Health
Alberta detects estimated 600 new variant cases of COVID-19 – The Cold Lake Sun
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Nearly 40 per cent of Alberta’s active cases are now variant cases as the province reported another 600 variant cases of COVID-19 on Sunday.
With an estimated 600 new variant cases detected, 38 per cent of Alberta’s total active cases are variants of concern, according to Alberta Health. Just over two weeks ago, the variant cases represented only 11 per cent of the province’s active case count.
The update comes the day after the province reported a “significant” outbreak of the highly contagious P.1 variant which was first identified in Brazil. The spread of P.1 in the community is concerning because research suggests the strain is up to 2.5 times more transmissible than the currently dominant strain.
Alberta Health told Postmedia Saturday the outbreak involved a traveller who returned from out-of-country, but said Sunday they were no longer able to confirm that detail.
Alberta reported an estimated total of 950 new cases of COVID-19 on Sunday, which came from about 11,200 completed tests for a test positivity rate of approximately eight per cent.
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According to Alberta Health, hospitalizations remain stable. When the number of hospitalizations was last updated on Thursday, there were 292 in hospital which included the 59 receiving care in intensive-care units.
Dr. Deena Hinshaw, Alberta’s chief medical officer of health, once again encouraged people to follow the public health measures in place on her Twitter account Sunday.
Following the COVID-19 public health restrictions is an act of kindness that protects you, your loved ones and your community,” Hinshaw said.
Alberta Health released only preliminary data on Sunday due to the long weekend.
“In the meantime, please continue to follow the health measures that are in place to slow the spread of COVID-19 and help protect those around you,” said Hinshaw on Twitter.
About 8,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccine were administered by the end of the day on Saturday. Alberta has given approximately 693,000 doses to date.
AHS’ online booking tool and Health Link’s phone line at 811 will open on Monday at 8 a.m. for those who were born in or before 1963 with an eligible underlying condition within Phase 2B of the province’s vaccine rollout. Additional birth years in Phase 2B will become eligible as more vaccines arrive.
To prepare for the influx of people looking to book their appointment, the online tool will be offline from 9 p.m. on Sunday to midnight, and between 7 a.m. and 8 a.m. on Monday.
“We have made enhancements to the online booking tool to allow up to three additional family members who are eligible to receive their vaccine to book at the same time, and at the same clinic,” said AHS in a tweet on Sunday.
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Phase 2B is the largest eligible group to date and represents about 650,000 Albertans. AHS encourages people to try later in the day if call volumes are high or the online tool struggles to load.
Phase 2B began at participating pharmacies in Calgary, Edmonton and Red Deer last week and the province started immunizing those with eligible underlying conditions such as cancer patients, transplant recipients, individuals with disabilities, dementia and other conditions that present higher risk of severe outcomes from COVID-19.
Cases among seniors aged 80 and older have not seen the increase that other populations in Alberta have during this third wave of infections. Many in this age category received their COVID-19 vaccine in the early stages of the province’s immunization program, which has given them a defence against the virus.
Last week, however, there was a small increase in cases among those older than 80 and outbreaks were declared in several new continuing-care sites.
As of Thursday, provincewide there are 25 long-term care and supportive living sites with outbreaks.
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OTTAWA (Reuters) – Canada‘s health ministry said on Wednesday it would not restrict use of AstraZeneca Plc’s COVID-19 vaccine after a review showed the benefits outweighed the very rare risk of blood clots.
A separate advisory council had earlier recommended Canada stop offering the vaccine to people under 55. The panel is now reviewing that advice, the health ministry said in a statement.
Denmark on Wednesday became the first country to stop using the vaccine altogether over a potential link to the rare blood clots. Other nations have imposed limits on its use.
But Health Canada, the federal health ministry, said in a statement that a review of data from Europe, Britain and AstraZeneca had not identified specific risk factors.
“Therefore, Health Canada is not restricting the use of the vaccine in any specific populations at this time … The potential risk of these events is very rare, and the benefits of the vaccine in protecting against COVID-19 outweigh its potential risks,” it said.
