Some major Canadian cities are using clinics to provide monkeypox vaccinations en masse, but there are no plans to do the same in British Columbia for now.
The provincial Ministry of Health said it’s watching what’s going on in Quebec and Ontario, where vaccination efforts are underway in Montreal, Ottawa and other cities.
On Friday, health officials said the total number of confirmed infections reached 168 across Canada. Of those, 141 are in Quebec, 21 are in Ontario and four are in Alberta.
Two have been confirmed in B.C.
The ministry told CTV News that the provincial health officer and B.C. Centre for Disease Control are working closely with provincial, territorial and federal agencies on a “co-ordinated outbreak response” to manage the disease.
“We have a provincial outbreak response team here in B.C. to closely monitor and manage the small number of cases reported to date,” a spokesperson said.
WHAT’S BEING DONE IN B.C.
What that response looks like for now is ensuring cases are being reported. Health-care providers need to use national case report forms and laboratory testing protocols need to be in line with those of the Public Health Agency of Canada.
Additionally, vaccination strategies are being co-ordinated with officials outside of B.C. to “ensure we are preventing the virus from spreading, as effectively as possible.”
When it comes to vaccines, they’re only available in B.C. for now for close contacts of confirmed cases, but the ministry said it is “working with at-risk communities to determine the need for broader vaccination campaigns.”
VACCINE CAMPAIGNS ELSEWHERE
Those campaigns, if needed, may be similar to those in Montreal and Toronto, the ministry said.
In Montreal, the city’s vaccine campaign was expanded last week to include all men who have sex with men, given that many cases have been linked to sexual contact among these groups. Monkeypox can spread to anyone who’s had close physical contact with an infected person though, officials warn.
In Toronto, vaccine clinics were open over the weekend to people over the age of 18 who are transgender or cisgender and identify as men, and belong to “the community of gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men,” regional officials said.
To be eligible, they had to have also either: been a contact of a person who tested positive for monkeypox; had two or more sexual partners within the last 21 days; been diagnosed with certain sexually-transmitted infections within the last 21 days; attended bathhouses, sex clubs or other venues for sexual contact in the last 21 days; or had anonymous or casual sex in the last 21 days.
Ottawa too is administering the vaccine to those considered “highest priority individuals,” based on provincial eligibility data. Local public health officials said those people would be contacted directly.
‘A LIMITED STOCKPILE’
As for why the shots aren’t available to everyone, the B.C. Health Ministry said that essentially, there just aren’t enough.
“Health Canada maintains a limited stockpile of a vaccine that protects against monkeypox,” the ministry said.
That vaccine is called Imvamune, and was originally developed to prevent the virus that causes smallpox. It is only approved for use in adults in Canada.
According to the National Advisory Committee on Immunization, those who were given the smallpox vaccine when it was routinely administered may already have some protection against monkeypox. Younger Canadian adults likely would not have been given the vaccine, as most campaigns ended in the 1970s, and shots were only given in emergency situations.
As of earlier this month, NACI was only recommending its use for people who were exposed to a confirmed or probable case or were in settings where transmission is known to be happening.
For now, the vaccine is available through Health Canada to provincial public health authorities if there are cases of monkeypox, but it is not available for the general public, B.C. health officials said.
MONKEYPOX SYMPTOMS
Monkeypox is a viral disease transmitted through direct contact with contaminated objects, people and animals.
Symptoms include lesions or sores on the skin, including inside the mouth and on genitals and the peri-anal area. Those with monkeypox typically also experience fever and swollen lymph nodes, Health Canada says.
The first signs include headache, muscle ache, backache, chills and exhaustion, but some mild cases may go undiagnosed.
Despite transmission in Canada, the disease is still considered rare.
The best way to prevent transmission is to avoid those with infection. Those diagnosed should self-isolate if possible, and cases should be reported. Handwashing and hand sanitizer can help as well.
VANCOUVER – Mayors and other leaders from several British Columbia communities say the provincial and federal governments need to take “immediate action” to tackle mental health and public safety issues that have reached crisis levels.
Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim says it’s become “abundantly clear” that mental health and addiction issues and public safety have caused crises that are “gripping” Vancouver, and he and other politicians, First Nations leaders and law enforcement officials are pleading for federal and provincial help.
In a letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Premier David Eby, mayors say there are “three critical fronts” that require action including “mandatory care” for people with severe mental health and addiction issues.
