Still COVIDing Canada

BC patients, health advocates slam removal of healthcare mask protections

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British Columbia

BC patients, health advocates slam removal of healthcare mask protections

Published March 31, 2025

Published by: DoNoHarm BC
Published on: March 31, 2025

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

DoNoHarm BC, Protect Our Province BC and the Canadian Covid Society warn the province’s decision endangers patients, healthcare workers, and the healthcare system

March 31, 2025 (British Columbia) – BC patients and health advocates are speaking out against the provincial government’s decision to drop healthcare mask requirements, at a time when there are multiple illness outbreaks in medical settings. Public health groups DoNoHarm BC, Protect Our Province BC, and the Canadian Covid Society warn that the move endangers vulnerable patients and frontline workers, while harming the sustainability and cost-effectiveness of BC’s healthcare system.

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I traded my U.S. medical career for life in Canada. Here’s how the two health systems stack up.

A red emergency sign at a hospital. Photo: Pixabey.

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healthcare

I traded my U.S. medical career for life in Canada. Here’s how the two health systems stack up.

Published March 25, 2025

Published by: Canada Healthwatch
Published on: March 25, 2025
By Code Black

After more than a decade practicing emergency medicine in the United States, I very recently began working shifts in Canada. The differences hit me immediately, and are profound.

What follows are a series of working hypotheses — early impressions shaped by firsthand experience and years of health policy work in the U.S. I expect they will evolve with time, but they already point to important contrasts in how both countries approach medicine, physician autonomy, and the doctor-patient relationship.

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Smartwatch Data: Study Finds Early Health Differences in Long COVID Patients

A man with glasses, black shorts, and a grey long-sleeved top looks at his smartwatch as he runs alone on a road at sunset. In the background: green fields and trees. Photo: Benoît Deschasaux / Unsplash.

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long COVID

Smartwatch Data: Study Finds Early Health Differences in Long COVID Patients

Published March 20, 2025

Published by: Complexity Science Hub
Published on: March 20, 2025

People who later experienced persistent shortness of breath or fatigue after a COVID infection were already taking significantly fewer steps per day and had a higher resting heart rate before contracting the virus, according to a CSH study published in npj Digital Medicine. This may indicate lower fitness levels or pre-existing conditions as potential risk factors

Between April 2020 and December 2022, over 535,000 people in Germany downloaded and activated the Corona Data Donation App (CDA). Of these, more than 120,000 voluntarily shared daily data from their smartwatches and fitness trackers with researchers, providing insights into vital functions such as resting heart rate and step count.

“These high-resolution data served as the starting point for our study,” explains CSH researcher Katharina Ledebur. “We were able to compare vital signs in 15-minute intervals before, during, and after a SARS-CoV-2 infection.”

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BC’s Measles Vaccination Rate Is Lower Than in Gaines County, Texas

Colourized transmission electron micrograph of a measles virus particle (red), with a yellow background. Photo: CDC and NIAID. Licensed under Creative Commons CC BY 2.0 DEED Attribution 2.0 Generic license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/

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British Columbia

BC’s Measles Vaccination Rate Is Lower Than in Gaines County, Texas

Published March 14, 2025

Published by: The Tyee
Published on: March 14, 2025
By Michelle Gamage

In Gaines County, Texas, where a measles outbreak has killed one six-year-old and one adult, the measles vaccination rate among kindergarteners is just 82 per cent, according to reporting by The Atlantic.

That’s a higher measles vaccination rate than children have here in B.C.

Just under 82 per cent of two-year-olds have gotten one dose of the measles, mumps and rubella, or MMR, vaccine, and around 72 per cent of seven-year-olds have gotten both doses, according to the B.C. Childhood Immunization Coverage Dashboard’s 2023 data, which is the most recent data year available.

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International Long COVID Awareness Day 2025

Image of Ottawa sign with teal-coloured letters, with text in white reading: International Long COVID Awareness Day. Teal, grey and black symbol of International Long COVID Awareness Day.

