With summer officially kicking off in Canada this week, travel, weddings, BBQs and other social events are on the table. Should a COVID-19 booster be part of your summer holiday plans?
Experts who spoke to Global News say it’s a good time to get one if you haven’t already.
Canada is in a “much better” place right now than before, yet COVID-19 is still a “significant contributor to hospitalization and death,” said Dr. Allison McGeer, an infectious disease physician at Sinai Health System in Toronto.
And as the summer holiday period gets underway, it’s a “really good time” for Canadians to update their vaccine protection, especially if they’re travelling, when exposure to other people is highest, McGeer told Global News in an interview.
“If you’re planning to spend the summer travelling and you don’t want to spend three days with feeling miserable in some hospital somewhere, that’s a good reason to get your COVID booster,” she said.
While more than 80 per cent of the population has received a primary series – two or more mRNA vaccine doses – the booster uptake remains relatively low this year in the country.
In the last sixth months, roughly 13 per cent of Canadians completed their primary series or got a booster dose, according to the latest available government data from May.
Most people have existing immunity from either exposure to the virus, prior vaccination or both, said Dr. Samuel Gutman, an ER doctor in Vancouver and chief medical officer of Rockdoc Consulting Inc.
“There’s certainly a lot of fatigue amongst the population with regard to COVID,” he said in an interview with Global News.
“People really want it behind them and don’t want to think about it.”
But the decision to vaccinate against an infectious disease like COVID-19 is an “important one,” given that there are still some risks for the general population, he added.
What does the official guidance on boosters say?
Canada’s National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI) recommends a booster dose six months after the last dose of a primary series or COVID infection – whichever is later – for everyone aged five years old and up.
The recommended time to get a booster is at least six months after the last COVID-19 vaccine dose or infection because immunity wanes over time, according to NACI.
McGeer said getting a COVID-19 vaccine is “not as critical as it once was,” but it still offers a significant amount of protection.
For younger and otherwise healthy adults, a booster shot is like “buying insurance,” said McGeer, that could help protect both them and other older, immunocompromised people they interact with.
Will Canada get a new bivalent vaccine?
NACI released new interim COVID-19 guidance this month, saying that the bivalent Omicron vaccine could be given to people aged six months and older who have yet to be vaccinated with a primary series.
The Omicron-containing vaccine was previously approved as a booster.
“As regulatory submissions are submitted and reviewed by Heath Canada in the coming months, vaccine schedules and/or dosages may change for some age groups,” NACI said in its June 9 update.
The highly transmissible Omicron variant is still circulating in Canada, but it has undergone multiple mutations.
The bivalent vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna that are available in Canada right now target the BA.1, BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants of Omicron that were most common last year.
In the United States, scientific advisers to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) are endorsing updating COVID-19 vaccines to target the latest Omicron strains.
The FDA is leaning toward picking a fall shot recipe that targets just XBB. The hope is that the XBB variants are different enough to spark the immune system to make more diverse, cross-protective virus-fighting antibodies.
The World Health Organization’s vaccine advisers and European regulators recently made similar recommendations.
McGeer said the bivalent boosters from last year are still effective against current strains that are circulating, but a shift toward an XBB-containing booster in the fall will give more protection against the virus.
It is likely that Canada will need another COVID booster campaign in the fall, when respiratory viruses make a comeback, said McGeer. But it remains to be seen which vaccines will be used for that.
“We want to change and decide on the booster at the last possible moment and we’re at the last possible moment because it takes about three months to make vaccines and have them ready to go,” she said.
People who are interested in getting a COVID-19 booster in Canada can book an appointment through their local pharmacies and some family doctors.
OTTAWA – Conservative MP Garnett Genuis told a federal inquiry today that parliamentarians who were targeted by Chinese hackers could have taken immediate protective steps if they had been informed sooner.
It emerged earlier this year that in 2021 some MPs and senators faced cyberattacks from the hackers because of their involvement with the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China, which pushes for accountability from Beijing.
In 2022, U.S. authorities apparently informed the Canadian government of the attacks, and it in turn advised parliamentary IT officials — but not individual MPs.
Genuis, a Canadian co-chair of the inter-parliamentary alliance, told a federal commission of inquiry on foreign interference today that it remains mysterious to him why he wasn’t informed about the attacks sooner.