The letter says senior governments also need to bring in “meaningful bail reform” for repeat offenders, and the federal government must improve policing at Metro Vancouver ports to stop illicit drugs from coming in and stolen vehicles from being exported.
Sim says the “current system” has failed British Columbians, and the number of people dealing with severe mental health and addiction issues due to lack of proper care has “reached a critical point.”
Vancouver Police Chief Adam Palmer says repeat violent offenders are too often released on bail due to a “revolving door of justice,” and a new approach is needed to deal with mentally ill people who “pose a serious and immediate danger to themselves and others.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 16, 2024
The Canadian government says it will donate up to 200,000 vaccine doses to fight the mpox outbreak in Congo and other African countries.
It says the donated doses of Imvamune will come from Canada’s existing supply and will not affect the country’s preparedness for mpox cases in this country.
Minister of Health Mark Holland says the donation “will help to protect those in the most affected regions of Africa and will help prevent further spread of the virus.”
Dr. Madhukar Pai, Canada research chair in epidemiology and global health, says although the donation is welcome, it is a very small portion of the estimated 10 million vaccine doses needed to control the outbreak.
Vaccine donations from wealthier countries have only recently started arriving in Africa, almost a month after the World Health Organization declared the mpox outbreak a public health emergency of international concern.
A few days after the declaration in August, Global Affairs Canada announced a contribution of $1 million for mpox surveillance, diagnostic tools, research and community awareness in Africa.
On Thursday, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention said mpox is still on the rise and that testing rates are “insufficient” across the continent.
Jason Kindrachuk, Canada research chair in emerging viruses at the University of Manitoba, said donating vaccines, in addition to supporting surveillance and diagnostic tests, is “massively important.”
But Kindrachuk, who has worked on the ground in Congo during the epidemic, also said that the international response to the mpox outbreak is “better late than never (but) better never late.”
“It would have been fantastic for us globally to not be in this position by having provided doses a much, much longer time prior than when we are,” he said, noting that the outbreak of clade I mpox in Congo started in early 2023.
Clade II mpox, endemic in regions of West Africa, came to the world’s attention even earlier — in 2022 — as that strain of virus spread to other countries, including Canada.
Two doses are recommended for mpox vaccination, so the donation may only benefit 100,000 people, Pai said.
Pai questioned whether Canada is contributing enough, as the federal government hasn’t said what percentage of its mpox vaccine stockpile it is donating.
“Small donations are simply not going to help end this crisis. We need to show greater solidarity and support,” he said in an email.
“That is the biggest lesson from the COVID-19 pandemic — our collective safety is tied with that of other nations.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
Canadian Press health coverage receives support through a partnership with the Canadian Medical Association. CP is solely responsible for this content.
HALIFAX – The Nova Scotia government says it could be months before it reveals how many people are on the wait-list for a family doctor.
The head of the province’s health authority told reporters Wednesday that the government won’t release updated data until the 160,000 people who were on the wait-list in June are contacted to verify whether they still need primary care.
Karen Oldfield said Nova Scotia Health is working on validating the primary care wait-list data before posting new numbers, and that work may take a matter of months. The most recent public wait-list figures are from June 1, when 160,234 people, or about 16 per cent of the population, were on it.
“It’s going to take time to make 160,000 calls,” Oldfield said. “We are not talking weeks, we are talking months.”
The interim CEO and president of Nova Scotia Health said people on the list are being asked where they live, whether they still need a family doctor, and to give an update on their health.
A spokesperson with the province’s Health Department says the government and its health authority are “working hard” to turn the wait-list registry into a useful tool, adding that the data will be shared once it is validated.
Nova Scotia’s NDP are calling on Premier Tim Houston to immediately release statistics on how many people are looking for a family doctor. On Tuesday, the NDP introduced a bill that would require the health minister to make the number public every month.
“It is unacceptable for the list to be more than three months out of date,” NDP Leader Claudia Chender said Tuesday.
Chender said releasing this data regularly is vital so Nova Scotians can track the government’s progress on its main 2021 campaign promise: fixing health care.
The number of people in need of a family doctor has more than doubled between the 2021 summer election campaign and June 2024. Since September 2021 about 300 doctors have been added to the provincial health system, the Health Department said.
“We’ll know if Tim Houston is keeping his 2021 election promise to fix health care when Nova Scotians are attached to primary care,” Chender said.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 11, 2024.