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Ottawa-Gatineau

International Long COVID Awareness Day 2025

Published March 12, 2025

International Long COVID Awareness Day – COVID-cautious walk

Date: Saturday, March 15, 2025

Time: 7 pm – 8 pm

Where: Ottawa City Hall (meet at the entrance, Laurier Avenue side)

Join us for a walk on International Long COVID Awareness Day, Saturday, March 15, 2025 at 7 pm. The route is wheelchair-accessible.

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Advocates Urge BC to Reinstate Healthcare Mask Protections Amid Rising Risks

Featured

British Columbia

Advocates Urge BC to Reinstate Healthcare Mask Protections Amid Rising Risks

Published December 10, 2024

Published by: DoNoHarm BC
Published on: December 10, 2024

DoNoHarm BC, Protect Our Province BC and the Canadian Covid Society warn of infection risks in healthcare

December 10, 2024 (British Columbia, Canada) – Advocacy groups in BC are calling on policy-makers to immediately reinstate healthcare mask requirements. The call comes as BC faces severe risks from COVID-19, a rise in “walking pneumonia,” local measles warnings, and Canada’s first human case of H5N1 avian influenza – which health officials warn could potentially turn into another pandemic.

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Everything Wrong with Canada’s Proposed Long COVID Recommendations

Photo of a doctor. She is wearing an obsolete blue medical mask, a blue cap and a white gown. Photo: Bermix Studio / Unsplash.

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long COVID

Everything Wrong with Canada’s Proposed Long COVID Recommendations

Published November 25, 2024

Published by: Canadian Health Sentinel
Published on: November 25, 2024
By Simon Spichak

Researchers involved in the organizations Cochrane Canada and the McMaster GRADE Centre at McMaster University are developing guidelines to prevent and treat Long COVID in Canada. Their effort is supported by the Public Health Agency of Canada and their recommendations would likely have major sway in the way Long COVID is treated if adopted.

Every month, they release new recommendations and provide an opportunity for public comment. On November 20th, the group released a new set of Canadian Post-COVID Condition (CAN-PCC) recommendations which propose harmful and ineffective treatments: Exercise to prevent Long COVID and cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) to treat post-exertional malaise (PEM).

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Novavax now! We need access to the Novavax COVID-19 vaccine!

Photo of two vials of a vaccine and a syringe, accompanied by white and gold text on a blue background reading: Novavax now! We need access to the Novavax COVID-19 vaccine. StillCoviding.ca #NovavaxNow Photo: oasisamuel / Adobe.

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take action

Novavax now! We need access to the Novavax COVID-19 vaccine!

Published August 25, 2024

📣 Let PHAC and health ministers know you want timely access to the Novavax COVID-19 vaccine this fall

✉️ Send letters to PHAC and health ministers to voice your support for access to the Novavax COVID-19 vaccine this fall. Use our online tool to send emails.

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Local groups join forces for Vancouver’s second annual Clean Air Festival

Light blue illustrated image with clouds. Text reads, the second annual Clean Air Festival! (The “R” in Air has cartoon eyes and is wearing a mask). A Covid-safer hybrid event.

Featured

British Columbia

Local groups join forces for Vancouver’s second annual Clean Air Festival

Published August 22, 2024

Published by: Clean Air Festival
Published on: August 22, 2024

Event spotlights clean air, community care, and award-winning talent

August 22, 2024 (Vancouver, BC) – On September 15, 2024, a coalition of community groups will present Vancouver’s second annual Clean Air Festival. From 1-6:30 pm, Clean Air 604, Clean Air in BC Schools, DoNoHarm BC, Masks 4 East Van, Millions Missing BC, Protect Our Province BC, SolidAIRity GVRD, Safe Schools Coalition BC, Spring Vancouver, and Vancouver Still Cares will join forces to present a COVID-safer, immuno-inclusive hybrid event, taking place in-person at Slocan Park and digitally via livestream and recording.

The event features a DIY air purifier-building workshop, tabling, children’s games and activities from 1:00 pm, with a stage magic performance at 3:45 pm and an outdoor concert from 4:30 pm. Masks, rapid tests, zines and DIY fit test kits will be available while supplies last. Air purifiers from the workshop will be donated to schools via Clean Air in BC Schools, and to vulnerable community members via Masks 4 East Van.

