Health
APRIL 1: Nova Scotia reports 3 new COVID-19 cases, expands vaccination age limits – TheChronicleHerald.ca
Nova Scotia has expanded the age eligibility for all three of the vaccines being used in the province.
The age range for Pfizer and Moderna vaccines has been lowered to 70 years and up. Starting April 1, people can book appointments at community clinics and participating pharmacies across the province. The complete list of clinics can be found on the booking site www.novascotia.ca/vaccination.
And beginning Tuesday, April 6, people aged 55 to 64 will be able to book appointments to receive AstraZeneca vaccine at participating physician and pharmacy clinics. The complete list of clinics will be posted on the booking site on April 6.
You can also book by phone at 1-833-797-7772. Appointments cannot be booked directly through a community clinic, pharmacy or physician. Walk-ins will be turned away.
“There are many opportunities for Nova Scotians to get their vaccine and we’re adding more and more appointments as we get more supply,” Premier Iain Rankin said at a news conference with Dr. Robert Strang, chief medical officer of health, Thursday in Halifax.
“There are still appointments available in different locations. . . . New appointments for the weeks of April 12 and 19 have also been added. And 27 pharmacies will be operating next week with the new shipment of Moderna next week.”
Nova Scotia has passed the 100,000 mark for vaccine doses in arms. More than 53% of Nova Scotians 80 and older and about 85% of health care workers have had their first dose of vaccine. Pictured is the team at the Halifax Forum vaccine clinic. pic.twitter.com/GChmt0Xoqq
— Health & Wellness (@nshealth) April 1, 2021
The premier said the rollout hit a landmark of 100,000 administered doses this week.
As of March 31, 106,623 doses of COVID-19 vaccine had been administered. Of those, 28,552 Nova Scotians had received their second dose.
“That’s more than half of Nova Scotians over the age of 80 who’ve now received their vaccine shot and over 85 per cent of health-care workers now have their first shot,” Rankin said. “We’re well on track to meet our target of delivering the first dose to every Nova Scotian by the end of June.”
More AstraZeneca on the way
The new age range for AstraZeneca falls within that recommended by the National Advisory Committee on Immunization in the wake of rare incidents of brain blood clots in younger people, mostly women, in Europe. The vaccine will only be administered to people over 55.
“But I want to assure Nova Scotians that if we didn’t think this vaccine was safe, and if Health Canada did not believe it was safe, it would not be part of our vaccine program,” Strang said.
Thursday marked the last day of the first AstraZeneca rollout of 13,000 doses, which were fully booked. Strang said another shipment of 38,000 doses is expected next week.
The Chronicle Herald has heard complaints from people who couldn’t get a booking for AstraZeneca despite days of logging onto the online system or calling.
Asked about this at the briefing, Strang said “the vast majority” of people were able to book their appointment successfully. But he said people who couldn’t get through in the first rollout can try again on April 6.
Vaccine Appointments for People 70 and Older https://t.co/NVNWmrcooX pic.twitter.com/G70Pk64eAx
— Nova Scotia Gov. (@nsgov) April 1, 2021
Three new cases
Nova Scotia reported three new cases of COVID-19 on Thursday.
Of two cases in the central health zone, one is related to travel outside of Atlantic Canada. The other is a close contact of a previous case.
A case in the western zone is related to travel outside of Atlantic Canada.
The number of active cases is now 24, an increase of one case compared to yesterday.
Nova Scotia Health Authority’s labs completed 4,240 Nova Scotia tests on Wednesday and expected to handle another 4,000-plus day on Thursday.
Since Oct. 1, Nova Scotia has completed 307,642 tests. There have been 630 positive COVID-19 cases, 605 resolved cases and one death.
Pop-up rapid COVID-19 testing available for drop-in only:
Fri. Apr. 2
— Wolfville & District Lions Club from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.Sat. Apr. 3
— Findlay Community Centre, Dartmouth from 10:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m.For all testing options visit: https://t.co/8iGhUo6gBM pic.twitter.com/zrCqWowlaZ
— Nova Scotia Health (@HealthNS) April 1, 2021
New variant pre-screening
“Our testing sites have been busy and the lab has done well over 4,000 tests in each of the last two days and they already have another 4,000 tests ready to process today (Thursday),” Strang said at the briefing.
