It's all a blur.
Monday marked the fifth week since Canada's largest immunization campaign began. This week, almost 4.8 million doses will be distributed. That brings the total to over 15 million doses, enough to vaccinate close to half the population. We anticipate more than 5 million more doses next week.
In many provinces and territories, vaccine clinics have been opened to the general public. Our message to Canadians is that it is as important as ever to be immunized as soon as possible. By encouraging all Canadians to take the vaccine, we're aiming to lessen the impact of the current wave and then any further waves of activity. Even after a large second wave, many people at risk will not yet have been infected. They will remain susceptible to the virus, making subsequent waves possible, and our best protection then is to immunize. There will be enough vaccine for every Canadian who wants to receive it.
As I noted last week, since clinics have opened, the Public Health Agency, Health Canada, the collaboration of provinces and territories, the Canadian Paediatric Society, and a network of researchers have been actively monitoring serious events. All reports associated with the vaccine are received weekly from the provinces and territories and are investigated. The most frequent reported events are minor, including nausea, dizziness, headache, fever, vomiting, and injection site reactions. For anybody who has had this, many of us, certainly, end up with a sore arm for a few days.
We're seeing an increased interest in reporting and that is a very good sign that our surveillance system is working. The one recognized potentially serious adverse event is anaphylaxis, a serious severe allergic reaction. The reported rate of anaphylaxis is 0.32 per every 100,000 doses.
Immunization remains, then, our strongest line of defence. We have a safe and effective vaccine. Programs are rolling out across the country and they have the potential to make a strong impact on the way the virus behaves.
In communities where flu activity is still high, mass immunization can result in a more rapid levelling off of flu activity and an earlier and smaller peak. In communities where flu activity is levelling off or possibly decreasing, immunization is still effective in reducing the risk of severe disease and death.
Merci.