With COVID-19 activity indicators creeping upwards, Canada’s chief public health officer this week exhorted Canadians to ready their masks.
Reactions on social media ranged from exasperation and accusations that another round of “COVID tyranny” was coming, to “wear the damn mask now.”
The National Post spoke with Dr. Horacio Bach, a clinical assistant professor with the University of British Columbia’s division of infectious diseases, and Dr. Nitin Mohan, a physician epidemiologist at Western University’s Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry.
As National Post columnist Chris Selley wrote, confidence in public health officials has taken a sharp hit since COVID landed on our shores. Tam’s masking advice shifted during the pandemic’s early waves and while public health advice should be revised as the science evolves, “the dramatic and sometimes contradictory shifts may have induced confusion, or worse, mistrust in the messaging or the authorities providing the messages,” one group wrote.
A Leger survey last September of more than 3,000 adults found the majority (70 per cent) would support reintroducing indoor ask mandates should the pandemic situation worsen. “The strongest predictors of positive attitudes were being fully vaccinated or boosted,” Montreal researchers wrote in a letter in the Canadian Journal of Public Health.
However, Mohan doesn’t anticipate the return of widespread mask mandates. “We have hospital capacity, we have access to therapeutics, not only vaccinations but antivirals and monoclonal antibodies that we did not have in the first and second waves of the pandemic,” he said.
Still, masking is cheap, relatively easy and a “prudent choice” particularly in the fall and winter months as people congregate closer, he said.
“But we’re very much at the phase of the pandemic where individual agency is the primary driver of folks’ decisions,” Mohan said. “It’s for them to choose what’s best for them.”
That masks can reduce the probability of becoming infected with respiratory viruses like COVID-19, influenza and RSV.
What about all this hybrid immunity we have? Omicron caused “unprecedented” numbers of infections, and most people in Canada acquired antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 through natural infection and vaccination, researchers reported.
Even in an “era of hybrid immunity,” the researchers cautioned that there’s the potential for waning antibody levels and new variants of COVID-19 that could escape immune responses.
Reformulated vaccines targeting the XBB.1.5 Omicron offshoot that emerged last year are being rolled out. But Omicron EG.5 (Eris) is now dominant in Canada, and Omicron BA.2.86 (Pirola) has also been detected in Canada.
Variants are popping up like a Whac-a-Mole game. “Sometimes the changes aren’t so dramatic and can be recognized by antibodies” from previous vaccinations or infections, said Bach, of the University of British Columbia.
“The problem that we’ve known from the very beginning of the pandemic, our body cannot keep a high level of antibodies against this virus. You have the booster, you are protected, but over time, the antibodies disappear.”
Antibodies also start to wane after natural infections, Bach said. Today’s vaccines target the spike protein, not the whole virus people are exposed to when infected. But not all parts of the virus are immunogenic, meaning able to prime the immune system to make antibodies, Bach said.
Unlike the ancestral stain, the new variants are affecting the upper airways. Excluding those with underlying diseases, “The infections are not going inside the body,” Bach said, meaning deep inside the lungs. Symptoms today are more cold-like: runny nose, sore throat, sneezing, fatigue, muscle ache.
A Cochrane Review published in March concluded “uncertainty” exists about the effects of face masks, and that the pooled results from randomized controlled trials didn’t show a clear reduction in the spread of respiratory viruses.
The authors, who assessed the effects of other interventions, like isolation, quarantine, and hand hygiene, included 12 trials comparing masks versus no masks, then five trials comparing surgical masks with N95s. (Four in a health-care setting, one in a home setting.)
“Wearing masks in the community probably makes little to no difference to the outcome of laboratory-confirmed influenza/SARS-CoV-2 compared to not wearing masks,” they wrote.
They cautioned against drawing “firm conclusions,” given the limitations of the evidence.
The researchers said potential reasons for the “observed lack of effect” in interrupting the spread of flu or COVID could include a high risk of bias in the trials, poor study design, the quality of masks and how often, and how well, people in the trials actually wore them, especially children. Factors could have included people contaminating masks with their hands or “saturation of masks with saliva from extended use.”
Nevertheless, the study led to a flurry of headlines that “masks don’t work,” prompting the editor-in-chief of the Cochrane Library to issue an apology for the wording used in a “plain language summary” that she said was open to misinterpretation.
“Based on the evidence that I’ve reviewed, based on hospital admissions, based on trends in disease states, I’m comfortable with the guidance that masking is effective,” Mohan said.
“Again, it’s very much on the individual to make that choice for themselves, based on their own risk factors and their interpretation of the information.”
“I have no clue why,” said Bach, who has been yelled at for wearing masks. In Asian cultures, “they go out with a mask. They protect not only themselves but also other people. You cough, you sneeze, you disperse the virus everywhere. They use the mask when they need it, and nobody makes it an issue.”
“I don’t know what will happen if they (public health officials) say you have to use masks again. That will be a big deal.”
People are frustrated COVID is still part of our lives, Bach said. “I don’t think anyone is happy that COVID is a part of our reality this far along in this pandemic.”
TORONTO – The Public Health Agency of Canada says it is not providing Novavax’s COVID-19 vaccine this respiratory virus season, citing low demand.
It says the manufacturer requires a minimum order of its updated protein-based vaccine, called Nuvaxovid, which far exceeds the uptake by Canadians last year.
