COVID-19 vaccine efforts provide hope but no silver bullet to stop pandemic: Tam

Canada's chief public health officer says regardless of when a COVID-19 vaccine is developed, the Public Health Agency of Canada is planning to be responding to the pandemic for at least another year if not two or three.

Dr. Theresa Tam says a safe and effective vaccine is a very important aspect of the COVID-19 response, but it is not the ``silver bullet'' that will end the health crisis.

Tam says the public health measures we currently have in place such as social distancing, wearing a mask in indoor public spaces are going to have to continue in the long-run.

Answering criticism that the federal "COVID Alert" app only works on newer smartphones, Dr. Theresa Tam says it's one of many tools in fighting the novel coronavirus.

The app released last week is meant to tell users if their phones have recently been close to a phone registered to someone who volunteers that they've tested positive for COVID-19.

But it works only on phones released in the last five years or so because it needs a relatively recent operating system.

Critics say that will leave out poorer and older Canadians, who are more likely to use older devices and suffer worse effects from the virus.

The government said Monday that 1.1 million people had downloaded the app.

Tam says we need to use every tool we have to fight the pandemic, even if they aren't perfect.