Justin Trudeau tests positive for COVID-19 for 2nd time

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says he has COVID-19 — again.

In a tweet on Monday morning, Trudeau announced he has again tested positive for the virus and is isolating, but said he felt “OK.”

Trudeau previously tested positive for COVID-19 in January as the Omicron variant surge sent case counts across the country soaring to new highs.

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He is triple vaccinated.

Recurring infection from COVID-19 has become more common over recent months as a result of Omicron and the more recent sub-variant, BA.2. Both are immune-evasive, meaning the virus has developed enough mutations to escape some of the immune response gained from vaccination.

Vaccination previously was highly effective at preventing infection and transmission of previous variants of COVID-19, including the Delta variant that dominated the summer of 2021.

However, the emerging reality of repeated infection by Omicron and immune-evasive variants does not mean the vaccines do not work. The vaccines remain highly effective at preventing severe outcomes such as death and hospitalizations that overwhelmed healthcare systems in many parts of the world earlier in the pandemic.

“The Omicron variant, in particular, seems to be one that will re-infect people over and over again,” Kelly McNagny, professor of medical genetics at the University of British Columbia’s school for biomedical engineering, told Global News last month.

“It’s a little bit more like the common cold virus that tends to infect the upper airways, which is a place where you tend not to develop strong immunity easily.”

More to come.

With a file from Global’s Irelyne Lavery.