Back-to-school booster? What to know about fall COVID-19 vaccine guidance | Canada News Media
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Back-to-school booster? What to know about fall COVID-19 vaccine guidance

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COVID-19 and other respiratory viruses are expected to make a resurgence in the fall when schools reopen across Canada, experts are warning.

After more than three years of COVID-19, reported cases have decreased or remained stable nationally.

However, that trajectory is likely to change with the virus rates increasing in the fall, particularly among children, as they congregate in schools and other indoor spaces, said Dr. Jesse Papenburg, a pediatric infectious disease specialist at the Montreal Children’s Hospital of the McGill University Health Centre.

“I think most people expect that there will be a certain amount of seasonality to COVID-19, and we do expect that the case counts will rise in the fall and winter,” he told Global News in an interview Wednesday.

“How much of a surge it will be remains to be seen.”

Scientists are keeping a close eye on a new subvariant of Omicron – named EG.5 – that accounts for the largest proportion of new COVID-19 cases in the United States and has recently made its way into Canada.

The World Health Organization (WHO) said in an update Wednesday that EG.5 has a “growth advantage” and “immune escape characteristics” which could cause a rise in COVID-19 cases, making this Omicron lineage the dominant version of the virus globally.

Vaccinations are the best way to protect families from infection as they reduce the risk of medically attended disease and hospitalization, Papenburg said.

Masking and testing are other effective tools to counter “a cascade of transmission” as schools open next month, said Dr. Prabhat Jha, an epidemiologist at Unity Health Toronto.

While children “very rarely” get sick from COVID-19, the virus can spread to their parents or grandparents who are more vulnerable to the virus, he told Global News in an interview.

 

Who should get a COVID-19 booster?

Canada’s National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI) released fall booster guidance last month, recommending a dose of the new formulation of the COVID-19 vaccine for the authorized age groups.

NACI says all Canadians aged five years and up should get a COVID-19 booster in the fall if it has been at least six months since their last vaccine dose or infection, whichever is later.

The agency also continues to strongly recommend that anyone five years of age and older who hasn’t yet been vaccinated be immunized with a primary two-dose series of an mRNA vaccine.

An Omicron-containing bivalent vaccine is currently available to Canadians, but NACI anticipates that the new vaccine formulations could be available this fall.

While an Omicron vaccine is ideal, any booster that is available is going to be effective at reducing infection, Jha said.

COVID-19 boosters are especially important for children with underlying medical conditions that put them at a higher risk of severe COVID-19 infection, Papenburg said.

The end of August or September is a “good time” to be thinking about getting a booster shot if families feel that’s the right thing for their child, he advised.

Currently, there are no authorized boosters for children aged six months to under five years in Canada, but Papenburg said approval from Health Canada might come in the fall.

 

What about flu and RSV?

COVID-19 is not the only virus that could surge when schools reopen and the weather cools, experts say.

Canada could see another “tridemic” as it did last fall, with the triple threat of COVID-19, flu and RSV, Jha said.

There is concern about the impact on Canadian children of influenza this year given the surge of pediatric hospital visits during Australia’s flu season, which typically runs from June to October.

An annual influenza vaccine is recommended for all children aged six months of age and above in Canada.

Flu shots are typically made available to the public across different provinces in October or November.

The spread of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) – another common seasonal virus – was unusually high among children last year.

RSV season in Canada usually starts in the late fall and lasts until spring.

RSV is very contagious among kids under five years of age and can cause serious infection in babies, but it’s not a disease that is exclusive to young children.

Last week, Health Canada approved the first vaccine for RSV for adults aged 60 and over.

Earlier in April, the agency also authorized a new antibody drug, Nirsevimab, to help protect babies from serious illness as a result of RSV.

The drug, which is given by injection, is also authorized for children up to two years of age if they are at risk of serious infection, according to Health Canada.

As availability is “very limited” in Canada, provinces are currently in the process of deciding how this drug can be used, Papenburg said.

— with files from Global News’ Katherine Ward and Katie Dangerfield and The Canadian Press

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B.C. mayors seek ‘immediate action’ from federal government on mental health crisis

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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

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Canada to donate up to 200,000 vaccine doses to combat mpox outbreaks in Africa

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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.

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How many Nova Scotians are on the doctor wait-list? Number hit 160,000 in June

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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.

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