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The Risks of Killing a COVID Early Warning System

Photo of a person wearing an elastomeric respirator, with an outstretched, gloved hand reaching forward towards the viewer. On the light blue glove, the text reads: Stop COVID-19. With a bokeh effect, there is a sharp image of the glove, and the person’s face and respirator are blurred in the background. Photo: fernando zhiminaicela via Pixabay.

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Ontario

The Risks of Killing a COVID Early Warning System

Published August 1, 2024

Published by: The Tyee
Published on: August 1, 2024
By Andrew Nikiforuk

COVID-19 is surging in parts of North America and Europe, and even played a role in ending the presidential campaign of 81-year-old Joe Biden, who was infected for the third time last month.

Nevertheless, on Wednesday the Ontario government shut down its early warning system to detect COVID and other emerging diseases.

Doctors, citizens and researchers are calling the decision to kill the province’s wastewater disease surveillance program both wrong-headed and dangerous. Ending the program will make it harder to track and thwart viral outbreaks, they say, and thereby increase the burden on Ontario’s understaffed hospitals, which experienced more than 1,000 emergency room closures last year.

“Pandemics do not end because science has been muzzled,” Dr. Iris Gorfinkel, a well-known Toronto physician and clinical researcher, told the CBC.

In emails to politicians, more than 5,000 citizens have demanded restoration of the program, with little effect.

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Ontario: Protect our health — save Ontario’s wastewater monitoring!

Photo of some test tubes and equipment in a lab, with text: Protect our health. Save Ontario’s wastewater monitoring. StillCoviding.ca.

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take action

Ontario: Protect our health — save Ontario’s wastewater monitoring!

Published June 4, 2024

📣 Let MPPs know you want funding for Ontario’s wastewater monitoring program to continue

✉️ Send letters to MPPs to voice your support for wastewater monitoring. Use our online tool to send emails.

Why take action? Wastewater monitoring is an essential public health tool that provides insights into the spread of SARS-CoV-2 and other viruses in Ontario’s communities.

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Ontario: Call Members of Provincial Parliament on #WastewaterWednesday!

Photo of the Ontario Legislative Building, and the surrounding green lawn and trees. It is a sunny day, and the sky is blue with some clouds. Text reads: Save Ontario’s wastewater monitoring! Call Premier Ford Phone: 416-325-1941 TTY/Teletypewriter: 1-800-387-5559 StillCOVIDing.ca #WastewaterWednesday

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take action

Ontario: Call Members of Provincial Parliament on #WastewaterWednesday!

Published June 4, 2024

📣 Take action! Let MPPs know you want funding for Ontario’s wastewater monitoring program to continue

📱 Call MPPs to voice your support for wastewater monitoring.

✉️ Use our online tool to send letters to MPPs.

✉️ Use our online tool to send emails to municipal councillors in Ottawa or Waterloo Region.

📸 Post photos on social media.

Why take action? Wastewater monitoring is an essential public health tool that provides insights into the spread of SARS-CoV-2 and other viruses in Ontario’s communities.

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COVID virus can infect your eyes and damage vision

Illustration of an eye with a SARS-CoV-2 virus particle; with blue, black and coral pink colours. Illustration by Monika Jurczyk / Adobe.

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vision loss

COVID virus can infect your eyes and damage vision

Published May 15, 2024

Published by: Futurity
Published on: May 15, 2024
By Rochita Ghosh / University of Missouri

The virus that causes COVID-19 can breach the protective blood-retinal barrier, leading to potential long-term consequences in the eye, new research shows.

The blood-retinal barrier is designed to protect our vision from infections by preventing microbial pathogens from reaching the retina where they could trigger an inflammatory response with potential vision loss.

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BC health advocates call on government to reinstate healthcare mask requirements

A white N95 mask with yellow head straps against an orange gradient background. White text reads, Vulnerability isn’t seasonal. #KeepMasksInHealthcare. Let’s get loud! www.DoNoHarmBC.ca

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British Columbia

BC health advocates call on government to reinstate healthcare mask requirements

Published April 25, 2024

Published by: DoNoHarm BC
Published on: April 17, 2024

Protect Our Province BC, DoNoHarm BC, and Masks4EastVan highlight harms and human rights violations from loss of healthcare safety

Wednesday, April 17, 2024 (British Columbia) – Independent public health groups Protect Our Province BC, DoNoHarm BC, and Masks4EastVan are calling on the BC government to restore healthcare mask requirements. They are urging British Columbians to call for airborne pathogen protections in clinical settings by joining DoNoHarm BC’s campaign.

