Canada now leads the world with people vaccinated with at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.

Dr. Lisa Barrett, an assistant professor in the Department of Medicine at Dalhousie University—who specializes in Infectious Disease and Immunology—says that Canada was able to play catchup by securing enough doses to reach such a goal.

Dr. Barrett is encouraged to see the number of cases per day decreasing, and fewer people in hospital. However, she says people still need to be vigilant as cases of the delta variant continue to spread.

She says the vaccines are good at preventing infections and hospitalizations but even with vaccines, the country needs to keep the borders safe continue testing people.

The Atlantic Bubble is reopening this week, and many are concerned with the risk of importing the virus as people travel. Dr. Barrett says it is important that we get to a new normal, which is why being fully vaccinated and keeping testing high is crucial.

When case counts are low, travel is the way more of the virus will enter the Atlantic provinces. Dr. Barrett says we need to make sure we detect new cases, especially asymptomatic cases so that we can see which variants are entering the province, and what’s happening around the world.