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Manitoba parents can book COVID-19 vaccination for at-risk, Indigenous kids under 5 starting Monday – CBC.ca

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Manitoba is expanding COVID-19 vaccine eligibility to include children under the age of five, but due to a temporary shortage of doses, the province is prioritizing kids with certain medical conditions and those who are First Nations, Métis and Inuit.

“I know this day is a day that many parents have been waiting for for quite some time. Many will feel that sense of relief that their child is now eligible,” Manitoba Chief Public Health Officer Dr. Brent Roussin said during a Wednesday afternoon news conference.

“This vaccine has a very safe profile and is effective.”

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Health Canada approved the two-dose Moderna vaccine for kids age six months to four years old last week. The dosage is roughly one-quarter the size of the dose given to adults.

There are approximately 76,700 children in Manitoba in the under-five age group, but the province is only receiving 14,900 doses in the first delivery, Roussin said.

As a result, when booking for the doses opens on Monday, July 25 at 8 a.m., it will be initially be limited to kids who are First Nations, Inuit, or Métis, or have any of these health conditions:

  • Chronic lung disease.
  • Airway abnormalities.
  • Congenital or chronic heart or circulatory diseases.
  • Moderately to severely compromised immunity due to a medical condition or treatment.
  • Neurologic disorders (including developmental delay).
  • Diabetes, chronic kidney disease or any chronic disease related to premature birth.

Eligibility will expand to include more children in the under-five age group when more vaccines are delivered to the province, Roussin said. A second vaccine shipment is expected in late July or early August.

The first doses are expected to arrive at the end of this week and will then be shipped to various sites, including regional vaccine sites, public health offices and medical clinics. The province is also working with First Nations leadership to co-ordinate distribution to their communities.

They won’t be available at pharmacies because pharmacists aren’t legally able to immunize children in this age bracket, at least for now.

Pharmacists ready to help

Roussin indicated that public health may look to pharmacists to help out at some point, and Pharmacists Manitoba says it’s ready and willing.

“Pharmacists across the province are certainly prepared and ready to help keep our community safe in any way possible. And so if the province calls upon us to help immunize younger children, we’re prepared to step up to the plate,” said Tim Smith, the pharmacy practice adviser for the organization.

Barbara Violo, pharmacist and owner of The Junction Chemist Pharmacy, draws up a dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, in Toronto. Pharmacists Manitoba says its members are ready and willing to help out vaccinating young children, if regulations are expanded to allow it. (Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press)

Other jurisdictions like Ontario allow pharmacists to immunize children as young as two, and Smith says it’s not very different than vaccinating other age groups.

“It’s possible that there will be some additional training that might be recommended or there might be additional training that might be required. We’ll just have to wait for what discussions between government and the College of Pharmacists of Manitoba and ourselves look like,” Smith said.

Bookings will be available using the online vaccine finder or through the vaccine call centre at 1-844-626-8222, the province says.

For those who need to book appointments for more than one child, the province recommends calling instead of booking online in order to get appointments as close together as possible.

Kids can have severe COVID outcomes: Roussin

Although children in the under-five age group don’t see severe outcomes from COVID-19 as often as older people, Roussin said it’s still important for them to be protected.

“We’ve seen severe [COVID-19] outcomes … in children that didn’t even have significant health issues, so it certainly does occur,” he said.

“We’re certainly recommending [vaccination] … especially in this cohort right now, which represents the higher-risk children.”

WATCH | Dr. Roussin says kids can become seriously ill with COVID-19:

Severe outcomes in children rare, but possible

6 hours ago

Duration 1:05

Dr. Brent Roussin encourages all caregivers and parents to get their children under five vaccinated against COVID-19 because, although rare, it’s possible for relatively healthy children to become very ill.

Roussin encouraged parents and caregivers of children who aren’t considered higher-risk to get them vaccinated when they become eligible.

The province recommends children in this age group wait eight weeks between their first and second doses of the vaccine.

The National Advisory Committee on Immunization recommends children who have had other vaccines wait two weeks before getting their COVID-19 vaccine, in order to monitor for any side-effects. Manitoba’s approach is consistent with NACI’s, but children who have received a different vaccine within 14 days won’t be turned away.

To date, more than three million doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been administered to people living in Manitoba, the province says.

Approximately 43 per cent of children ages five to 11 are considered fully immunized with at least two doses, while nearly 80 per cent of young people aged 12 to 17 have at least two doses of vaccine.

WATCH | Full news conference on COVID-19 | July 20, 2022:

Manitoba government briefing on coronavirus: July 20, 2022

6 hours ago

Duration 24:10

Dr. Brent Roussin gives an update on COVID-19 in Manitoba: Wednesday, July 20, 2022.

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Kevin Neil Friesen Obituary 2024 – Crossings Funeral Care

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It is with heavy hearts that we announce the peaceful passing of Kevin Neil Friesen age 53 on Thursday, March 28, 2024 at the Bethesda Regional Health Centre.