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Study: Infection-control measures stemmed COVID spread in hospitals from 2020 to 2022

Lieutenant (junior grade) Kayla Marthy, from Long Island, New York (left), and Lieutenant (junior grade) Brianna Garcia, from St. Petersburg, Florida, treat a patient in the intensive care unit aboard the hospital ship USNS Mercy (T-AH 19), on April 13, 2020. U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Ryan M. Breeden.

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N95 respirators

Study: Infection-control measures stemmed COVID spread in hospitals from 2020 to 2022

Published January 17, 2024

Published by: CIDRAP
Published on: January 17, 2024
By Mary Van Beusekom

Implementation of ventilation standards of at least five clean-air changes per hour, COVID-19 testing, the use of personal protective equipment (PPE), and universal wearing of respirators prevented most SARS-CoV-2 transmissions in a California healthcare system from 2020 to 2022, suggests a study published yesterday in Clinical Infectious Diseases.

For the study, University of California (UC) researchers used electronic health records and movement data of patients and staff to conduct viral genomic and social network analyses to estimate COVID-19 spread in the UC–San Diego Health system. The team analyzed 12,933 viral genomes from 35,666 infected patients and healthcare workers (HCWs) (out of 1,303,622 tests [2.7%]) from November 2020 to January 2022.

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“They’re Taking Away Your Right To Be Healthy.”

Image of a plague doctor wearing a plague mask and black clothes. The setting appears to be a smoky, dimly-lit room, with a bright light near the centre. Art by нυвιѕ тανєяη on Unsplash.

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activism

“They’re Taking Away Your Right To Be Healthy.”

Published January 12, 2024

Published by: OK Doomer
Published on: January 12, 2024
By Jessica Wildfire

The tide is turning. Thanks to all the people making noise on social media and bugging their families, while continuing to wear masks and build air purifiers no matter what anyone says, there’s a trace of hope.

—Jessica Wildfire

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Can You Catch Covid Outside? Yes, You Can.

Monochromatic image with a masked plague doctor in the foreground and a smoky background. Image generated using AI by Olivia. Source: Adobe stock image.

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outdoor transmission

Can You Catch Covid Outside? Yes, You Can.

Published November 28, 2023

Published by: OK Doomer
Published on: November 28, 2023
By Jessica Wildfire

You wouldn’t attend an outdoor party where measles or smallpox was present. Covid is no different, especially now.

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First-person stories from British Columbians

Featured

British Columbia

First-person stories from British Columbians

Published August 28, 2023

Published by: DoNoHarm BC
Published on: August 28, 2023

CW: cancer, surgery, medical negligence, denial of care, disability grief

As part of DoNoHarm BC’s #Postcards4PublicHealth campaign, we’ve invited British Columbians to share their stories about the lack of Covid safety in BC – particularly the loss of mask protections in healthcare. Many wrote directly to policy makers. Some generously gave us permission to share their stories with the public and the press.

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Featured

pandemic myths

Ten COVID Facts Health Officials Dangerously Downplay

Published December 21, 2022

Published by: The Tyee
Published on: December 21, 2022
By Andrew Nikiforuk

Do not listen to powers that be who pretend that getting infected with COVID multiple times is now no big deal. They’re asking you to lower your guard for a nasty virus that can invade the brain, disregulate the immune system and damage the vascular system.

This strategy has led to predictable results — more direct deaths, more excess deaths, more disease and some 1.4 million Canadians reporting some form of long COVID over the last two years.

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long COVID

One of Long COVID’s Worst Symptoms Is Also Its Most Misunderstood

Published September 12, 2022

Published by: The Atlantic
Published on: September 12, 2022
By Ed Yong

Brain fog isn’t like a hangover or depression. It’s a disorder of executive function that makes basic cognitive tasks absurdly hard.

