Health
Waterloo Region COVID-19 vaccine for kids Q and A aims to ease parents' concerns – TheRecord.com
Rashmi Aggarwal is a mom of two. Her six-year old son had switched to online learning for over a year because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
But this September, the Vista Hills resident wanted him to participate in in-person classes again. “I see he was missing school, socializing, playing with his friends, so this time I really wanted him to go to school.”
Going back to school came with the fear of her son contracting the virus especially since the vaccine had not been approved for children yet. But a solution to her worry would soon come.
On Nov. 19, Health Canada announced the approval of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for children between five and 11-years-old, and the Region of Waterloo Public Health began administrating vaccines for kids on Nov. 26.
“Definitely, it’s a relief that now kids can be vaccinated so they are more protected,” said Aggarwal, but she wants to wait a bit before her son receives the vaccine.
“As a mother, how I feel is I just want to wait a month or two and see how it goes. Definitely, I want to get him vaccinated.”
No one in their home ever came down with the virus. She and her husband got vaccinated early enough to protect their 18-month-old daughter who has a congenital heart disease.
Aggarwal is one of many Canadian parents who intend on vaccinating their children but are worried about the side effects.
The City of Waterloo hosted a Q and A session on Dec. 2 where Kelly Grindrod, associate professor at the University of Waterloo School of Pharmacy, made a presentation on the importance of children being vaccinated.
According to a survey Grindrod shared, two-thirds of Canadian parents or guardians said they intended to vaccinate their child once the vaccine becomes available. Sixteen per cent were unsure and 19 per cent had no intention of doing it.
Grindrod addressed some of the parents’ concerns about the side effects of the vaccine.
She said the National Advisory Committee on Immunization advised that kids be given the vaccine at an eight-week interval between the first and second doses. “Because those two doses a bit further apart, provides stronger and longer lasting immunity,” she said.
In Canada, second doses should be due for administering around mid to late January.
Grindrod said doing this may also lower the risk of myocarditis, an inflammation of the heart muscles.
The doctor explained that a study was done from March till October 2021 before the vaccine became approved. It was a randomized placebo controlled trial of 4,500 children between the ages of five to 11.
Three thousand of them were given the vaccine and 1,500 were given the placebo (saltwater vaccine.) The kids were given two doses of 10 μg each, three weeks apart.
Grindrod siad the kids who were given the vaccine had less COVID than those who were given the placebo.
Grindrod explained that COVID-19 vaccines lower the risk of getting infected, infecting others and complications. She advised that children get vaccinated so that they can go back to being kids again.
As of the time of writing, the Waterloo Region had vaccinated 83.11 per cent of eligible residents who are age five and older with the first dose, 79.34 per cent with the second dose.
As of Dec. 2, 8,613 doses had been administered to children five to 11 years old.
To book an appointment for your child, visit the Region of Waterloo website: Get a Vaccine – Region of Waterloo
Grindrod said for parents whose kids are nervous about getting needles, they should use the CARD system to have a positive vaccination experience. Comfort, Ask, Relax and Distract. She also advised parents to apply numbing patches to the upper arm prior to vaccination.
STORY BEHIND THE STORY: Since the vaccine approval for kids, we wanted to speak to parents to find out how they are feeling about their children getting vaccinated.
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Grande Prairie RCMP issued a warning Friday after it was revealed fentanyl linked to a deadly overdose was mixed with a chemical that doesn’t respond to naloxone treatment.
The drugs were initially seized on Feb. 28 after a fatal overdose, and this week, Health Canada reported back to Mounties that the fentanyl had been mixed with Bromazolam, which is a benzodiazepine.
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Mounties say this is the first recorded instance of Bromazolam in Alberta. The drug has previously been linked to nine fatal overdoses in New Brunswick in 2022.
The pills seized in Alberta were oval-shaped and stamped with “20” and “SS,” though Mounties say it can come in other forms.
Naloxone treatment, given in many cases of opioid toxicity, is not effective in reversing the effects of Bromazalam, Mounties said, and therefore, any fentanyl mixed with the benzodiazepine “would see a reduced effectiveness of naloxone, requiring the use of additional doses and may still result in a fatality.”
From January to November of last year, there were 1,706 opioid-related deaths in Alberta, and 57 linked to benzodiazepine, up from 1,375 and 43, respectively, in 2022.
Mounties say officers responded to about 1,100 opioid-related calls for service, last year with a third of those proving fatal. RCMP officers also used naloxone 67 times while in the field, a jump of nearly a third over the previous year.
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Health
CFIA continues surveillance for HPAI in cattle, while sticking with original name for disease – RealAgriculture
The Canada Food Inspection Agency will continue to refer to highly pathogenic avian influenza in cattle as HPAI in cattle, and not refer to it as bovine influenza A virus (BIAV), as suggested by the American Association of Bovine Practitioners earlier this month.
Dr. Martin Appelt, senior director for the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, in the interview below, says at this time Canada will stick with “HPAI in cattle” when referencing the disease that’s been confirmed in dairy cattle in multiple states in the U.S.
The CFIA’s naming policy is consistent with the agency’s U.S. counterparts’, as the U.S. Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service has also said it will continue referring to it as HPAI or H5N1.
Appelt explains how the CFIA is learning from the U.S. experience to-date, and how it is working with veterinarians across Canada to stay vigilant for signs of the disease in dairy and beef cattle.
As of April 19, there has not been a confirmed case of HPAI in cattle in Canada. Appelt says it’s too soon to say if an eventual positive case will significantly restrict animal movement, as is the case with positive poultry cases.
This is a major concern for the cattle industry, as beef cattle especially move north and south across the U.S. border by the thousands. Appelt says that CFIA will address an infection in each species differently in conjunction with how the disease is spread and the threat to neighbouring farms or livestock.
Currently, provincial dairy organizations have advised producers to postpone any non-essential tours of dairy barns, as a precaution, in addition to other biosecurity measures to reduce the risk of cattle contracting HPAI.
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Health
Toronto reports 2 more measles cases. Use our tool to check the spread in Canada – Toronto Star
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Canada has seen a concerning rise in measles cases in the first months of 2024.
By the third week of March, the country had already recorded more than three times the number of cases as all of last year. Canada had just 12 cases of measles in 2023, up from three in 2022.
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