," said the former public health official in London.

No one wants their loved ones to get sick, no one wants another shutdown, and no one wants hospitals to be overwhelmed," said Deputy NDP Leader Sara Singh, echoing other opposition parties. But we need to act now to prevent those things - experts have made it clear we are quickly running out of time."

A major concern is that while Omicron may cause less severe illness than Delta, soaring numbers of infected people could still overwhelm the health-care system and health-care workers could well be among the sick, Moore said.

I certainly hope that it is less severe, but we're planning for the worst ... hoping is not a strategy," he added, saying the province is preparing to increase rapid testing of health-care workers with high-risk contacts, and for high-risk essential workers to ensure services can still be provided.

Hospital admissions are up 13 per cent in the last week, although they remain well within capacity and there has not been a spike in intensive care unit admissions to this point.

In the meantime, Moore urged people at higher risk of severe outcomes from COVID to have groceries and medications delivered and to limit their contacts, while the general population should make sure they are masking properly over the nose and below the chin, along with other standard precautions.

For Christmas and other holiday gatherings, the smaller the better," the doctor added.

Rob Ferguson is a Toronto-based reporter covering Ontario politics for the Star. Follow him on Twitter: @robferguson1

Robert Benzie is the Star's Queen's Park bureau chief and a reporter covering Ontario politics. Follow him on Twitter: @robertbenzie