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Quebec

Seniors 75 and over invited to get COVID-19 vaccine

Published April 14, 2025

Published by: La Presse / The Canadian Press
Published on: April 14, 2025
By Katrine Desautels

(Montreal) A COVID-19 vaccination campaign is launched this spring for people at risk of developing complications, Santé Québec announced on Monday.

Teams are currently deployed in the province’s long-term care homes, after which vaccination will be offered in private seniors’ residences (RPA) with a more vulnerable clientele.

In addition to CHSLDs and RPAs, seniors 75 years of age or older and people with immunodeficiency or dialysis are encouraged to go get their vaccine dose. This vaccination campaign also aims to reach people aged 65-74 who live with a chronic disease or in remote and isolated areas.

Non-targeted people aged 6 months and older can also receive the COVID-19 vaccine free of charge, says Santé Québec. If they have already been vaccinated, they should wait at least six months after their vaccine before receiving a new dose.

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cognitive issues

Is Covid Rewriting the Rules of Aging? Brain Decline Alarms Doctors

Published April 14, 2025

Published by: The Wall Street Journal
Published on: April 14, 2025
By Sumathi Reddy

Five years after the pandemic’s start, millions of Americans are still struggling with long-lasting symptoms of Covid-19. Cognitive difficulties are among the most troubling and common symptoms in people both old and young.

These ailments can be severe enough to leave former professionals like Ken Todd unable to work and even diagnosed with a form of mild cognitive impairment.

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anti-vaxxers

Health secretary RFK Jr. declares certain vaccines have ‘never worked,’ flummoxing scientists

Published April 10, 2025

Published by: STAT
Published on: April 10, 2025
By Helen Branswell

Health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has expressed another unorthodox view on vaccines, with the long-time vaccine critic declaring that vaccines for respiratory bugs that target a sole part of the pathogen they are meant to protect against do not work.

The claim was dismissed as erroneous by vaccine experts, who were befuddled by the secretary’s theory, espoused during an interview with CBS News.

Kennedy made the claim in explaining a controversial recent decision by political appointees at the Food and Drug Administration to delay granting a full license to Novavax’s Covid-19 vaccine, which is still given under an emergency use authorization or EUA.

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Ontario

Ontario measles case count exceeds 800 total infections, 155 new since last week

Published April 10, 2025

Published by: The Canadian Press
Published on: April 10, 2025
By Hannah Alberga

TORONTO – Ontario is reporting 155 new measles cases over the last week, pushing the province’s case count to 816 since an outbreak began in the fall.

The number of new cases has increased again after a few weeks of appearing to stabilize in the 100-per-week range, which public health physicians had taken as a sign of potential optimism.

Dr. Sarah Wilson, public health physician at Public Health Ontario, says the fact that Ontario has exceeded 800 cases is striking.

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war on science

How Trump 2.0 is slashing NIH-backed research — in charts

Published April 10, 2025

Published by: Nature
Published on: April 10, 2025
By Max Kozlov, Chris Ryan

The US National Institutes of Health (NIH) has terminated nearly 800 research projects at a breakneck pace, wiping out significant chunks of funding to entire scientific fields, finds a Nature analysis of the unprecedented cuts.

The administration of US President Donald Trump began purging NIH-funded studies on topics that it deems problematic less than 50 days ago, continuously expanding its list to include research on topics ranging from COVID-19 to misinformation. Hundreds of the 30,000-plus scientists funded by the NIH yearly have been forced to halt their work after receiving notices that their research “no longer effectuates agency priorities”, and some have had to fire personnel or even shut down their laboratories.

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long COVID

Studies: 1 in 7 US working-age adults report long COVID, with heaviest burden on the poor

Published April 9, 2025

Published by: CIDRAP
Published on: April 9, 2025
By Mary Van Beusekom

Nearly 1 in 7 working-age US adults had experienced long COVID by late 2023, and socially disadvantaged adults were over 150% more likely to have persistent symptoms, two new studies find.

Future public health, economic burdens

Yesterday in Communications Medicine, Daniel Kim, MD, DrPH, of Northeastern University, analyzed data from the US Census Bureau’s Household Pulse Survey from September and November 2022 and August to October 2023 on more than 375,000 US adults, including nearly 50,000 with self-reported long COVID.

