The largest mass immunization effort in Canadian history began Dec. 14 in Ontario and Quebec after the country received its first COVID-19 vaccine shipment.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Canada has signed a contract to receive up to 168,000 doses of Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine by the end of December, ahead of their planned January arrival and part of 40 million Moderna doses Ottawa has secured for delivery by the end of 2021.
The Moderna vaccine has not yet been approved by Health Canada, but Trudeau said deliveries could begin within 48 hours of it getting the green light.
Canada is also set to receive about 200,000 of its total early shipment of Pfizer-BioNTech doses this week, on top of 30,000 last week. They are bound for 70 distribution sites across the country — up from 14 now — where the vaccine can be administered.
A vaccine maker said vials may yield more doses than expected.
Pfizer Canada spokeswoman Christina Antoniou said in an email that the amount of any excess vaccine left in the vial can vary based on provider technique and ancillary supplies.
“There may be excess vaccine in the vial after withdrawal of five doses, which in some cases may leave enough volume for an additional dose.”
Health Canada said in a statement that it’s aware vials may contain more than the five doses of 0.3 millilitres indicated on the label.
It said there are safeguards against potential losses in volume that can happen during storage, preparation and administration of the vaccine, and that can result in an extra dose or two.
Alberta’s chief medical officer Dr. Deena Hinshaw said extra vaccine in vials would be given when possible.
The Canadian military is assisting a massive effort to distribute 249,000 doses developed by pharmaceutical giant Pfizer and German partner BioNTech.
Here’s a look at what the various provinces have said about their rollout plans:
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Newfoundland and Labrador
A public health nurse in St. John’s, N.L., received the province’s first dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine at Memorial University on Dec. 16.
Newfoundland and Labrador’s chief medical officer of health, Dr. Janice Fitzgerald, administered the symbolic first vaccine.
Premier Andrew Furey said he anticipated receiving 1,950 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine at the St. John’s receiving site last week.
Furey also said the province expects another shipment of the vaccine later in the month.
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Prince Edward Island
In Charlottetown, a physician, a resident-care worker and a registered nurse were among the first people vaccinated on Prince Edward Island on Dec. 16.
Dr. Heather Morrison, the province’s chief medical officer of health, said a few hundred people would be vaccinated each day until Dec. 19.
P.E.I. received 1,950 doses of the vaccine in its first shipment.
The owner of a bluefin tuna exporting company in the eastern part of P.E.I. has offered up two freezers to the provincial government to aid in the effort to store the vaccine.
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New Brunswick
The province held its first COVID-19 vaccination clinic at the Miramichi Regional Hospital on Saturday (Dec. 19).
Pauline Gauvin, an 84-year-old resident of Shannex Losier Hall in Miramichi, was the province’s first recipient of the vaccine.
New Brunswick’s health minister had said a shipment of 1,950 doses of the Pfizer vaccine would be used to inoculate long-term care residents and staff, staff from rapid COVID-19 response teams, ambulance workers, health-care workers involved in COVID units, seniors 85 and older and First Nations nurses.
Dorothy Shephard said the vaccine plan was being carried out by the provincial Emergency Measures Organization.
The first round of vaccinations were being done at the Miramichi Regional Hospital, starting on Dec. 19 and continuing the following day. The hospital has an ultralow-temperature freezer to store the vaccine.
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Nova Scotia
A nurse who works in a COVID unit at the Halifax Infirmary, was the first recipient in her province of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine on Dec. 16.
The province’s chief medical officer of health said 1,950 doses of Pfizer’s vaccine were received on Dec. 15.
Dr. Robert Strang said the first shots in Nova Scotia were destined for 350 front-line health workers in Halifax and would be administered at a clinic close to the Dalhousie University campus, where the province’s first shipment of the vaccine is being stored.
Strang said because the vaccine has specific handling requirements, Pfizer has stipulated that the initial round of immunizations take place near where the doses are stored.
Nova Scotia has one ultralow-temperature freezer to store the vaccine at the tertiary care teaching complex at the Queen Elizabeth II Health Sciences Centre.
Strang said the province is getting another freezer through Ottawa that will operate out of a central depot for vaccines at the public health office in Halifax. The province is also looking at securing freezers from the private sector.
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Quebec
The first doses of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine were administered in the province on Dec. 14.
Residents of long-term care homes and health-care workers are being given first priority.
The groups next in line are people living in private seniors residences, followed by residents of isolated communities and then anyone aged 80 and over.
Authorities said that as of Dec. 20 a total of 4,716 inoculations had been administered.
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Ontario
Ontario received 6,000 doses of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine last weekend and began giving them out on Dec. 14.