A funeral service will be held at 2:00 pm on Thursday, April 4, 2024 at the Bothwell Christian Fellowship Church, with viewing one hour prior to the service.

A longer notice to follow.  

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Spring allergies: Where is it worse in Canada? – CTV News

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The spring allergy season has started early in many parts of Canada, with high levels of pollen in some cities such as Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal.

Daniel Coates, director of Aerobiology Research Laboratories in Ottawa, expects the elevated amounts to continue next week for places, such as most of Ontario, if the temperature continues to rise. Aerobiology creates allergen forecasts based on data it collects from the air on various pollens and mould spores.

Pollens are fertilizing fine powder from certain plants such as trees, grass and weeds. They contain a protein that irritates allergy sufferers.

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Although pollen levels declined after a cold spell in some places, he said they are soaring again across parts of Canada.

“So the worst is definitely British Columbia right now, followed by Ontario and Quebec and then the Prairies and Atlantic Canada for the upcoming weeks,” said Coates in a video interview with CTVNews.ca. “We are seeing pollen pretty much everywhere, including the Maritimes.”

He said pollen has increased over the past 20 years largely due to longer periods of warm weather in Canada.

Meanwhile, the Maritimes is one of the best places to live in Canada if you have seasonal allergies, in part because of its rocky territory, Coates said.

With high levels of cedar and birch pollen, British Columbia is the worst place for allergy sufferers in Canada, he added.

“British Columbia is going strong,” Coates explained, noting the allergy season started “very early” in the province in late January. “It has been going strong since late January, early February and it’s progressing with high levels of pollen, mostly cedar, but birch as well, and birch is highly allergenic.”

Causes of high pollen levels

Coates expects a longer allergy season if the warm weather persists. He notes pollen is increasing in Canada and worldwide, adding that in some cases the allergy season is starting earlier and lasting longer than 15 years ago.

He says tree pollen produced last year is now being released into the air because of warmer weather.

“Mother nature acts like a business,” he said. “So you have cyclical periods where things go up and down. … So when it cooled down a little bit, we saw (pollen) reduce in its levels, but now it’s going to start spiking.”

Along with warmer weather, another factor in higher pollen levels is people planting more male trees in urban areas because they don’t produce flowers and fruits and are less messy as a result, he said. But male trees produce pollen while female ones mostly do not.

Moulds

Coates said moulds aren’t as much of a problem.

“They’ve been mainly at lower levels so far this season,” he explained. “Moulds aren’t as bad in many areas of Canada, but they’re really, really bad in British Columbia.”

In B.C., moulds are worse because of its wet climate and many forested areas, he said.

Coping with allergies

Dr. Blossom Bitting, a naturopathic doctor and herbal medicine expert who works for St. Francis Herb Farm, says a healthy immune system is important to deal with seasonal allergies.

“More from a holistic point of view, we want to keep our immune system strong,” she said in a video interview with CTVNews.ca from Shediac, N.B. “Some would argue allergies are an overactive immune system.”

Bitting said ways to balance and strengthen the immune system include managing stress levels and getting seven to nine hours of restful sleep. “There is some research that shows that higher amounts of emotional stress can also contribute to how much your allergies react to the pollen triggers,” Bitting said.

Eating well by eating more whole foods and less processed foods along with exercising are also important, she added. She recommends foods high in Omega-3 Fatty Acids such as flaxseeds, flaxseed oil, walnuts and fish. Fermented foods with probiotics such as yogurt, kimchi and miso, rather than pasteurized ones, can keep the gut healthy, she added. Plant medicines or herbs such as astragalus, reishi mushrooms, stinging nettle and schisandra can help bodies adapt to stressors, help balance immune systems or stabilize allergic reactions, she said.

To cope with allergies, she recommends doing the following to reduce exposure to pollen:

  • Wear sunglasses to get less pollen into the eyes;
  • Wash outdoor clothes frequently, use outer layers for outside and remove them when you go inside the house;
  • Use air purifiers such as with HEPA (high efficiency particulate air) filters;
  • Wash pets and children after they go outside;
  • Keep the window closed on days with high pollen counts.

Mariam Hanna, a pediatric allergist, clinical immunologist and associate professor with McMaster University in Hamilton, Ont., says immunotherapy can help patients retrain their bodies by working with an allergist so they become more tolerant to pollens and have fewer symptoms.

“Some patients will need medications like over-the-counter antihistamines or speaking with their doctor about the right types of medications to help with symptom control,” she said in a video interview with CTVNews.ca.

Coates recommends people check pollen forecasts and decrease their exposure to pollen since no cure exists for allergies. “The best is knowing what’s in the air so that you can adjust your schedules, or whatever you’re doing, around the pollen levels.”

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Do you need a spring COVID-19 vaccine? Research backs extra round for high-risk groups

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Recent studies suggest staying up-to-date on COVID shots helps protect high-risk groups from severe illness

New guidelines suggest certain high-risk groups could benefit from having another dose of a COVID-19 vaccine this spring — and more frequent shots in general — while the broader population could be entering once-a-year territory, much like an annual flu shot.