Kim assessed sociodemographic and socioeconomic factors as predictors of long COVID; estimated the risk of unemployment, financial difficulties, and anxiety and depression among working-age adults (ages 18 to 64 years) and those currently experiencing lingering symptoms; and tallied the economic effects of the resulting lost wages.

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long COVID

Tackling the ‘silent pandemic’: breakthrough study puts first long COVID treatment on horizon

Published April 8, 2025

Published by: WEHI
Published on: April 9, 2025

Researchers have shown a new drug compound can prevent long COVID symptoms in mice – a landmark finding that could lead to a future treatment for the debilitating condition.

The world-first study found mice treated with the antiviral compound, developed by a multidisciplinary research team at WEHI, were protected from long term brain and lung dysfunction – key symptoms of long COVID.

Researchers hope the unprecedented results could lead to clinical trials and the first treatment for the disease in the future.

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Toronto

Airborne Danger

Published April 4, 2025

Published by: The Grind Magazine
Published on: April 4, 2025
By Saima Desai

Stuffy, crowded classrooms mean kids are breathing in viruses and pollution. Parents are trying to make the air safer, but hitting roadblocks.

In September 2023, Heather Pun started sending her son to school with a carbon dioxide monitor. He was spending his days in a stuffy portable classroom, and she worried that COVID was being passed lung-to-lung through the stale air.

The device, which reads the concentration of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the air, showed CO2 levels as high as 3,500 parts per million (ppm) in his classroom.

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war on science

Top scientists pen letter calling for end to ‘assault on U.S. science’

Published April 1, 2025

Published by: CBC Radio
Published on: April 1, 2025
By Catherine Zhu

Nearly 2,000 doctors, researchers, and scientists have signed an open letter calling for an end to what they describe as the Trump administration’s “wholesale assault on U.S. science.”

The letter, written by 13 scientists from disciplines including medicine, climate science and economics, urges Americans to demand their Congress protect scientific funding and integrity.

The signatories, all members of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, wrote that the Trump administration is “destabilizing this enterprise by gutting funding for research, firing thousands of scientists, removing public access to scientific data, and pressuring researchers to alter or abandon their work on ideological grounds.”

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war on science

Rollout of ‘miracle’ HIV prevention drug is threatened by Trump cuts to global AIDS relief program

Published April 1, 2025

Published by: STAT
Published on: April 1, 2025
By Ed Silverman, Jason Mast

The Trump administration’s enormous cuts to a global AIDS relief program threaten to upend the planned rollout of a groundbreaking HIV prevention drug that was expected to save countless lives.

The medicine, lenacapavir, made by Gilead Sciences, has caused a stir because clinical trial data showed a single set of injections every six months could provide virtually complete protection against infection, a form of prevention known as pre-exposure prophylaxis, or (PrEP). The drug, which is under regulatory review, has raised hopes that the deadly infectious disease can be mitigated around the globe. Early data for an even newer formulation suggest it might need to be given only once a year. “This is magical,” UNAIDS chief Winnie Byanyima declared last year.

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British Columbia

‘Abandoned and betrayed’: Removal of mask requirement in B.C. health care sparks outcry

Published April 1, 2025

Published by: Daily Hive
Published on: April 1, 2025
By Amir Ali

We’ve come a long way from the days of general mask mandates for the public, but a recent move to eliminate the requirement in B.C. health care settings is causing some outcry.

According to a recent BC Ministry of Health release, “People are still encouraged to wear medical masks in health care settings as appropriate,” but it is not mandatory.

Some groups, including Protect Our Province BC and DoNoHarm BC, are questioning the decision. This response comes after B.C. announced that it was launching the spring immunization campaign on April 8.

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vaccines

COVID-19 boosters help avoid breakthrough infections in immunocompromised people, McGill-led study finds

Published March 31, 2025

Published by: McGill University
Published on: March 31, 2025

Researchers focused on those with rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, inflammatory bowel disease, multiple sclerosis and other immune-mediated inflammatory diseases

New research findings provide solid evidence that annual COVID-19 vaccine booster doses continue to be advisable for certain immunocompromised people, researchers at McGill University say.

