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Who have provinces have pegged to receive COVID-19 vaccines in the coming weeks? – meadowlakeNOW

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Nova Scotia

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The provincial website says the first phase of vaccines will be given to residents of long-term care homes, those who work directly with patients, those who are 80 and older, and those who are at risk for other reasons including First Nations and African Nova Scotian communities.

The next phase will include anyone who works in a hospital and may come into contact with a patient, community health-care providers such as dental and pharmacy workers, correctional facilities, shelters, temporary foreign worker quarters and those working in food security industries.

The third phase will include all Nova Scotians going down in five-year increments. 

Prince Edward Island

The province says the first phase of its vaccination drive, currently slated to last until March, targets residents and staff of long-term and community care, as well as health-care workers with direct patient contact at higher risk of COVID-19 exposure.

Those 80 and older, adults in Indigenous communities, and truck drivers and other rotational workers are also included.

The next phase, which is scheduled to begin in April, will target those above 70 and essential workers.

The province intends to make the vaccine available to everyone in late summer and fall.

New Brunswick 

The province is also focusing on vaccinating those living in long-term care homes, health-care workers with direct patient contact, adults in First Nations communities and older New Brunswickers in the first phase, which lasts until at least March.

The next phase is scheduled to begin in the spring and includes residents and staff of communal settings, other health-care workers including pharmacists, first responders and critical infrastructure employees.

The government website says once the vaccine supply is continuous and in large enough quantities, the entire population will be offered the shots. 

Quebec

The province’s proposed order of priority for vaccination according to its website is those in residential and long-term care centres, workers in the health and social services network, followed by those in isolated and remote communities, people 80 years or older, and then the general population in 10-year increments. 

It says the vaccination of children and pregnant women will be determined based on future studies of vaccine safety and efficacy in those populations. 

Ontario

The province’s health minister says Ontario is not ready to release a detailed plan for its rollout of COVID-19 vaccines because its supply of the shots has been unreliable. 

Christine Elliott says the province knows which age groups it wants to prioritize but delayed deliveries and unclear levels of future supply mean its tentative immunization schedule has been changing. 

The province has previously mapped out a three-phase approach to its rollout.

Phase 1, which is still ongoing, reserves shots for those in long-term care, high-risk retirement home residents, certain classes of health-care workers, and people who live in congregate care settings. 

The province announced last week that all Indigenous adults and adults receiving chronic home care will be next in line once all reasonable efforts to immunize the highest priority groups have been made.

Manitoba 

Health officials plan to start having COVID-19 vaccines available for the general population, beginning with people over 80, in March. 

Dr. Joss Reimer, a member of the province’s vaccine task force, says vaccination teams will focus on long-term hospital patients and people who live in supportive housing where they are assisted with their daily needs starting next week. 

She says the next phase, taking place over March and April, will involve a wider swath of health-care workers, people in jails, shelters and other group settings, and the general population over the age of 80. 

She says inoculations could be open to all adults in the province by August if new vaccines are approved and supplies are steady. 

The plan does not include a separate category for essential workers — something that Reimer says will be considered as vaccine supplies increase. 

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Saskatchewan

The province is still in the first phase of its vaccination rollout, which reserves doses for long-term care residents and staff, health-care workers at elevated risk of COVID-19 exposure, seniors over the age of 70 and anyone 50 or older living in a remote area. 

The province says based on information provided by Health Canada, the combined quantities of Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines expected by the end of March will allow less than half of those priority populations to receive two doses of the COVID-19 vaccine. 

The next phase will be focused on vaccinating the general population by age. 

It says once vaccine supplies allow phase one priority populations to be fully immunized, Saskatchewan will begin immunizing the general population in 10-year increments. 

Alberta

The government’s website says the province will be offering second shots of the COVID-19 vaccine within 42 days after initial doses are administered.

Initial immunization efforts have focused on long-term care residents and certain health-care professionals, with plans to expand vaccine offerings by the end of the month. 

While the exact dates and details have not been hammered out, February will see seniors over 75, First Nations, Métis and people 65 and older living in a First Nations community start to receive their vaccines.

Work is underway to identify target populations for future phases of the provincial rollout. 

British Columbia 

B.C.’s plan reveals that after the most vulnerable groups have been immunized, shots will be given out according to age, with the oldest residents first in line. 

Currently hospital workers, those living in Indigenous communities, and long-term care residents, staff and essential visitors are among those being vaccinated in Stage 1 of the province’s plan. 