The agency says a very small portion of the doses ordered in 2023 were used and that its decision reflects efforts to limit vaccine wastage.
It is distributing two mRNA vaccines — made by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna — that are approved for adults and children six months and older.
Both COVID-19 vaccines have been reformulated to target the recently circulating KP.2 subvariant of Omicron.
Novavax’s vaccine, which was approved by Health Canada last month for adults and children 12 years and older, has been touted as an alternative to the mRNA vaccines.
The public health agency says provinces and territories have the option of ordering the vaccine — which has been updated to target the JN.1 subvariant of Omicron — directly from the company.
As of Tuesday afternoon, several provinces – including Alberta, Saskatchewan, Ontario, Nova Scotia, P.E.I. and Newfoundland and Labrador – confirmed to The Canadian Press that they aren’t placing orders for Nuvaxovid.
The Public Health Agency of Canada said in an email that its contract with Novavax “only provides access to domestically manufactured vaccines, which Novavax has been unable to confirm for the 2024/25 season.”
The minimum order requirement was based on buying Novavax vaccines that were “internationally produced,” it said.
“Demand for Novavax’s COVID-19 vaccine in Canada has been very low in previous years,” the public health agency said. “In 2023, 125,000 doses of the Novavax XBB.1.5 vaccine were ordered and available in Canada, of which only 5,529 doses were administered.”
In emails to The Canadian Press, Novavax confirmed that it produced its updated vaccine outside of Canada.
It said the company “significantly depends on its supply agreement with Serum Institute of India Pvt. Ltd,” but would not elaborate further.
—With files from Hannah Alberga in Toronto.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 1, 2024.
Canadian Press health coverage receives support through a partnership with the Canadian Medical Association. CP is solely responsible for this content.
The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
Shopping season for Medicare coverage is about to begin. With it comes the annual onslaught of TV ads and choices to consider.
People eligible for the federal government’s Medicare program will have from Oct. 15 to Dec. 7 to sign up for 2025 Medicare Advantage plans, which are privately run versions of the program. They also can add a prescription drug plan to traditional Medicare coverage.
Many people on Medicare Advantage plans will probably have to find new coverage as major insurers cut costs and pull back from markets. Industry experts also predict some price increases for Medicare prescription drug plans.
Shoppers often have dozens of options during this sign-up period. Here are some things to consider.
Don’t put off shopping for Medicare coverage
Start thinking about next year’s coverage before the annual enrollment window begins. Insurers will usually preview their offerings or let customers know about any big changes. That makes anything arriving in the mail from your insurer important to read.
Insurance agents say many people wait until after Thanksgiving to decide coverage plans for the new year. That could be a mistake this year: The holiday falls on Nov. 28, leaving slightly more than a week to decide before the enrollment window closes.
Look beyond the premium
Many Medicare Advantage plans promote a $0 premium. That may sound attractive, but price is only one variable to consider.
Shoppers should look at whether their doctors are in the plan’s coverage network and how prescriptions would be covered. They also should know the maximum amount under the plan that they’d have to pay if a serious health issue emerges.
Plans offer many supplemental benefits, including help paying food or utility bills. Don’t let those distract from understanding the core coverage, said Danielle Roberts, co-founder of the Fort Worth, Texas, insurance agency Boomer Benefits.
“Remember that we buy health insurance for the big things, not the frills,” she said.
How to get help shopping for plans
The federal government operates a plan finder that lets people compare options. The State Health Insurance Assistance Program can be another resource. Insurance brokers or agents also guide customers through searches.
Sometimes a plan’s coverage doesn’t work as expected. If that happens, there’s another enrollment window in the first three-months of each year where some shoppers may be able to make a change.
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The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Americans can once again order COVID-19 tests, without being charged, sent straight to their homes.
The U.S. government reopened the program on Thursday, allowing any household to order up to four at-home COVID nasal swab kits through the website, covidtests.gov. The tests will begin shipping, via the United States Postal Service, as soon as next week.
The website has been reopened on the heels of a summer COVID-19 virus wave and heading into the fall and winter respiratory virus season, with health officials urging Americans to get an updated COVID-19 booster and their yearly flu shot.
“Before you visit with your family and friends this holiday season, take a quick test and help keep them safe from COVID-19,” U.S. Health and Human Services Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response Dawn O’Connell said in a statement.
U.S. regulators approved an updated COVID-19 vaccine that is designed to combat the recent virus strains and, they hope, forthcoming winter ones, too. Vaccine uptake is waning, however. Most Americans have some immunity from prior infections or vaccinations, but under a quarter of U.S. adults took last fall’s COVID-19 shot.
Using the swab, people can detect current virus strains ahead of the fall and winter respiratory virus season and the holidays. Over-the-counter COVID-19 at-home tests typically cost around $11, as of last year. Insurers are no longer required to cover the cost of the tests.
Before using any existing at-home COVID-19 tests, you should check the expiration date. Many of the tests have been given an extended expiration from the date listed on the box. You can check on the Food and Drug Administration’s website to see if that’s the case for any of your remaining tests at home.
Since COVID-19 first began its spread in 2020, U.S. taxpayers have poured billions of dollars into developing and purchasing COVID-19 tests as well as vaccines. The Biden administration has given out 1.8 billion COVID-19 tests, including half distributed to households by mail. It’s unclear how many tests the government still has on hand.
The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
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