OTTAWA —
Quebec Health Minister Christian Dube rolled up his sleeve for the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine Thursday, a display of confidence in the injection that has recently been the focus of concerns over blood clots.
His public vaccination in Montreal came hours after the European Medicines Agency declared a review found no evidence the AstraZeneca shot raises the overall risk of blood clots.
“This is a safe and effective vaccine,” said Emer Cooke, executive director of the European Medicines Agency.
“Its benefits in protecting people from COVID-19, with the associated risks of death and hospitalization outweigh the possible risks. The committee also concluded that the vaccine is not associated with an increase in the overall risk of thromboembolic events or blood clots.”
However, Europe is adding a warning label to the vaccine because there isn’t any evidence yet to determine if it played any role in the development of rare blood clots in the brains of 18 patients who received it. Another seven patients who developed a rare condition that includes very low platelet counts and multiple small blood clots in veins throughout their body are also inconclusive, the agency said.
“The evidence we have is, at the moment, not sufficient to conclude with certainty whether these adverse events are indeed caused by the vaccine or not,” said Dr. Sabine Straus, chair of the agency’s Pharmacovigilance and Risk Assessment Committee.
She noted the cases were found in nearly 20 million vaccinations given in the United Kingdom, Europe and India.
The U.K. Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency issued similar news earlier Thursday, saying it firmly believes the vaccine is safe and effective but is doing a more detailed study looking at blood clots in the brain.
Health Canada, which had officials at the European meeting Thursday morning, has not yet reacted to the decision, or said if it intends to add a warning label here.
Thrombosis Canada President Dr. James Douketis said the group’s leadership team was meeting Thursday evening to discuss the European findings and would have an updated statement for Canadians no later than Friday.
Last week Thrombosis Canada said there was no evidence linking the vaccine to blood clots and “strongly” recommended people get vaccinated.
Douketis, an internal medicine physician specializing in blood clots at St. Joseph’s Healthcare in Hamilton, said the number of incidents of blood clots has been very small, and he said COVID-19 can and does cause far more people to develop blood clots.
Vaccinations are likely preventing a lot of blood clots by preventing people from getting COVID-19, he said.
The first known report of a similar blood clot in Canada came Thursday, after a 79-year-old man in Quebec was admitted to hospital suffering from cerebral venous thrombosis, a blood clot in the vein that drains blood from the brain.
The patient received the AstraZeneca vaccine several days earlier.
Dube said authorities are looking into the case but there is no link at this time between the condition and getting the vaccine.
Earlier this week, Dr. Marc Berthiaume, the director of the medical sciences bureau at Health Canada, said the department had two reports of blood clots in patients who had received the vaccine from Pfizer-BioNTech.
Blood clots do occur naturally in some patients, and there has been no known link to vaccines before the COVID-19 outbreak.
More than 15 European countries had halted the use of AstraZeneca pending the EMA review. France, Germany and Italy all said they would resume those injections Friday.
Before Europe’s report was released Thursday, deputy chief public health officer Dr. Howard Njoo said Canada believed the vaccine was safe and effective.
“The fact is that all four COVID-19 vaccines authorized by Health Canada meet our country’s high standards for safety, and provide a high degree of protection against severe illness and death related to COVID-19,” said Njoo.
Cooke said the warning label is not meant to advise people against getting the vaccine but to raise awareness so people who do get it are told what signs to look out for when it comes to blood clots.
“If it was me, I would be vaccinated tomorrow,” she said.
Cooke said there are thousands of people dying every day from COVID-19 and this vaccine is effective against the novel coronavirus.
Canadian provinces began administering 500,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine last week. Canada’s doses are not made in the same place as the European or U.K. doses.
Thrombosis Canada issued a statement March 11 saying in general vaccines are not linked to the development of blood clots and it had no evidence that the AstraZeneca vaccine was any different.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 18, 2021.
EDMONTON – Ontario country artist Jade Eagleson has won album of the year at the 2024 Canadian Country Music Association Awards in Edmonton.
The singer from Bailieboro, Ont., was up for six awards alongside Alberta’s MacKenzie Porter.
Eagleson took home album of the year for “Do It Anyway” and says he’s thankful to his wife and management team for helping him reach the level he’s at.
The James Barker Band from Woodville, Ont., also won fans’ choice and group of the year at the award show, held in Edmonton.