Stage 2 will include people 80 and older, Indigenous seniors over 65, general medical practitioners and specialists. 

In April, the province will start vaccinating the general public according to five-year age groupings, starting with seniors aged 75 to 79 before moving on to those aged 70 to 74 and so on. 

But Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry says the approval of more vaccines may mean the province’s plan could be revised to immunize essential workers between April and June. 

Nunavut

The government website says Nunavut expects enough vaccines to immunize 75 per cent of its residents over the age of 18 by the end of March. 

Details have not yet been released about how the rest of the territory’s inoculation drive will work.

Northwest Territories 

The first phase of the vaccine is underway with priority for those over the age of 60, people who have existing chronic disease and comorbidities, resident workers who live in the territories but regularly work elsewhere or live in work camps, and those in remote communities.

The government website says the rest of the eligible adult population can expect to get the vaccine starting in March. 

Yukon

The government website says it has vaccinated high risk health-care workers, adults 70 and older, and people who are marginalized and living in group settings.

Yukon’s Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Brendan Hanley says uncertainty about the arrival date of the next vaccine shipment has forced a delay in a planned immunization clinic for the general public in Whitehorse.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 18, 2021

The Canadian Press

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Measles case reported locally turns out to be negative: health unit

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NEWS RELEASE
SIMCOE MUSKOKA DISTRICT HEALTH UNIT
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On March 26, the Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit (SMDHU) was notified by Public Health Ontario’s (PHO) laboratory that due to laboratory error, the case of measles that had been lab-confirmed positive on March 12, based on symptoms and a positive urine measles laboratory result by PHO’s laboratory, is in fact negative for the measles virus.

“With this new information of the negative lab result, we believe that that individual was not infected with measles and that there has not been any public exposure to measles resulting from this individual’s illness,” said Dr. Charles Gardner, medical officer of health. “We recognize that notifying the public of what we believed to be a positive measles case in our area created worry, anxiety and disruption for some, and we regret this.

“We do know that, despite best efforts, on rare occasions laboratory errors can occur. We are working closely with the PHO’s laboratory to do all that we can to ensure that such an incident does not occur again.”

Measles is a highly contagious viral infection that spreads very easily through airborne transmission. The measles virus can live in the air or on surfaces for up to two hours.

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Symptoms of measles begin seven to 21 days after exposure and include fever, runny nose, cough, drowsiness, and red eyes. Small white spots appear on the inside of the mouth and throat but are not always present. Three to seven days after symptoms begin, a red, blotchy rash appears on the face and then progresses down the body.

The risk of transmission to those vaccinated with two doses is low, and when it does occur tends to show a reduction in the severity of these symptoms.

“Although we are relieved for the individual involved, and for all Simcoe-Muskoka residents, that this case has now been confirmed as negative, we know that measles is still active in Ontario at this time and the potential remains for new cases to arise, especially given the increase in Ontarians travelling to areas in the world that have higher numbers of measles cases,” said Dr. Gardner. “This is why we continue to advise individuals to keep up to date with their routine immunizations, including measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccination.”

The risk of measles is low for people who have been fully immunized with two doses of measles vaccine or those born before 1970; however, many children have been delayed in receiving their routine childhood immunizations and people who have not had two doses of measles vaccine are at higher risk of contracting the disease.

People who do get sick usually recover without treatment, but measles can be more severe for infants, pregnant women, and those with compromised immune systems. Possible complications include middle-ear infections, pneumonia, diarrhea, or encephalitis (swelling of the brain) and occasionally death in the very young. Even individuals who are up to date with the measles vaccine should watch for symptoms of measles for 21 days after exposure.

For more information about measles, please visit smdhu.org or call Health Connection at 705-721-7520 or 1-877-721-7520, Monday to Friday between 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. to speak with a public health professional.

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Kate Middleton Not Alone. Cancer On Rise For People Under 50, Say Experts

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Kate Middleton revealed on Friday that her cancer was discovered after she received abdominal surgery

London:

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When Catherine, Princess of Wales, revealed she was being treated for cancer last week, part of the shock was that an otherwise healthy 42-year-old has a disease that mostly plagues older people.

However, researchers have been increasingly sounding the alarm that more and more people under 50 are getting cancer — and no one knows why.

Across the world, the rate of under-50s diagnosed with 29 common cancers surged by nearly 80 percent between 1990 and 2019, a large study in BMJ Oncology found last year.