He thanked the people who have been coming out for testing as well as the hard-working staff at the Nova Scotia Health lab.
Strang said the lab has developed a pre-screening test for variants of the COVID-19 virus, which often cause more severe disease and are more contagious.
“This test can give an initial sense of whether a positive specimen is a variant. It can’t identify which variant but it does give us same-day results and then all the positive specimens through the screening test are then sent to the national lab for confirmation of variants and that can take up to one to two weeks.”
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Health
Avian influenza spread: WHO gives public health warning as FDA calms food safety concerns – Food Ingredients First
23 April 2024 — The World Health Organization (WHO) has warned that the ongoing spread of avian influenza poses a “significant public health concern” and urged health authorities, especially in the US, to closely monitor infections in cows. However, the US FDA maintains that the virus is not currently a concern to consumer health and downplayed its impact on commercial milk production.
Earlier this month, the largest producer of fresh eggs in the US halted production at a Texas plant after bird flu was detected in its chickens. Cal-Maine Foods said that about 3.6% of its total flock was destroyed after the infection.
However, the virus, also known as H5N1, has now been found in at least 26 dairy herds across eight US states, marking the first time this strain of bird flu has been detected in cattle, according to officials.
At least 21 states have restricted cattle importations from states where the virus is known to have infected dairy cows.
The US Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service strongly recommends minimizing the movement of cattle, but has not issued federal quarantine orders.
Public health threat
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) confirmed this month that a dairy worker in Texas, who reportedly had exposure to dairy cattle presumed to have had avian influenza, contracted the virus and is now recovering.
“This infection does not change the H5N1 bird flu human health risk assessment for the US general public, which CDC considers to be low,” the agency said in a press release, while acknowledging that people who come into more frequent contact with possibly infected birds or other mammals have a higher risk.
Meanwhile, WHO’s chief scientist, Dr. Jeremy Farrar, told reporters recently in Geneva, Switzerland, that H5N1 has had an “extremely high” mortality rate among the several hundred people known to have been infected with it to date.
However, no human-to-human H5N1 transmission has yet been recorded.
“H5N1 is an influenza infection, predominantly started in poultry and ducks and has spread effectively over the course of the last one or two years to become a global zoonotic — animal — pandemic,” said Farrar.
“The great concern, of course, is that in doing so and infecting ducks and chickens — but now increasingly mammals — the virus now evolves and develops the ability to infect humans.
“And then critically, the ability to go from human-to-human transmission.”
Concerns with cattle
US health officials have stressed that bird flu’s risk to the public is low, and the country’s food supply remains safe and stable.
“At this time, there continues to be no concern that this circumstance poses a risk to consumer health or that it affects the safety of the interstate commercial milk supply,” the FDA said in a statement.
According to officials, farmers are being urged to test cows that show symptoms of infection and separate them from the herd, where they usually recover within two weeks.
US producers are not permitted to sell milk from sick cows, while milk sold across state lines must be pasteurized or heat-treated to kill viruses, including influenza.
“We firmly believe that pasteurization provides a safe milk supply,” Tracey Forfa, director of the FDA’s Center for Veterinary Medicine, told a webinar audience last week.
However, WHO’s Farrar has urged further caution by public health authorities “because it [the virus] may evolve into transmitting in different ways.”
“Do the milking structures of cows create aerosols? Is it the environment which they’re living in? Is it the transport system that is spreading this around the country?” he said.
“This is a huge concern, and I think we have to…make sure that if H5N1 did come across to humans with human-to-human transmission that we were in a position to immediately respond with access equitably to vaccines, therapeutics and diagnostics.”
According to a new European Food Safety Authority report, outbreaks of avian influenza continue to spread in the EU and beyond.
By Joshua Poole
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Health
York Region urges you to get up to date on vaccinations – NewmarketToday.ca
York Region Public Health is reminding residents to keep up to date on their vaccinations as National Immunization Awareness Week begins.
The regional municipality said it is important to stay up to date on recommended vaccinations to ensure protection from contagious diseases. That includes updated COVID-19 vaccinations for vulnerable populations, recommended as part of a spring vaccination campaign.
“We know vaccines are safe and the best way to stay protected against vaccine-preventable disease,” the region said in a news release.
National Immunization Awareness Week runs from April 22 to 30, with this year’s theme being “Protect your future, get immunized.”