During their acceptance speech, frontman Barker hinted at new music and a possible tour in 2025.
Another Ontario crooner, Josh Ross, has taken home a trio of awards, receiving entertainer of the year, male artist of the year and single of the year.
He says he and his band play roughly 150 shows every year and are never home, but says taking home entertainer of the year makes the hard work worth it.
Porter took home female artist of the year, ending the five-year streak of Tenille Townes being awarded the coveted hardware.
Porter had been nominated seven times previously for the award in the past decade but hadn’t won until tonight.
The artist from Medicine Hat, Alta., says it takes a lot of hard work and hustle to succeed as a female in the country music industry and gave a shout out to her fellow singers and her newborn daughter.
Joining the two artists in the winners’ circle was Ontario singer-songwriter Owen Riegling, who won for breakthrough artist of the year.
The show began with American artist and co-host Thomas Rhett being dubbed an honorary Canadian by Edmonton Oilers players Corey Perry and Leon Draisaitl.
Rhett donned an Oilers jersey that was gifted to him by the pair.
The return of k.d. lang and the Reclines was expected to be a highlight of the show.
The appearance will mark the first time the Alberta songstress has teamed up with the band in 35 years and is tied to lang’s induction into the Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame.
The awards show is back in Alberta’s capital for the first time since 2014. It was held in Hamilton last year and in Calgary in 2022.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 14, 2024.
VANDERHOOF, B.C. – British Columbia Conservatives are promising changes they say will bring more stability to the province’s struggling forest industry.
Leader John Rustad announced his plan for the sector a week before the official launch of the provincial election campaign, saying a Conservative government would do away with stumpage fees paid when timber is harvested and instead put a tax on the final products that are produced.
Rustad said Saturday that under a provincial Conservative government, a small fee may be charged upfront, but the bulk would come at the end of the process, depending on what type of product is created.
He also promised to review how wildfires are managed, as well as streamline the permit process and review what he calls the province’s “uncompetitive cost structure.”
“British Columbia is by far the highest cost producers of any jurisdiction in North America. We need to be able to drive down those costs, so that our forest sector can actually be able to do the reinvestment, to be able to create the jobs and make sure that they’re still there to be able to support our communities,” he said.
The governing New Democrats meanwhile, say eliminating stumpage fees would inflame the softwood lumber dispute with the United States and hurt forestry workers.
In a statement issued by the NDP, Andrew Mercier, the party’s candidate in Langley-Willowbrook, said Rustad failed to support the industry when he was in government under the former BC Liberals.
“Not only will Rustad’s old thinking and recycled ideas fail to deliver, his proposal to eliminate stumpage would inflame the softwood lumber dispute — punishing forestry workers and communities,” Mercier said, accusing Rustad of ignoring the complexity of the challenges facing the industry.
The softwood lumber dispute between the U.S. and Canada stretches back decades. In August, the U.S. Department of Commerce nearly doubled duties on softwood lumber.
International Trade Minister Mary Ng has said Canada has taken steps to launch two legal challenges under the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement.
Rustad said a provincial Conservative government would push hard to get a deal with the United States over the ongoing dispute “whether it’s with the rest of Canada or by itself.”
He said his party’s proposed changes are in the name of bringing “stability” and “hope” to the industry that has seen multiple closures of mills in rural communities over the last several years.
Most recently, Canfor Corp. decided to shutter two northern British Columbia sawmills earlier this month, leaving hundreds of workers unemployed by the end of the year.
According to the United Steelworkers union, Canfor has closed 10 mills in the province since November 2011, including nine in northern B.C.
Jeff Bromley, chair of the United Steelworkers wood council, said Saturday the idea of changes in favour of taxing the final product has been floated in the past.
He said the finer details of the Conservative plan will be important, but that the system needs to be improved and “new ideas are certainly something I’d be willing to entertain.”
“Something needs to happen, or the industry is just going to bleed and wither away and be a shadow of its former self,” Bromley said.
“Politics aside, if (Rustad) can come up with a policy that enables my members to work, then I would be supportive of that. But then I’m supportive of any government that would come up with policies and fibre for our mills to run. Period.”
When Canfor announced its latest closures, Forests Minister Bruce Ralston said the sector was a “foundational part” of the province and the current NDP government would work to support both local jobs and wood manufacturing operations.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 14, 2024
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.