Retired gen. Rick Hiller, who is leading Ontario’s vaccine task force, said half the shots would be administered last week, and the other half would be intentionally held back to give the same workers a required second dose 21 days later.
“Given the sort of information flow of what we know about the supply, which is very little at this time … we decided it was better to err on the side of caution,” he said.
An additional 90,000 doses of the Pfizer vaccine are expected to arrive later this month and are to be provided to 14 hospitals in COVID-19 hot spots.
Hillier has said the province also expects to receive between 30,000 and 85,000 doses of the Moderna vaccine by the new year, pending its approval by Health Canada.
Ontario’s Solicitor General Sylvia Jones said hospitals receiving the first shots have made security arrangements to ensure the vaccine is safe from theft.
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Manitoba
A doctor who works in an intensive care unit became the first person in Manitoba to get the COVID-19 vaccine on Dec 16.
Premier Brian Pallister said some 900 health-care workers in critical care units would be the first to receive the vaccine.
As more shipments come in, priority will be given to other health-care workers, seniors and Indigenous people.
The province plans to vaccinate more than 100,000 people by March — that’s roughly seven per cent of Manitoba’s population.
Officials say they’ve been setting up a large-scale “supersite” to deliver the vaccine. The first freezer able to store the Pfizer vaccine at low temperatures has been delivered and installed, with another four on the way.
The province says the vaccine will become more widely available at a larger number of sites, similar to a conventional vaccination campaign, such as the annual flu shot.
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Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan began its vaccination program on Dec. 15 as two health-care workers got the first shots.
Premier Scott Moe says the province received 1,950 doses of Pfizer’s vaccine.
The first official stage of Saskatchewan’s vaccination program will be in late December when the province receives more doses.
It will target more health-care workers, staff and residents in long-term care, seniors over 80 and people in remote areas who are at least 50.
Some 202,052 doses of the Pfizer vaccine are expected to arrive within the first quarter of next year, and there are to be 10,725 weekly allocations.
Moe says vaccinations for the general population is expected to begin in April.
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Alberta
The first vaccinations in Calgary and Edmonton were given Dec. 15 to health-care workers.
Alberta Premier Jason Kenney announced in a video released on Dec. 14 and recorded next to a cargo plane at Calgary International Airport that the province’s first 3,900 vaccine doses had arrived.
Alberta Health Minister Tyler Shandro said another 25,000 Pfizer doses would be coming this week and would be given to health workers.
Doses of the Moderna vaccine are expected by the end of the month.
The province says it eventually plans to roll out the vaccine from 30 different locations.
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British Columbia
The first COVID-19 vaccination was administered on Dec. 15 in British Columbia. Those working in long-term care facilities and intensive care units were the first people to take part in the province’s immunization program.
Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry said an initial shipment of 4,000 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine would be available at two clinics in the regions covered by the Vancouver Coastal and Fraser health authorities, before immunization is eventually expanded to 30 sites.
Workers in long-term care facilities are at the top of the list to get the vaccine.
A joint statement from Henry and Health Minister Adrian Dix said nearly 2,600 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine had been administered to front-line health-care workers as of Dec. 18.
Henry expects about 400,000 people to be vaccinated by March.
The province said it is developing a system so people can register to get the vaccine and receive a formal record of immunization.
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Nunavut
Nunavut’s premier says the territory will get the vaccine made by Moderna in the first quarter of 2021.
Joe Savikataaq says Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has told him Nunavut will get enough doses to vaccinate 75 per cent of the population.
Chief public health officer Dr. Michael Patterson says Nunavut will prioritize elders and health-care workers first for the vaccine.
Savikataaq says his government is still working on its plan to roll out the vaccine once it arrives in the territory.
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Northwest Territories
Chief public health officer for the Northwest Territories, Dr. Kami Kandola, says the Moderna vaccine should be approved in the coming days.
The territories expect to receive around 51,000 doses of the vaccine, enough for 75 per cent of the territory.
They have already received two specialized vaccine freezers to store the Moderna vaccine.
Health Minister Julie Green says a rollout plan for vaccine distribution in the Northwest Territories is coming soon.
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Yukon
Yukon says it will get enough of the Moderna vaccine by spring to vaccinate 75 per cent of its residents.
A statement from the Yukon government says the territory’s allocation is in recognition of its large Indigenous populations and remote communities.
Premier Sandy Silver says getting vaccinated is the best thing residents can do to protect themselves and their loved ones.
“Over time, widespread immunization will allow us to return to a life without COVID-19 restrictions.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 23, 2020.
Skinstitut Holiday Gift Kits take the stress out of gifting
Toronto, October 31, 2024 – Beauty gifts are at the top of holiday wish lists this year, and Laser Clinics Canada, a leader in advanced beauty treatments and skincare, is taking the pressure out of seasonal shopping. Today, Laser Clincs Canada announces the arrival of its 2024 Holiday Gift Kits, courtesy of Skinstitut, the exclusive skincare line of Laser Clinics Group.
