Health
COVID-19: Provinces work on revised plans as Pfizer-BioNTech shipments to slow down – Chemainus Valley Courier
Canada’s procurement minister is urging drugmaker Pfizer-BioNTech to get the country’s COVID-19 vaccine delivery schedule back on track as soon as possible, as the two provinces hardest hit by the pandemic warned slower shipments will mean changes to their respective game plans.
Anita Anand said she understands and shares Canadians’ concerns about the drug company’s decision to delay international vaccine shipments for four weeks to upgrade production facilities in Europe.
“We are once again in touch with representatives from Pfizer to reiterate firmly the importance for Canada to return to our regular delivery schedule as soon as possible,” she said on Twitter Saturday. “Pfizer assured us that it is deploying all efforts to do just that.”
She noted that shipments for the upcoming week will be largely unaffected, and said the government will provide updates as they become available.
Ontario’s chief medical officer of health, Dr. David Williams, said the delay will likely have an effect on the province, though the full impact of the move is not yet known.
“We understand that this change in supply could see deliveries reduced by at least half for Canada in the coming weeks,” Williams said in a statement Saturday.
“We will assess and take appropriate action to ensure we can continue providing our most vulnerable with vaccines.”
READ MORE: Canada surpasses 700,000 confirmed COVID-19 cases as provinces revisit vaccine plans
In Ontario, long-term care residents, caregivers and staff who already received their first dose of Pfizer’s vaccine will receive their second dose between 21 and 27 days later, no more than a week longer than originally planned.
But that time frame will be longer for anyone else receiving the Pfizer vaccine, with second doses being delivered anywhere from 21 to 42 days after the initial shot.
Quebec Health Minister Christian Dube said Friday the reduced shipments mean that 86,775 of the 176,475 doses of the vaccine expected by Feb. 8 won’t be delivered as planned.
Officials are establishing a new distribution plan, but the Quebec Health Department said the strategy to immunize as many people as possible within priority groups will be maintained, with a delay of up to 90 days for the second dose.
Officials in Saskatchewan said COVID-19 vaccinations will continue as doses are received, with Premier Scott Moe telling reporters Friday that the province’s strategy for the two-dose regime depends on steady shipments.
That province says 2,857 vaccine doses were administered Friday — a record to date — with a shipment of 4,900 doses of Moderna vaccine also arriving and set to be distributed.
Dr. Theresa Tam, Canada’s chief public health officer, said in a statement that given the current trajectory of the epidemic, cases will continue to rise unless there’s significant progress in interrupting spread.
The latest forecasts suggest the country could be dealing with 10,000 new daily cases by the end of January. Meanwhile, hospitalizations and deaths, which tend be one to several weeks behind a spike in the disease, are still on the rise.
READ MORE: Trudeau says Canada’s COVID vaccine plan on track despite Pfizer cutting back deliveries
For the seven-day period ending Jan. 14, Canada averaged 4,705 hospitalizations across the country with 875 patients requiring intensive care treatment. During the same period, an average of 137 deaths were reported daily.
On Saturday, Ontario topped 3,000 cases and added another 51 deaths linked to the virus.
In Quebec, 2,225 new infections were reported along with 67 deaths attributed to the virus, pushing the province over the 9,000 death mark since the beginning of the pandemic.
In the east, New Brunswick continues to report the highest daily COVID-19 cases, with 27 new cases reported Saturday.
The province’s 267 active cases is the highest in the Atlantic Canada, where cases have remained relatively low.
Saskatchewan reported 270 new COVID-19 cases and two further deaths on Saturday.
The Canadian Press
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Alberta Health Services (AHS) has confirmed a case of measles in Edmonton, and is advising the public that the individual was out in public while infectious.
Measles is an extremely contagious disease that is spread easily through the air, and can only be prevented through immunization.
AHS says individuals who were in the following locations during the specified dates and times, may have been exposed to measles.
- April 16
- Edmonton International Airport, international arrivals and baggage claim area — between 3:20 p.m. and 6 p.m.
- April 20
- Stollery Children’s Hospital Emergency Department — between 5 a.m. to 3 p.m.
- April 22
- 66th Medical Clinic (13635 66 St NW Edmonton) — between 12:15 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.
- Pharmacy 66 (13637 66 St NW Edmonton) — between 12:15 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.
- April 23
- Stollery Children’s Hospital Emergency Department — between 4:40 a.m. to 9:33 a.m.
AHS says anyone who attended those locations during those times is at risk of developing measles if they’ve not had two documented doses of measles-containing vaccine.
Those who have not had two doses, who are pregnant, under one year of age, or have a weakened immune system are at greatest risk of getting measles and should contact Health Link at 1-877-720-0707.
Symptoms
Symptoms of measles include a fever of 38.3° C or higher, cough, runny nose, and/or red eyes, a red blotchy rash that appears three to seven days after fever starts, beginning behind the ears and on the face and spreading down the body and then to the arms and legs.
If you have any of these symptoms stay home and call Health Link.
In Alberta, measles vaccine is offered, free of charge, through Alberta’s publicly funded immunization program. Children in Alberta typically receive their first dose of measles vaccine at 12 months of age, and their second dose at 18 months of age.
Health
U.S. tightens rules for dairy cows a day after bird flu virus fragments found in pasteurized milk samples – Toronto Star
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Infected cows were already prohibited from being transported out of state, but that was based on the physical characteristics of the milk, which looks curdled when a cow is infected, or a cow has decreased lactation or low appetite, both symptoms of infection.
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