Health
All Ontarians aged 5+ now eligible for bivalent COVID-19 booster
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The province of Ontario’s Ministry of Health has announced that beginning Wednesday, December 21, anyone ages 5 and up will be eligible to book an appointment to receive a bivalent COVID-19 booster dose of vaccine.
The announcement was made yesterday following Health Canada’s approval of a bivalent COVID-19 vaccine for five to 11 year-olds.
All Ontarians are strongly encouraged to keep up to date with their flu and COVID-19 vaccinations to restore protection that may have decreased since a previous dose, which remains the best way for people to stay healthy this winter and prevent unnecessary visits to the hospital.
“COVID-19 vaccines continue to protect Ontarians from COVID-19 and its variants,” said Dr. Kieran Moore, Chief Medical Officer of Health. “Vaccines are safe, they improve your immune response and reduce the risk of severe illness, hospitalization and post-infection symptoms.”
He continues, “I recommend Ontarians stay up to date with their COVID-19 vaccinations at the appropriate interval since their last dose and get an annual flu shot.”
A COVID-19 bivalent booster targets the original COVID-19 virus and provides better protection against the other variants currently circulating. Flu shots can also be safely given at the same time, or at any time before or after a COVID-19 vaccine for individuals aged six months and older. You can find out more at ontario.ca/flu.
Ontarians aged five and older and not at high-risk of severe COVID-19 illness are recommended to get a booster dose this respiratory illness season if it has been six months since their last dose. Ontarians at high risk for severe COVID-19 illness are recommended to get a booster dose this respiratory illness season if it has been three months since their last dose.
“As the weather gets colder and more people spend time with their loved ones indoors this holiday season, vaccination remains the most effective way we can protect ourselves from the most serious effects of COVID-19 and influenza,” said Sylvia Jones, Deputy Premier and Minister of Health.
“Vaccines provide strong protection against severe illness from COVID-19 and its variants and will help ease pressures on our hospitals and emergency departments.”
Those in Halton (including Oakville) can book appointments online here with Halton Regional Health. Appointments can also be booked via Ontario’s COVID-19 vaccination portal or by calling the Provincial Vaccine Contact Centre (PVCC) at 1-833-943-3900. Parents and caregivers can book for their child.
Eligible individuals can also book an appointment directly through public health units that use their own booking systems, Indigenous-led vaccination clinics, participating health care providers and participating pharmacies.
Parents are also being reminded to also stick to the Ontario routine immunization schedule. If your child missed vaccinations or if you are unsure about which vaccinations they have received, contact your health care provider or public health unit to get their vaccination schedule back on track.
To help keep everyone as healthy as possible this respiratory illness season, Ontarians should stay home when they are feeling sick and practise good hand hygiene. It is also strongly recommended that Ontarians wear face masks in indoor public settings, or where it feels right for them.
Health
RCMP warn about benzodiazepine-laced fentanyl tied to overdose in Alberta – Edmonton Journal
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Grande Prairie RCMP issued a warning Friday after it was revealed fentanyl linked to a deadly overdose was mixed with a chemical that doesn’t respond to naloxone treatment.
The drugs were initially seized on Feb. 28 after a fatal overdose, and this week, Health Canada reported back to Mounties that the fentanyl had been mixed with Bromazolam, which is a benzodiazepine.
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Mounties say this is the first recorded instance of Bromazolam in Alberta. The drug has previously been linked to nine fatal overdoses in New Brunswick in 2022.
The pills seized in Alberta were oval-shaped and stamped with “20” and “SS,” though Mounties say it can come in other forms.
Naloxone treatment, given in many cases of opioid toxicity, is not effective in reversing the effects of Bromazalam, Mounties said, and therefore, any fentanyl mixed with the benzodiazepine “would see a reduced effectiveness of naloxone, requiring the use of additional doses and may still result in a fatality.”
From January to November of last year, there were 1,706 opioid-related deaths in Alberta, and 57 linked to benzodiazepine, up from 1,375 and 43, respectively, in 2022.
Mounties say officers responded to about 1,100 opioid-related calls for service, last year with a third of those proving fatal. RCMP officers also used naloxone 67 times while in the field, a jump of nearly a third over the previous year.
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Health
CFIA continues surveillance for HPAI in cattle, while sticking with original name for disease – RealAgriculture
The Canada Food Inspection Agency will continue to refer to highly pathogenic avian influenza in cattle as HPAI in cattle, and not refer to it as bovine influenza A virus (BIAV), as suggested by the American Association of Bovine Practitioners earlier this month.
Dr. Martin Appelt, senior director for the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, in the interview below, says at this time Canada will stick with “HPAI in cattle” when referencing the disease that’s been confirmed in dairy cattle in multiple states in the U.S.
The CFIA’s naming policy is consistent with the agency’s U.S. counterparts’, as the U.S. Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service has also said it will continue referring to it as HPAI or H5N1.
Appelt explains how the CFIA is learning from the U.S. experience to-date, and how it is working with veterinarians across Canada to stay vigilant for signs of the disease in dairy and beef cattle.
As of April 19, there has not been a confirmed case of HPAI in cattle in Canada. Appelt says it’s too soon to say if an eventual positive case will significantly restrict animal movement, as is the case with positive poultry cases.
This is a major concern for the cattle industry, as beef cattle especially move north and south across the U.S. border by the thousands. Appelt says that CFIA will address an infection in each species differently in conjunction with how the disease is spread and the threat to neighbouring farms or livestock.
Currently, provincial dairy organizations have advised producers to postpone any non-essential tours of dairy barns, as a precaution, in addition to other biosecurity measures to reduce the risk of cattle contracting HPAI.
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Health
Toronto reports 2 more measles cases. Use our tool to check the spread in Canada – Toronto Star
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Canada has seen a concerning rise in measles cases in the first months of 2024.
By the third week of March, the country had already recorded more than three times the number of cases as all of last year. Canada had just 12 cases of measles in 2023, up from three in 2022.
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