In time for the busy shopping season, the limited-edition Holiday Gifts Kits are available in Laser Clinics locations in the GTA and Ottawa. Clinics are conveniently located in popular shopping centers, including Hillcrest Mall, Square One, CF Sherway Gardens, Scarborough Town Centre, Rideau Centre, Union Station and CF Markville. These limited-edition Kits are available on a first come, first served basis.
“These kits combine our best-selling products, bundled to address the most relevant skin concerns we’re seeing among our clients,” says Christina Ho, Senior Brand & LAM Manager at Laser Clinics Canada. “With several price points available, the kits offer excellent value and suit a variety of gift-giving needs, from those new to cosmeceuticals to those looking to level up their skincare routine. What’s more, these kits are priced with a savings of up to 33 per cent so gift givers can save during the holiday season.
There are two kits to select from, each designed to address key skin concerns and each with a unique theme — Brightening Basics and Hydration Heroes.
Brightening Basics is a mix of everyday essentials for glowing skin for all skin types. The bundle comes in a sleek pink, reusable case and includes three full-sized products: 200ml gentle cleanser, 50ml Moisture Defence (normal skin) and 30ml1% Hyaluronic Complex Serum. The Brightening Basics kit is available at $129, a saving of 33 per cent.
Hydration Heroes is a mix of hydration essentials and active heroes that cater to a wide variety of clients. A perfect stocking stuffer, this bundle includes four deluxe products: Moisture 15 15 ml Defence for normal skin, 10 ml 1% Hyaluronic Complex Serum, 10 ml Retinol Serum and 50 ml Expert Squalane Cleansing Oil. The kit retails at $59.
In addition to the 2024 Holiday Gifts Kits, gift givers can easily add a Laser Clinic Canada gift card to the mix. Offering flexibility, recipients can choose from a wide range of treatments offered by Laser Clinics Canada, or they can expand their collection of exclusive Skinstitut products.
Brightening Basics 2024 Holiday Gift Kit by Skinstitut, available exclusively at Laser Clincs Canada clinics and online at skinstitut.ca.
Hydration Heroes 2024 Holiday Gift Kit by Skinstitut – available exclusively at Laser Clincs Canada clinics and online at skinstitut.ca.
LONDON (AP) — Most people have accumulated a pile of data — selfies, emails, videos and more — on their social media and digital accounts over their lifetimes. What happens to it when we die?
It’s wise to draft a will spelling out who inherits your physical assets after you’re gone, but don’t forget to take care of your digital estate too. Friends and family might treasure files and posts you’ve left behind, but they could get lost in digital purgatory after you pass away unless you take some simple steps.
Here’s how you can prepare your digital life for your survivors:
Apple
The iPhone maker lets you nominate a “ legacy contact ” who can access your Apple account’s data after you die. The company says it’s a secure way to give trusted people access to photos, files and messages. To set it up you’ll need an Apple device with a fairly recent operating system — iPhones and iPads need iOS or iPadOS 15.2 and MacBooks needs macOS Monterey 12.1.
For iPhones, go to settings, tap Sign-in & Security and then Legacy Contact. You can name one or more people, and they don’t need an Apple ID or device.
You’ll have to share an access key with your contact. It can be a digital version sent electronically, or you can print a copy or save it as a screenshot or PDF.
Take note that there are some types of files you won’t be able to pass on — including digital rights-protected music, movies and passwords stored in Apple’s password manager. Legacy contacts can only access a deceased user’s account for three years before Apple deletes the account.
Google
Google takes a different approach with its Inactive Account Manager, which allows you to share your data with someone if it notices that you’ve stopped using your account.
When setting it up, you need to decide how long Google should wait — from three to 18 months — before considering your account inactive. Once that time is up, Google can notify up to 10 people.
You can write a message informing them you’ve stopped using the account, and, optionally, include a link to download your data. You can choose what types of data they can access — including emails, photos, calendar entries and YouTube videos.
There’s also an option to automatically delete your account after three months of inactivity, so your contacts will have to download any data before that deadline.
Facebook and Instagram
Some social media platforms can preserve accounts for people who have died so that friends and family can honor their memories.
When users of Facebook or Instagram die, parent company Meta says it can memorialize the account if it gets a “valid request” from a friend or family member. Requests can be submitted through an online form.
The social media company strongly recommends Facebook users add a legacy contact to look after their memorial accounts. Legacy contacts can do things like respond to new friend requests and update pinned posts, but they can’t read private messages or remove or alter previous posts. You can only choose one person, who also has to have a Facebook account.