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The researchers predicted the number of new cancer cases among younger adults will rise another 30 percent by the end of this decade, with wealthy countries particularly affected.

The increase in cases — and soaring global population — means that the number of deaths among under 50s from cancer has risen by nearly 28 percent over the last 30 years.

This occurred even as the odds of people of all ages surviving cancer have roughly doubled over the last half century.

Shivan Sivakumar, a cancer researcher at the UK’s University of Birmingham, called it an “epidemic” of young adult cancer.

Since Kate Middleton revealed on Friday that her cancer was discovered after she received abdominal surgery earlier this year, Sivakumar and other doctors have spoken out about the uptick in younger cancer patients they have been seeing at their clinics.

While breast cancer remains the most common for people under 50, the researchers expressed particular concern about the rise of gastrointestinal cancers — such as of the colon, pancreas, liver and oesophagus — in younger adults.

Colon cancer is now the leading cause of cancer deaths in men under 50 in the United States, according to the American Cancer Society. For women, it is number two — behind only breast cancer.

One high profile case of colorectal cancer was “Black Panther” actor Chadwick Boseman, who died at the age of 43 in 2020.

Why is this happening?

“We just don’t have the evidence yet” to say exactly what is causing this rise, Sivakumar told AFP, adding it was likely a combination of factors.

Helen Coleman, a cancer epidemiology professor at Queen’s University Belfast who has studied early onset cancer in Northern Ireland, told AFP there were two potential explanations.

One is that people in their 40s were exposed to factors known to cause cancer — such tobacco smoke, alcohol or being obese — at an earlier age than previous generations.

She pointed out that the “obesity epidemic” did not start until the 1980s.

Sivakumar felt that at least part of the puzzle could be explained by obesity.

However, there is “another wave” of under-50 patients who are neither obese nor genetically predisposed still getting cancer, he emphasised, adding that this could not be put down to “statistical chance”.

The other theory, Coleman said, is that “something different” has been going on with her generation.

Fingers have been pointed out a range of possible culprits — including chemicals, new drugs and microplastics — but none have been proven.

Some have suggested that so-called ultra-processed foods could be to blame. “But there’s very little data to back any of that up,” Coleman said.

Another theory is that the food we eat could be changing our gut microbiome.

While there is nothing conclusive yet, Coleman said her own research suggested that cancer causes changes to the microbiome, not the other way around.

Anti-vaxx conspiracy theorists have even tried to blame Covid-19 vaccines.

This is easily disproven, because the rise in young adult cancer has taken place over decades, but the vaccines have only been around for a few years.

What can be done?

To address the rise in younger colorectal cancer, in 2021 the US lowered the recommended age for screening to 45. Other countries have yet to follow suit.

But the researchers hoped that Catherine’s experience would remind people at home that they should consult their doctor if they sense anything is wrong.

“People know their bodies really well,” Sivakumar said.

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“If you really feel that something isn’t right, don’t delay — just get yourself checked out.”

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Almost 3,000 students suspended in Waterloo Region over immunization issues

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Close to 3,000 children attending elementary school across Waterloo Region were suspended from school on Wednesday morning for not having up-to-date immunization records.

The region says Waterloo Public Health suspended 2,969 students under the Immunization of School Pupils Act (ISPA).

For several months, the region has been campaigning for people to get their children’s vaccinations up to date, including sending letters home to parents on a couple of occasions, warning that students’ records needed to be up to date or they would be suspended.

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It announced in January that 32,000 students did not have up-to-date records: 22,000 elementary students and 10,000 high school students.


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“We have made remarkable progress from the original 27,567 immunization notices we sent to parents in November and December 2023,” Dr. Hsiu-Li Wang, medical officer of health, stated.

“Since that time, we have resolved more than 24,500 outdated vaccination records, providing students with valuable protection against these serious and preventable diseases.”

The high school students still have a few weeks to get their records up to date or else face suspension.

The ISPA requires students to have proof-of-vaccination records for diphtheria, polio, tetanus, pertussis, measles, mumps, rubella, varicella (chickenpox) and meningitis, which must be on file with public health.

Public health says caregivers whose children are suspended will need to book an appointment at regionofwaterloo.ca/vaccines for clinics, which will be held in Cambridge and Waterloo on weekdays.

“Given the high number of suspensions, it may take several days before you can be seen at an appointment and return your child to school,” a release from the region warns.

“Record submission and questions must be done in person to ensure immediate resolution.”

The last time suspensions over immunizations were issued was in 2019, when 1,032 students were suspended.

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