Report says delaying second dose of the Vaccine up to 42 days is OK, but some warn of risks | Canada News Media
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Report says delaying second dose of the Vaccine up to 42 days is OK, but some warn of risks

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TORONTO —
With just one per cent of Canadians vaccinated, and in the face of rising cases and strained hospitals, a new report from the National Advisory Committee on Immunization says provinces can accelerate the number of people being vaccinated by delaying the second dose for up to 42 days.

This would lengthen the specific waiting period between doses that has been proven to work in clinical trials for both vaccines.

The updated recommendations, released Tuesday by NACI, raise questions for Canadians anxiously awaiting the protection of a vaccine, as well as officials trying to speed up the rollout.

But the data is scarce on the impact of such measures, and scientists are split over whether they are worth the risks.

Dr. Caroline Quach, an epidemiologist and professor at the University of Montreal and chair of NACI told CTV News that it is a decision that could be made when regions “have no choice.”

“When you look at the epidemiological context where Ontario and Quebec are having huge community transmission, hospitalizations, complications, mortality, you have to wonder, do we have any data that would allow us to vaccinate more people at first,” she said.

She pointed out that the wave of cases is very high right now, pushing the need for more vaccines fast to cut down on overall transmission, even if the efficacy of those vaccines might wane due to the delay.

The two vaccines that have been approved in Canada so far — PfizerBioNTech and Moderna’s — both require two separate doses in order to achieve 94-95 per cent immunity for the patient.

These doses are spaced apart. Pfizer’s second dose is intended to be delivered 21 days after the first, while Moderna’s has a 28-day wait in between the doses.

The report from NACI says that while the ideal is to follow the vaccine manufacturers’ recommendations, people can wait longer — 42 days or so for the second dose — in order to allow double the number of Canadians to get some partial protection by receiving their first shot faster.

“We’re basically in a race against time,” Ashleigh Tuite, an epidemiologist and mathematical modeller with the University of Toronto, told CTV News. “And so the quicker we can get people vaccinated, the better.”

She pointed out that the need for fast immunization of the population is even more important in the wake of the news that the more transmissible U.K. variant of the novel coronavirus is in Canada.

Canada currently has almost 80,000 active cases of COVID-19, and more than 6,000 new cases were reported today. In a worrying trend, hospitalizations are also high, and long-term care homes are coming under fire again.

“Based on the data that we have on the vaccines, a week or two or three week delay in [doses] is unlikely to cause us a huge problem,” Tuite said. “And if anything, it’s still preferential to focus on getting those first vaccine doses in arms.”

It’s a plan endorsed by the World Health Organization, which said people can wait up to six weeks between doses to broaden coverage, with both the U.K. and the U.S. now releasing stored doses.

Both vaccines offer partial protection within 15 days of receiving the first shot, with Pfizer offering 52-per-cent efficacy and Moderna providing 80-per-cent efficacy.

But some scientists warn that relying on partial immunity and delaying the second shots may lead to viral mutations and inadequate immunity.

“The efficacy is likely not to be as high as we stretch out the time between the first and second dose,” Matthew Miller, an infectious disease specialist and associate professor at McMaster University, told CTV News.

“The further you get away from that first dose before getting the second dose, the greater your relative risk is [than] if you’ve got that second dose on schedule.”

He agrees that we should be vaccinating as many people as possible, without holding back the second dose in freezers, but believes we should only use up shipments on the first shot if there is the guarantee that more shipments of the second dose will arrive on time.

The very first people getting the vaccines are those on the frontlines and those at the highest risk from the virus, such as elderly people. This makes it all the more important that we get the vaccine rollout right, Miller said.

“We need to make sure that we give those people their vaccine doses on time in order to ensure that they enjoy sort of the maximum benefit and protection that the vaccines have to offer,” he said.

“I think right now where we’re still prioritizing the highest risk populations, it makes the most sense to stick as closely to the vaccine recommended schedule as possible.”

Both Pfizer and Moderna tell CTV News their shots should be delivered as studied and agreed upon by Health Canada.

“The safety and efficacy of the vaccine has not been evaluated on different dosing schedules as the majority of trial participants received the second dose within the window specified in the study design,” Pfizer said in an emailed statement, adding that there is no data “to demonstrate that protection after the first dose is sustained after 21 days.”

Moderna also stated that all of their trials included a second “boost” dose at 28 days, meaning they have no data on how long the efficacy of the first dose alone is sustained.

Health Canada’s position on the vaccination schedules is that Canadians “receive both doses of the same vaccine, as close as possible to the authorized dosing regimen for each vaccine.”

However, the organization noted in an emailed statement that provinces and territories may refer to NACI’s advice on the matter when making decisions on their vaccine rollout, and that NACI “has carefully weighed the scientific evidence and ethical implications” of all of their recommendations.

And some seniors in Quebec are considering suing because their second doses of the vaccine have been delayed — with some of them having contracted COVID-19 in the meantime.

How much the strategy of delaying the second doses could speed up vaccination is an unknown. Ottawa says 80 million doses are to arrive this year — but exactly when they will be in the arms of the public is still up in the air.

Source:- CTV News

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Carry On Canadian Business. Carry On!

