Tue., July 6, 2021 Eleven cases of a COVID-19 variant detected in about 30 countries and recently flagged by the World Health Organization have been found in Canada. None of them are in Ontario, but public health officials here say they are now testing all positive samples formutations. Lambda, first detected in Peru last August, was designated a…
Category: Community News
Too soon to remove masks with threat of COVID-19 variants? Experts weigh in
With COVID-19 cases dropping across Canada, so are some of the strictest public health measures — such as mandatory masks — in some places. City council in Calgary voted Monday to repeal the city’s mask bylaw — joining most of Alberta in no longer requiring masks in public places like restaurants and shops. B.C. has also eliminated its masking…
First-dose COVID-19 vaccinations plateau across Canada, threatening path to variant resilience
The number of people getting their first COVID-19 vaccine doses is plateauing across the country, heightening the need to target harder-to-reach groups if Canada is going to achieve the vaccination levels needed to control the spread of infection. As of Monday, 78 per cent of those eligible to be vaccinated in Canada have received at least one…
The Lambda COVID-19 variant: What do we know about it?
TORONTO — A recently designated COVID-19 variant of interest by the World Health Organization is coming under scrutiny as more cases are being detected in multiple countries, and amid concerns that it carries mutations that could potentially make it more resistant to neutralizing antibodies. The newly labelled Lambda variant, or C.37, was first detected as…
The COVID outbreaks that Ontario wasn’t counting
Nora Loreto: It was clear that COVID-19 infection was more deadly for disabled adults. So how many died in care facilities, and why wasn’t Ontario reporting the number? When media reported that nearly all residents at a Participation House facility in Markham, Ont., had caught COVID-19, it put congregant living facilities on the radar of…
Vaccines extremely effective against COVID variants of concern: Canadian study
Whether it’s Pfizer, Moderna or Astra Zeneca, the vaccines used in Canada ‘are doing exactly what they should be doing,’ including against the Delta variant Researchers around the world are sifting through data to determine how the leading COVID-19 vaccines are doing against the variants of concern. Now, a big pre-print study from Ontario suggests that the…
The long emotional recovery from the pandemic
Since the pandemic started in March 2020, people like me, with experience of mental illness, have faced isolation, fear, anxiety, and depression. The worst is uncertainty about the future. I am a senior, but feelings such as these probably affect the younger generation most. Some have lost their jobs while still needing to support their…
Canada’s new travel rules: Here’s what you need to know
Fully vaccinated travellers who are Canadian citizens or permanent residents will no longer have to quarantine when entering Canada, so long as they fit the government’s specific definition of being fully vaccinated. On Monday, the Government of Canada announced exemptions for fully-vaccinated people looking to enter the country. Unvaccinated or partially vaccinated travellers will still have to…
Family doctors are getting a new tool to help nudge vaccine stragglers towards getting their first COVID jabs
With Ontario’s rate of first COVID-19 vaccine doses plateauing, the province’s family doctors are getting a new tool to help reach the roughly 22 per cent of adults who haven’t yet received a shot. The “Aggregate Primary Care Vaccination Report” will be available mid-July, according to a letter from Ontario Health’s Dr. David Kaplan and Dr. Sacha Bhatia, sent last…
Will third doses of COVID-19 vaccines be necessary for immunocompromised people?
Heart transplant recipient Donna Speed hoped that getting vaccinated against the coronavirus would be a ticket back to normal life. Throughout the pandemic, the 66-year-old resident of Flamborough, Ont., had to be acutely aware of infection risk because the anti-rejection medications she takes suppress her immune system in a way that makes her especially vulnerable to COVID-19….