MARIA VAN KERKHOVE: Today, we will be classifying
this as a variant of interest.
KATHERINE WARD: That's EG.5, a COVID-19
subvariant that's being discovered around the globe.
PRABHAT JHA: It's effectively a cousin of the Omicron variant.
KATHERINE WARD: Experts say stronger variants and
subvariants are to be expected.
LEVON ABRAHAMYAN: So that means that this virus,
theoretically, can spread more faster and be more pathogenic.
KATHERINE WARD: But virologists say
the new variant does not appear to make people more sick.
Epidemiologist Dr. Prabhat Jha says there is no need to panic.
PRABHAT JHA: The risk seems to be low but not zero, certainly,
of having something really catastrophic
as has happened in the past, because we've
built up hybrid immunity.
KATHERINE WARD: Still, public health experts
are keeping a close eye on what COVID
and other viruses are doing to prepare
themselves for the fall.
PRABHAT JHA: What we will have, as we did last fall,
is call it a tridemic.
We'll have COVID circulating again.
We'll have seasonal flu.
And we'll have RSV that also causes
people, particularly the elderly or the young, to get sick.
KATHERINE WARD: Experts say getting a booster is one
of the best lines of defense.
Pediatric infectious disease physician Dr. Jesse Papenburg
is hopeful they will be made available for even
the youngest Canadians.
JESSE PAPENBURG: Currently, in Canada, there's
the only products that are approved for booster dose use
are in children five and above.
But we expect that by the fall, Health Canada
will approve also products for those that are
six months of age and above.
KATHERINE WARD: Until then, experts say washing your hands,
using masks and test kits can go a long way.
TEDROS ADHANOM GHEBREYESUS: We cannot predict the future,
but we can prepare for the future.
KATHERINE WARD: Katherine Ward, Global News, Toronto.