Medical experts told CBC News that falling behind on the latest shots can come with health risks, particularly for individuals who are older or immunocompromised.

Even when the risk of infection starts to increase, the vaccines still do a really good job at decreasing risk of severe disease, said McMaster University researcher and immunologist Matthew Miller.

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Who needs another COVID shot?

Back in January, Canada’s national vaccine advisory body set the stage for another round of spring vaccinations. In a statement (new window), the National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI) stated that starting in spring 2024, individuals at an increased risk of severe COVID may get an extra dose of the latest XBB.1.5-based vaccines, which better protect against circulating virus variants.

That means:

  • Adults aged 65 and up.
  • Adult residents of long-term care homes and other congregate living settings for seniors.
  • Anyone six months of age or older who is moderately to severely immunocompromised.

The various spring recommendations don’t focus on pregnancy, despite research (new window) showing clear links between a COVID infection while pregnant, and increased health risks. However, federal guidance does note that getting vaccinated during pregnancy can protect against serious outcomes.

Vaccinated people can also pass antibodies to their baby through the placenta and through breastmilk, that guidance states (new window).

What do the provinces now recommend?

Multiple provinces have started rolling out their own regional guidance based on those early recommendations — with a focus on allowing similar high-risk groups to get another round of vaccinations.

B.C. is set to announce guidance on spring COVID vaccines in early April, officials told CBC News, and those recommendations are expected to align with NACI’s guidance.

In Manitoba (new window), high-risk individuals are already eligible for another dose, provided it’s been at least three months since their latest COVID vaccine.

Meanwhile Ontario’s latest guidance (new window), released on March 21, stresses that high-risk individuals may get an extra dose during a vaccine campaign set to run between April and June. Eligibility will involve waiting six months after someone’s last dose or COVID infection.

Having a spring dose is particularly important for individuals at increased risk of severe illness from COVID-19 who did not receive a dose during the Fall 2023 program, the guidance notes.

And in Nova Scotia (new window), the spring campaign will run from March 25 to May 31, also allowing high-risk individuals to get another dose.

Specific eligibility criteria vary slightly from province-to-province, so Canadians should check with their primary care provider, pharmacist or local public health team for exact guidelines in each area.

WATCH: Age still best determines when to get next COVID vaccine dose, research suggests:

 

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Age still best determines when to get COVID vaccines, new research suggests

It’s been four years since COVID-19 was declared a pandemic, and new research suggests your age may determine how often you should get a booster shot.

Why do the guidelines focus so much on age?

The rationale behind the latest spring guidelines, Miller said, is that someone’s age remains one of the greatest risk factors associated with severe COVID outcomes, including hospitalization, intensive care admission and death.

So that risk starts to shoot up at about 50, but really takes off in individuals over the age of 75, he noted.

Canadian data (new window) suggests the overwhelming majority of COVID deaths have been among older adults, with nearly 60 per cent of deaths among those aged 80 or older, and roughly 20 per cent among those aged 70 to 79.

People with compromised immune systems or serious medical conditions are also more vulnerable, Miller added.

Will people always need regular COVID shots?

While the general population may not require shots as frequently as higher-risk groups, Miller said it’s unlikely there will be recommendations any time soon to have a COVID shot less than once a year, given ongoing uncertainty about COVID’s trajectory.

Going forward, I suspect for pragmatic reasons, [COVID vaccinations] will dovetail with seasonal flu vaccine campaigns, just because it makes the implementation much more straightforward, Miller said.

And although we haven’t seen really strong seasonal trends with SARS-CoV-2 now, I suspect we’ll get to a place where it’s more seasonal than it has been.

In the meantime, the guidance around COVID shots remains simple at its core: Whenever you’re eligible to get another dose — whether that’s once or twice a year — you might as well do it.

What does research say?

One analysis, published in early March in the medical journal Lancet Infectious Diseases (new window), studied more than 27,000 U.S. patients who tested positive for SARS-CoV-2, the virus behind COVID, between September and December 2023.

The team found individuals who had an updated vaccine reduced their risk of severe illness by close to a third — and the difference was more noticeable in older and immunocompromised individuals.

Another American research team from Stanford University recently shared the results from a modelling simulation looking at the ideal frequency for COVID vaccines.

The study in Nature Communications (new window) suggests that for individuals aged 75 and up, having an annual COVID shot could reduce severe infections from an estimated 1,400 cases per 100,000 people to around 1,200 cases — while bumping to twice a year could cut those cases even further, down to 1,000.

For younger, healthier populations, however, the benefit of regular shots against severe illness was more modest.

The outcome wasn’t a surprise to Stanford researcher Dr. Nathan Lo, an infectious diseases specialist, since old age has consistently been a risk factor for severe COVID.

It’s almost the same pattern that’s been present the entire pandemic, he said. And I think that’s quite striking.

More frequent vaccination won’t prevent all serious infections, he added, or perhaps even a majority of those infections, which highlights the need for ongoing mitigation efforts.

Lauren Pelley (new window) · CBC News

 

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