Liberal MP John McKay, also a Canadian co-chair of the alliance, said there should be a clear protocol for advising parliamentarians of cyberthreats.
Several weeks of public inquiry hearings will focus on the capacity of federal agencies to detect, deter and counter foreign meddling.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17, 2024.
TORONTO – After being drafted in the third round (61st overall) of the 2023 MLS SuperDraft, forward Charlie Sharp decided to put his dream of playing professional football on hold.
He spent a couple of weeks training with Toronto FC that summer and then returned for a fifth year at Western Michigan University.
“It was a really tough decision for me,” Sharp recalled. “Because I knew that going back to school, nothing was guaranteed. I could get injured or not perform well, but it seemed to really work out for me.”
Sharp scored 19 goals and added eight assists as a senior, leading the Broncos to a 17-2-3 record and a third-round appearance in the NCAA tournament where they eventually lost to national runner-up Notre Dame on penalty kicks. Sharp, who scored or assisted in nine of his last 10 matches, ranked first in the NCAA with 0.95 goals per game and 2.30 points per game and was tied for second with seven game-winning goals.
The 23-year-old Sharp, whose rights were retained by Toronto, spent time with the TFC first team in this year’s pre-season and signed with Toronto FC II in February. On Tuesday, he joined TFC 2 teammate Nate Edwards, a wingback from Brampton, Ont., in signing a first-team contract.
“We are happy to officially elevate Charlie at this time,” Toronto GM Jason Hernandez said in a statement Tuesday. “His strong mentality and mature playing style will be a welcomed addition to our young player group in the first team.”
Both players signed contracts that run through 2025 with club options for 2026 and 2027.
The deals were completed in advance of Friday’s MLS roster freeze but took their time working their way through the league office.
“A bit of unorthodox path that I chose,” said Sharp. “But I think you’re seeing it more now with players that get drafted.”
“I’m super-happy,” he added. “I think I made the right decision.”
As a senior, Sharp was one of three finalists for the 2023 MAC Hermann Trophy, which honours the top NCAA soccer player. The award eventually went to Clemson senior forward Ousmane Sylla.
The six-foot-five 185-pounder from Brighton, Mich., finished his collegiate career with 42 goals 22 assists, and 106 points in 89 games. He ranks first in career goals and games and tied for fourth in assists for Western Michigan.
In returning to Kalamazoo for a fifth year, Sharp also succeeded off the pitch by completing his degree in computer information systems.
Despite some niggling injuries, Sharp has five goals and two assists in 16 appearances with TFC 2 this season. He made his first-team debut off the bench May 15 against Nashville.
“I had a lot of friends and family watching,” he said.
“It’s been a journey,” Sharp added. “I’ve been thankful for every step of the way.,”
The 21-year-old Edwards has one goal and two assists in 23 games with TFC’s MLS Next Pro team.
“He has been a top performer with TFC II this season and we look forward to his continued growth within our environment,” said Hernandez
Edwards, who also joined TFC 2 in February, made his first-team debut May 21 in Canadian Championship play against Ligue1 Quebec champion CS Saint-Laurent.
The five-foot-eight 167-pounder split his college career between Syracuse University and Purdue University Fort Wayne. As a senior in 2023, he had one goal and four assists for Syracuse and was named to the 2023 All-Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) Academic Team and College Sport Communicators (CSC) Academic All-District Team.
At Purdue University Fort Wayne, he had two goals and an assist in 40 appearances across three seasons (2020-2022) with the Mastodons.
—
Follow @NeilMDavidson on X platform, formerly known as Twitter
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17, 2024.
CALGARY – A Calgary man who pleaded guilty to sharing Islamic State recruitment videos and propaganda on TikTok will spend the next six years behind bars.
Zakarya Rida Hussein was sentenced during a court appearance on Friday after he pleaded guilty to one of four terrorism-related charges.
Hussein admitted that he owned social media accounts that posted ISIS recruitment videos and propaganda.
He also admitted to sharing a bomb-making video online.
The man was arrested in June 2023 after a joint investigation led by the RCMP and the Calgary Police Service.
Hussein will need to submit DNA results and will be under lifetime ban from owning firearms after he’s released.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17, 2024.