This spring, the region is still doing COVID-19 vaccinations. While walk-ins are no longer available as of April 2, you can book an appointment to visit a York Region clinic.
The spring COVID-19 vaccination campaign is aimed at more vulnerable groups who have received a COVID-19 vaccine before. Those include seniors, those living in seniors living facilities like long-term care homes, immunocompromised individuals and those in Indigenous households who are 55 or older. Public health also recommends the COVID-19 vaccine for those who have not yet received one.
York Region Public Health is also reminding residents of the need for other vaccines.
Measles cases have sprung up in Ontario and York Region recently. The region is recommending that people ensure they previously raised two valid doses of the measles vaccine. The region will also start providing measles vaccines April 29 for those overdue and for who do not have access to the vaccine through a health-care provider.
School-aged vaccinations are also available for free for children in junior kindergarten to Grade 12.
You can access immunization information at york.ca/immunziations or by contacting Access York at 1-877-464-9675.
“Vaccination helps protect everyone in our families, communities and schools,” the region said. “ By continuing to stay up to date on your immunizations, you help protect infants who are too young to be vaccinated and those not able to get vaccinated due to medical conditions.”
Health
Bird flu raises concern of WHO – ecns
The World Health Organization (WHO) said the rising number of bird flu cases has raised “great concern” because it had an “extremely high” mortality rate among those who had been infected around the world.
The WHO’s data show that from 2003 through March 2024, a total of 889 worldwide human cases of H5N1 infection had been recorded in 23 countries, resulting in 463 deaths and a 52 percent mortality rate. The majority of deaths occurred in Southeast Asian countries and Egypt.
The most recent death was in Vietnam in late March, when a 21-year-old male without underlying conditions died of the infection after bird hunting. So far, cases in Europe and the United States have been mild.
Jeremy Farrar, chief scientist at the WHO, said recently that H5N1, predominantly started in poultry and ducks, “has spread effectively over the course of the last one or two years to become a global zoonotic — animal — pandemic”.
He said that the great concern is that the virus is increasingly infecting mammals and then develops the ability to infect humans. It would become critical if the virus develops the ability to “go from human-to-human transmission”, Farrar said.
In the past month, health officials have detected H5N1 in cows and goats from 29 dairy herds across eight states in the US, saying it is an alarming development because those livestock weren’t considered susceptible to H5N1.
The development worries health experts and officials because humans regularly come into contact with livestock on farms. In the US, there are only two recorded cases of human infection — one in 2022 and one in April this year in Texas. Both infected individuals worked in close proximity to livestock, but their symptoms were mild.
Wenqing Zhang, head of the WHO’s global influenza program, told the Daily Mail that “bird-to-cow, cow-to-cow and cow-to-bird transmission have also been registered during these current outbreaks, which suggest that the virus may have found other routes of transition than we previously understood”.
Zhang said that multiple herds of cow infections in the US states meant “a further step of the virus spillover to mammals”.
The virus has been found in raw milk, but the Texas Health Services department has said the cattle infections don’t present a concern for the commercial milk supply, as dairies are required to destroy milk from sick cows. In addition, pasteurization also kills the virus.
Darin Detwiler, a former food safety adviser to the Food and Drug Administration and the US Agriculture Department, said that Americans should avoid rare meat and runny eggs while the outbreak in cattle is going on to avoid the possibility of infection from those foods.
Nevertheless, both the WHO and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said that the risk the virus poses to the public is still low. Currently no human-to-human infection has been detected.
On the potential HN51 public health risk, Farrar cautioned that vaccine development was not “where we need to be”.
According to a report by Barron’s, under the current plan by the US Health and Human Services Department, if there is an H5N1 pandemic, the government would be able to supply a few hundred thousand doses within weeks, then 135 million within about four months.
People would need two doses of the shot to be fully protected. That means the US government would be able to inoculate about 68 million people — 20 percent — of 330 million in case of an outbreak.
The situation is being closely watched by scientists and health officials. Some experts said that a high mortality rate might not necessarily hold true in the event the virus became contagious among people.
“We may not see the level of mortality that we’re really concerned about,” Seema Lakdawala, a virologist at Emory University, told The New York Times. “Preexisting immunity to seasonal flu strains will provide some protection from severe disease.”
Agencies contributed to this story.
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