Canada not doomed to fourth wave of COVID-19, doctors say, despite U.K.'s experience - CTV News | Canada News Media
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Canada not doomed to fourth wave of COVID-19, doctors say, despite U.K.'s experience – CTV News

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OTTAWA —
A fourth wave of COVID-19 now surging across the United Kingdom doesn’t have to become a reality in Canada as long as people keep getting vaccinated as quickly as possible, some infectious disease experts say.

That optimistic prediction comes even with the dominance of the Delta variant, which is proving to be harder to stop with just one dose of vaccine.

Dr. David Naylor, co-chair of Canada’s COVID-19 immunity task force, said the U.K. has been a “useful bellwether” for Canada in the pandemic, often a few steps ahead as infections rise and fall.

With one of the world’s fastest vaccination campaigns and strict public health measures after Christmas, the U.K. was a beacon of hope for Canada. In mid-May, while much of Canada was still deep into third-wave lockdowns, the U.K. was opening restaurants and bars, having curbed infection rates so much it had days when not a single person died of COVID-19.

But in the weeks since, the Delta variant is proving its heft, pushing infections in the U.K. from below 2,000 a day in the third week of May to more than 26,000 a day over the last week.

“We may likewise find with multiple provinces opening up that the same thing happens here,” said Naylor. “But it’s also possible that Canada may chart a slightly smoother course with Delta in the next month or so.”

While the U.K. outpaced Canada early on vaccines — and still does on second doses — there are some differences between the two inoculation programs, said Naylor, including waiting to lift most restrictions until more people were vaccinated.

“That may help us mitigate the risks of a big Delta wave,” he said.

When the U.K. moved to stage three of its reopening on May 17, allowing indoor dining and visits to movie theatres and museums, about half of British residents had their first jab and 30 per cent had both. Canada, which is now in a similar place to the U.K. was then in terms of both infection rates and public health restrictions lifting, has given at least one dose to 69 per cent of Canadians and 38 per cent are fully vaccinated.

But those numbers, don’t tell the entire story.

Dr. Zain Chagla, an infectious diseases doctor at St. Joseph’s Healthcare in Hamilton, said another difference between the two countries is the age of the people who are vaccinated.

In both countries, infection rates are highest among people under 30. Canada opened up vaccines to people as young as 12 by the end of May. The U.K. only began booking people as young as 18 in mid-June and still hasn’t started vaccinating teenagers.

When the U.K. moved to stage three reopening in May, less than 17 per cent of people under 40 had even one dose of vaccine, and seven per cent had two. As of June 26, Canada had given at least one dose to about two-thirds of people between 12 and 39 years old, and two doses to about 12 per cent.

“I think we have a little bit of an advantage here in Canada,” said Chagla.

Studies have shown one dose of vaccine isn’t as good as two at preventing symptomatic COVID-19 infections. One dose is very good at keeping people out of hospital. Multiple countries where the Delta variant is spreading now report the fastest infection rates in unvaccinated people.

Angela Rasmussen, a virologist at the Vaccine and Infectious Disease Research Organization at the University of Saskatchewan, said new variants are going to keep coming because viruses mutate as they spread, and sometimes those mutations make the virus stronger.

But Rasmussen said the mutations aren’t so big that the vaccines won’t affect them at all.

“The vast majority of people who’ve had two shots are not going to be severely ill, even if they do get a breakthrough infection,” Rasmussen said.

She said they’re also likely to be less infectious to others.

Rasmussen said people should remember this when the next variant inevitably emerges, and still trust the vaccines will help.

“The answer to variants is not ‘Oh my God, the vaccines don’t work,’ because some people are occasionally getting infected,” she said.

“We should be saying let’s all get vaccinated, so that we can reduce the likelihood that variants that are even more capable of getting around our defences will emerge.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 8, 2021.

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Christian McCaffrey is placed on injured reserve for the 49ers and will miss at least 4 more games

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SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) — The San Francisco 49ers placed All-Pro running back Christian McCaffrey on injured reserve because of his lingering calf and Achilles tendon injuries.

The move made Saturday means McCaffrey will miss at least four more games after already sitting out the season opener. He is eligible to return for a Thursday night game in Seattle on Oct. 10.

McCaffrey got hurt early in training camp and missed four weeks of practice before returning to the field on a limited basis last week. He was a late scratch for the opener on Monday night against the Jets and now is sidelined again after experiencing pain following practice on Thursday.

McCaffrey led the NFL last season with 2,023 yards from scrimmage and was tied for the league lead with 21 touchdowns, winning AP Offensive Player of the Year.