Canada on Tuesday said it had recorded its first case of blood clotting with low platelets after someone received the AstraZeneca shot. The patient in question, a woman from Quebec, is recovering. (Graphic on vaccines: https://tmsnrt.rs/3tUM8ta)
COVID-19 cases are surging in Canada with the country reporting a near-record number of new cases recently. (Graphic on cases: https://tmsnrt.rs/34pvUyi)
(Reporting by David Ljunggren in Ottawa and Allison Martell in Toronto; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)
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(Reuters) -Some countries are restricting use of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine to certain age groups or suspending use after European and British regulators confirmed possible links to rare blood clots.
Denmark became the first country to stop using the vaccine altogether, as it said results of investigations showed “real and serious side-effects”.
Johnson & Johnson’s single-shot vaccine has also been hit by concerns over blood clots, with European regulators reviewing such cases and U.S. federal health agencies recommending pausing its use for a few days. J&J noted no clear causal relationship had been established between the clots and its vaccine.
The developments pose a risk to vaccination plans in Europe.
Regulators have said the benefits of the AstraZeneca shot outweigh risks.
Anglo-Swedish drugmaker AstraZeneca said it was working with regulators to list the possible brain blood clots as “an extremely rare potential side effect” on the vaccines labels.
As of April 4, the European Medicines Agency had received reports of 169 cases of a rare brain blood clot known as cerebral venous sinus thrombosis (CVST), after 34 million doses had been administered in the European Economic Area. Most cases were in women under 60 years of age.
ASTRAZENECA VACCINE BEING USED, WITH OR WITHOUT RESTRICTIONS
AUSTRALIA
Said on April 8 it recommends people under 50 should get Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine in preference to AstraZeneca’s shot.
AUSTRIA
Has resumed use.
BRAZIL
Authorities said they would not limit use of the AstraZeneca vaccine, saying benefits outweigh risks.
BRITAIN
The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation has said an alternative to the vaccine should be given for people under 30 where possible, but people should continue to have a second shot if they have received a first dose.
BULGARIA
Resumed inoculations from March 19.
CYPRUS
Resumed inoculations on March 19.
CANADA
Authorities said in early April they would pause offering the vaccine to people under 55 and require a new analysis of the shot’s benefits and risks based on age and gender. On April 13, the country said it had recorded its first case of blood clotting with low platelets.
ESTONIA
Suspended use of the vaccine for people under 60 on April 7.
FRANCE
Approved resumption of the vaccine on March 19 but said it should be given only to people aged 55 and over. On April 9, recommended that recipients of a first dose of the AstraZeneca shot who are under 55 should receive a second dose with a messenger RNA vaccine.
FINLAND
Resumed using the AstraZeneca vaccine from March 29, but only for people aged 65 and over.
GEORGIA
Has limited use of the vaccine following the death of a nurse from anaphylactic shock, and vaccinations will continue only in full-fledged medical centres, Russian news agency TASS reported on March 19.
GERMANY
Sticking to its guidance from March 31 to limit use of the vaccine to those aged over 60. On April 1, Germany’s vaccine commission recommended people under 60 who have had a first shot of the vaccine should receive a different product for their second dose.
HUNGARY
Continuing the vaccine’s rollout.
ICELAND
Resumed use on March 25 after suspending it on March 11.
INDONESIA
Resumed using the vaccine on March 22 but warned against its use in people with a low blood platelet count.
IRELAND
On April 12, the country said it was restricting use of the vaccine to those over 60.
ITALY
Has recommended the vaccine be used only for people over 60, the country’s top health adviser said.
LATVIA
Announced it was restarting administering the shots from March 19.
LITHUANIA
Restarted use on March 19.
MEXICO
Drug regulator Cofepris said on April 7 it did not “at this time” plan to limit the vaccine’s use but was investigating the information raised by Britain.
NETHERLANDS
Limited use of the vaccine to people over 60, the Dutch government said on April 8.
NORTH MACEDONIA
Health minister said on March 31 the vaccine would be limited to people aged over 60 as a precautionary measure.