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business to start in Canada

Human Resources Officers must be very busy these days what with the general turnover of employees in our retail and business sectors. It is hard enough to find skilled people let alone potential employees willing to be trained. Then after the training, a few weeks go by then they come to you and ask for a raise. You refuse as there simply is no excess money in the budget and away they fly to wherever they come from, trained but not willing to put in the time to achieve that wanted raise.

I have had potentials come in and we give them a test to see if they do indeed know how to weld, polish or work with wood. 2-10 we hire, and one of those is gone in a week or two. Ask that they want overtime, and their laughter leaving the building is loud and unsettling. Housing starts are doing well but way behind because those trades needed to finish a project simply don’t come to the site, with delay after delay. Some people’s attitudes are just too funny. A recent graduate from a Ivy League university came in for an interview. The position was mid-management potential, but when we told them a three month period was needed and then they would make the big bucks they disappeared as fast as they arrived.

Government agencies are really no help, sending us people unsuited or unwilling to carry out the jobs we offer. Handing money over to staffing firms whose referrals are weak and ineffectual. Perhaps with the Fall and Winter upon us, these folks will have to find work and stop playing on the golf course or cottaging away. Tried to hire new arrivals in Canada but it is truly difficult to find someone who has a real identity card and is approved to live and work here. Who do we hire? Several years ago my father’s firm was rocking and rolling with all sorts of work. It was a summer day when the immigration officers arrived and 30+ employees hit the bricks almost immediately. The investigation that followed had threats of fines thrown at us by the officials. Good thing we kept excellent records, photos and digital copies. We had to prove the illegal documents given to us were as good as the real McCoy.

Restauranteurs, builders, manufacturers, finishers, trades-based firms, and warehousing are all suspect in hiring illegals, yet that becomes secondary as Toronto increases its minimum wage again bringing our payroll up another $120,000. Survival in Canada’s financial and business sectors is questionable for many. Good luck Chuck!. at least your carbon tax refund check should be arriving soon.

Steven Kaszab
Bradford, Ontario
skaszab@yahoo.ca

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Imperial to cut prices in NWT community after low river prevented resupply by barges

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NORMAN WELLS, N.W.T. – Imperial Oil says it will temporarily reduce its fuel prices in a Northwest Territories community that has seen costs skyrocket due to low water on the Mackenzie River forcing the cancellation of the summer barge resupply season.

Imperial says in a Facebook post it will cut the air transportation portion that’s included in its wholesale price in Norman Wells for diesel fuel, or heating oil, from $3.38 per litre to $1.69 per litre, starting Tuesday.

The air transportation increase, it further states, will be implemented over a longer period.

It says Imperial is closely monitoring how much fuel needs to be airlifted to the Norman Wells area to prevent runouts until the winter road season begins and supplies can be replenished.

Gasoline and heating fuel prices approached $5 a litre at the start of this month.

Norman Wells’ town council declared a local emergency on humanitarian grounds last week as some of its 700 residents said they were facing monthly fuel bills coming to more than $5,000.

“The wholesale price increase that Imperial has applied is strictly to cover the air transportation costs. There is no Imperial profit margin included on the wholesale price. Imperial does not set prices at the retail level,” Imperial’s statement on Monday said.

The statement further said Imperial is working closely with the Northwest Territories government on ways to help residents in the near term.

“Imperial Oil’s decision to lower the price of home heating fuel offers immediate relief to residents facing financial pressures. This step reflects a swift response by Imperial Oil to discussions with the GNWT and will help ease short-term financial burdens on residents,” Caroline Wawzonek, Deputy Premier and Minister of Finance and Infrastructure, said in a news release Monday.

Wawzonek also noted the Territories government has supported the community with implementation of a fund supporting businesses and communities impacted by barge cancellations. She said there have also been increases to the Senior Home Heating Subsidy in Norman Wells, and continued support for heating costs for eligible Income Assistance recipients.

Additionally, she said the government has donated $150,000 to the Norman Wells food bank.

In its declaration of a state of emergency, the town said the mayor and council recognized the recent hike in fuel prices has strained household budgets, raised transportation costs, and affected local businesses.

It added that for the next three months, water and sewer service fees will be waived for all residents and businesses.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 21, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

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U.S. vote has Canadian business leaders worried about protectionist policies: KPMG

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TORONTO – A new report says many Canadian business leaders are worried about economic uncertainties related to the looming U.S. election.

The survey by KPMG in Canada of 735 small- and medium-sized businesses says 87 per cent fear the Canadian economy could become “collateral damage” from American protectionist policies that lead to less favourable trade deals and increased tariffs

It says that due to those concerns, 85 per cent of business leaders in Canada polled are reviewing their business strategies to prepare for a change in leadership.

The concerns are primarily being felt by larger Canadian companies and sectors that are highly integrated with the U.S. economy, such as manufacturing, automotive, transportation and warehousing, energy and natural resources, as well as technology, media and telecommunications.

Shaira Nanji, a KPMG Law partner in its tax practice, says the prospect of further changes to economic and trade policies in the U.S. means some Canadian firms will need to look for ways to mitigate added costs and take advantage of potential trade relief provisions to remain competitive.

Both presidential candidates have campaigned on protectionist policies that could cause uncertainty for Canadian trade, and whoever takes the White House will be in charge during the review of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement in 2026.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 22, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

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