The Niners made up for McCaffrey’s absence thanks to a strong performance from backup Jordan Mason, who had 28 carries for 147 yards and a touchdown in San Francisco’s 32-19 victory over the New York Jets. Mason is set to start again Sunday at Minnesota.

After missing 23 games because of injuries in his final two full seasons with Carolina, McCaffrey had been healthy the past two seasons.

He missed only one game combined in 2022-23 — a meaningless Week 18 game last season for San Francisco when he had a sore calf. His 798 combined touches from scrimmage in the regular season and playoffs were the third most for any player in a two-year span in the past 10 years.

Now San Francisco will likely rely heavily on Mason, a former undrafted free agent out of Georgia Tech who had 83 carries his first two seasons. He had at least 10 touches just twice before the season opener, when his 28 carries were the most by a 49ers player in a regular-season game since Frank Gore had 31 against Seattle on Oct. 30, 2011.

The Niners also have fourth-round rookie Isaac Guerendo and Patrick Taylor Jr. on the active roster. Guerendo played three offensive snaps with no touches in the opener. Taylor had 65 carries for Green Bay from 2021-23.

San Francisco also elevated safety Tracy Walker III from the practice squad for Sunday’s game against Minnesota.

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Canada’s Newman, Arop secure third-place finishes at Diamond League track event

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BRUSSELS – Canada walked away with some hardware at the Diamond League track and field competition Saturday.

Alysha Newman finished third in women’s pole vault, while Marco Arop did the same in the men’s 800-metre race.

Newman won a bronze medal in her event at the recent Paris Olympics. Arop grabbed silver at the same distance in France last month.

Australia’s Nina Kennedy, who captured gold at the Summer Games, again finished atop the podium. Sandi Morris of the United States was second.

Newman set a national record when she secured Canada’s first-ever pole vault medal with a bronze at the Olympics with a height of 4.85 metres. The 30-year-old from London, Ont., cleared 4.80 metres in her second attempt Saturday, but was unable conquer 4.88 metres on three attempts.

Arop, a 25-year-old from Edmonton, finished the men’s 800 metres with a time of one minute 43.25 seconds. Olympic gold medallist Emmanuel Wanyonyi of Kenya was first with a time of 1:42.70.

Djamel Sedjati, edged out by Arop for silver in Paris last month, was second 1:42.87

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 14, 2024.

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Bologna prepares for Champions League debut with draw at Como while Juventus held

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MILAN (AP) — Bologna’s preparations for its Champions League debut are not going well though it managed to spoil Como’s first Serie A home match in 21 years on Saturday.

Bologna came from two goals down to salvage a 2-2 draw to gather three points from its opening four matches.

Bologna hosts Shakhtar Donetsk on Wednesday. Its only other appearance in Europe’s top competition was in 1964 in the preliminary round of the old European Cup.

AC Milan is also winless as it prepares for a Tuesday Champions League match against Liverpool. The Rossoneri hosted promoted Venezia later. Juventus drew at Empoli 0-0.

Como made a great start in the fifth minute when Patrick Cutrone attempted to roll the ball across the six-yard box but it took a huge deflection off Bologna defender Nicolò Casale for an own goal.

Bologna thought it was gifted a way back into the match on the stroke of halftime when referee Marco Piccinini signalled for a penalty following an Alberto Moreno handball, but he revoked his decision and instead gave a free kick because the handball was just outside the area.

Bologna improved after the break but found itself further behind when Cutrone raced onto a through ball and cut inside past a defender and fired into the far bottom corner.

Tommaso Pobega hit the post for Bologna, which finally pulled one back in the 76th through substitute Santiago Castro.

Another substitute helped the visitors snatch a point when Samuel Iling-Junior curled a fine strike into the top left corner in stoppage time.

Unbeaten sides

Juventus, and more surprisingly Empoli, are among six unbeaten sides.

Empoli held Monza and Bologna to draws either side of a shock 2-1 win at Roma. Juventus’ perfect start to the season was ruined by Roma in a goalless draw before the international break.

On Saturday, there were few clearcut chances in Empoli although home goalkeeper Devis Vásquez made spectacular saves to fingertip out a Federico Gatti header and deny Dusan Vlahovic in a one on one with the Juventus forward.

Empoli had a good opportunity in the 73rd minute following an Alberto Grassi one-two with Pietro Pellegri but the finish was straight at Mattia Perin.

The host could have won it right at the death but Gatti flew in with a great sliding block to keep out Emanuel Gyasi’s close-range effort.

Juventus hosts PSV Eindhoven in the Champions League on Tuesday.

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AP soccer:

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