You can also ask Facebook or Instagram to delete a deceased user’s account if you’re a close family member or an executor. You’ll need to send in documents like a death certificate.
TikTok
The video-sharing platform says that if a user has died, people can submit a request to memorialize the account through the settings menu. Go to the Report a Problem section, then Account and profile, then Manage account, where you can report a deceased user.
Once an account has been memorialized, it will be labeled “Remembering.” No one will be able to log into the account, which prevents anyone from editing the profile or using the account to post new content or send messages.
X
It’s not possible to nominate a legacy contact on Elon Musk’s social media site. But family members or an authorized person can submit a request to deactivate a deceased user’s account.
Passwords
Besides the major online services, you’ll probably have dozens if not hundreds of other digital accounts that your survivors might need to access. You could just write all your login credentials down in a notebook and put it somewhere safe. But making a physical copy presents its own vulnerabilities. What if you lose track of it? What if someone finds it?
Instead, consider a password manager that has an emergency access feature. Password managers are digital vaults that you can use to store all your credentials. Some, like Keeper,Bitwarden and NordPass, allow users to nominate one or more trusted contacts who can access their keys in case of an emergency such as a death.
But there are a few catches: Those contacts also need to use the same password manager and you might have to pay for the service.
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Is there a tech challenge you need help figuring out? Write to us at onetechtip@ap.org with your questions.
The Canadian Paediatric Society says doctors should regularly screen children for reading difficulties and dyslexia, calling low literacy a “serious public health concern” that can increase the risk of other problems including anxiety, low self-esteem and behavioural issues, with lifelong consequences.
New guidance issued Wednesday says family doctors, nurses, pediatricians and other medical professionals who care for school-aged kids are in a unique position to help struggling readers access educational and specialty supports, noting that identifying problems early couldhelp kids sooner — when it’s more effective — as well as reveal other possible learning or developmental issues.
The 10 recommendations include regular screening for kids aged four to seven, especially if they belong to groups at higher risk of low literacy, including newcomers to Canada, racialized Canadians and Indigenous Peoples. The society says this can be done in a two-to-three-minute office-based assessment.
Other tips encourage doctors to look for conditions often seen among poor readers such as attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder; to advocate for early literacy training for pediatric and family medicine residents; to liaise with schools on behalf of families seeking help; and to push provincial and territorial education ministries to integrate evidence-based phonics instruction into curriculums, starting in kindergarten.
Dr. Scott McLeod, one of the authors and chair of the society’s mental health and developmental disabilities committee, said a key goal is to catch kids who may be falling through the cracks and to better connect families to resources, including quicker targeted help from schools.
“Collaboration in this area is so key because we need to move away from the silos of: everything educational must exist within the educational portfolio,” McLeod said in an interview from Calgary, where he is a developmental pediatrician at Alberta Children’s Hospital.
“Reading, yes, it’s education, but it’s also health because we know that literacy impacts health. So I think that a statement like this opens the window to say: Yes, parents can come to their health-care provider to get advice, get recommendations, hopefully start a collaboration with school teachers.”
McLeod noted that pediatricians already look for signs of low literacy in young children by way of a commonly used tool known as the Rourke Baby Record, which offers a checklist of key topics, such as nutrition and developmental benchmarks, to cover in a well-child appointment.
But he said questions about reading could be “a standing item” in checkups and he hoped the society’s statement to medical professionals who care for children “enhances their confidence in being a strong advocate for the child” while spurring partnerships with others involved in a child’s life such as teachers and psychologists.
The guidance said pediatricians also play a key role in detecting and monitoring conditions that often coexist with difficulty reading such as attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, but McLeod noted that getting such specific diagnoses typically involves a referral to a specialist, during which time a child continues to struggle.
He also acknowledged that some schools can be slow to act without a specific diagnosis from a specialist, and even then a child may end up on a wait list for school interventions.
“Evidence-based reading instruction shouldn’t have to wait for some of that access to specialized assessments to occur,” he said.
“My hope is that (by) having an existing statement or document written by the Canadian Paediatric Society … we’re able to skip a few steps or have some of the early interventions present,” he said.
McLeod added that obtaining specific assessments from medical specialists is “definitely beneficial and advantageous” to know where a child is at, “but having that sort of clear, thorough assessment shouldn’t be a barrier to intervention starting.”
McLeod said the society was partly spurred to act by 2022’s “Right to Read Inquiry Report” from the Ontario Human Rights Commission, which made 157 recommendations to address inequities related to reading instruction in that province.
He called the new guidelines “a big reminder” to pediatric providers, family doctors, school teachers and psychologists of the importance of literacy.
“Early identification of reading difficulty can truly change the trajectory of a child’s life.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 23, 2024.