PHILIPPINES
Suspended use of the vaccine for people under 60 on April 8.
ROMANIA
Has resumed use of the vaccine after temporarily stopping vaccinating people with one batch of the vaccine on March 11.
SOUTH KOREA
Resumed use of the shot for people aged 30 or older on April 12. On April 7, it had suspended providing the AstraZeneca shot to people under 60.
SPAIN
From April 8, it was giving the vaccine only to people over 60.
SWEDEN
Resumed use of the vaccine on March 25 for people aged 65 and older.
THAILAND
Began use on March 15 after delaying rollout the week before.
COUNTRIES WHERE ASTRAZENECA VACCINE USE SUSPENDED
CAMEROON
Suspended administration of the vaccine it was scheduled to receive on March 20 as part of the global vaccines sharing scheme COVAX, the health ministry said.
DENMARK
In a world first, Denmark decided to stop using the AstraZeneca vaccine altogether after initially suspending use of the shot.
NORWAY
Authorities said on March 26 Norway would delay a decision on use of the vaccine, with a decision expected by April 15.
J&J VACCINE DELAYS AND RESTRICTIONS
UNITED STATES
On April 13, U.S. federal health agencies recommended pausing use of J&J’s COVID-19 vaccine for at least a few days after six women under the age of 50 developed rare blood clots after receiving the shot.
EUROPEAN UNION
The company said it would delay the rollout of the vaccine to Europe, after regulators said they were reviewing rare blood clots.
Widespread use in the EU had not yet started after the company began delivering the doses in the week beginning April 12. The European drug regulator recommended storing doses already received until its safety committee issues an expedited recommendation
SOUTH AFRICA
Suspended use of J&J’s vaccine on April 13.
(Reporting by Pushkala Aripaka, Yadarisa Shabong, Manas Mishra, Vishwadha Chander, Amruta Khandekar and Mrinalika Roy in Bengaluru; editing by Josephine Mason, Alison Williams, Timothy Heritage, Larry King, Barbara Lewis)
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By Allison Martell and Anna Mehler Paperny
TORONTO (Reuters) – Doctors in the Canadian province of Ontario may soon have to decide who can and cannot receive treatment in intensive care as the number of coronavirus infections sets records and patients are packed into hospitals still stretched from a December wave.
Canada‘s most populous province is canceling elective surgeries, admitting adults to a major children’s hospital and preparing field hospitals after the number of COVID-19 patients in ICUs jumped 31% to 612 in the week leading up to Sunday, according to data from the Ontario Hospital Association.
The sharp increase in Ontario hospital admissions is also straining supplies of tocilizumab, a drug often given to people seriously ill with COVID-19.
Hospital care is publicly funded in Canada, generally free at the point of care for residents. But new hospital beds have not kept pace with population growth, and shortages of staff and space often emerge during bad flu seasons.
Ontario’s hospitals fared relatively well during the first wave of the pandemic last year, in part because the province quickly canceled elective surgeries.
The College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario told doctors last Thursday that the province was considering “enacting the critical care triage protocol,” something that was not done during earlier waves of the virus. Triage protocols help doctors decide who to treat in a crisis.
“Everybody’s under extreme stress,” said Eddy Fan, an ICU doctor at Toronto’s University Health Network. He said no doctor wants to contemplate a triage protocol but there are only so many staff.
“There’s going to be a breaking point, a point at which we can’t fill those gaps any longer.”
In a statement, the health ministry said Ontario has not activated the protocol. A September draft suggested doctors could withhold life-sustaining care from patients with a less than 20% chance of surviving 12 months. A final version has not been made public.
Ontario’s Science Advisory Table had been forecasting the surge for months, said member and critical care physician Laveena Munshi. During a recent shift she wanted to call the son of a patient only to discover he was in an ICU across the street.
“The horror stories that we’re seeing in the hospital are like ones out of apocalyptic movies,” she said. “They’re not supposed to be the reality we’re seeing one year into a pandemic.”
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