The researchers looked at how often people with immune-mediated inflammatory diseases (IMIDs) got COVID-19 despite having received at least three doses of an mRNA COVID-19 vaccine. IMIDs – including rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, inflammatory bowel disease and multiple sclerosis – affect more than seven million Canadians. The medications they take often weaken their vaccine responses, increasing their vulnerability to infection.

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Trump regime

Trump’s proposed tariffs likely to cause shortages of Canadian-made drugs in U.S., study says

Published March 31, 2025

Published by: The Globe and Mail
Published on: March 31, 2025
By Chris Hannay

U.S. President Donald Trump’s proposed tariffs on pharmaceuticals are likely to cause shortages of dozens of Canadian-made drugs in the United States, according to a new study.

Pharmaceuticals are one of a handful of sector-specific tariffs the President has talked publicly about imposing, along with ones already levied on steel, aluminum and autos. Mr. Trump has suggested tariffs could address high drug costs in the U.S. and increase domestic manufacturing.

New research published Monday in the Journal of the American Medical Association looked at how many and what kind of Canadian-made drugs would be hit by the tariffs. It found US$3-billion in annual sales came from drugs with final production in Canada, which would lead to an increased cost of US$750-million for American buyers if tariffs were set at 25 per cent. Of the Canadian-made drugs, 79 per cent were generics.

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Alberta

Spring COVID-19 vaccine doses expected for some vulnerable Albertans

Published March 31, 2025

Published by: CBC News
Published on: March 31, 2025
By Jennifer Lee

Preparations are underway for a limited spring COVID-19 vaccination program in Alberta.

Pharmacists say certain groups of high-risk Albertans will be eligible for a biannual dose of the KP.2 vaccine, starting April 28.

Eligible groups include seniors (aged 65 and older), all First Nations, Métis and Inuit people six months of age and older, immunocompromised Albertans six months and up, and adults living in care homes, according to Alberta’s updated immunization policy.

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Newfoundland and Labrador

Province Offers COVID-19 Booster Doses to At-Risk Populations

Published March 29, 2025

Published by: VOCM
Published on: March 29, 2025

The provincial government has started offering COVID-19 booster doses to specific at-risk populations, as identified by the National Advisory on Immunization.

Eligible are all people age 65 and older, adult residents of long-term care homes and other congregate living settings for seniors, and people who are over six months old and are moderately to severely immunocompromised.

The vaccine will be available until June 1st.

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long COVID

The pandemic didn’t end for this P.E.I. woman, who wants more support for those with long COVID

Published March 28, 2025

Published by: CBC News
Published on: March 28, 2025
By Stephen Brun

Just over two years ago, Nikkie Gallant never would have imagined that simply sitting up in bed would be an exhausting task for her.

That’s been the P.E.I. musician’s reality since the fall of 2022, when she was diagnosed with post-COVID condition, more commonly known as “long COVID.”

Now she drains a lot of energy just going to the sink for a glass of water or folding laundry. She often has to forget about plans to leave the house.

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Respiratory season ends, B.C. launching spring COVID-19 vaccination campaign

British Columbia

Respiratory season ends, B.C. launching spring COVID-19 vaccination campaign

Published March 28, 2025

Published by: The Canadian Press
Published on: March 28, 2025
By Brenna Owen

Respiratory illness season is over, British Columbia’s top doctor said Friday, but the province is set to launch a spring COVID-19 immunization campaign and wants everyone to ensure they’re fully protected against measles.

Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry said B.C.’s COVID-19 hospitalizations have hit the lowest level since 2020, with about 40 people in hospital, while cases of influenza and respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV, have also been declining.

Still, Henry said there have been resurgences in spring and summer in the past, and the province is focused on protecting people at the highest risk of serious illness.

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Still COVIDing Canada Posts

Still COVIDing Canada Posts

DoNoHarm BC, Protect Our Province BC and the Canadian Covid Society warn the province’s decision endangers patients, healthcare workers, and the healthcare system

Still COVIDing Canada Posts

Still COVIDing Canada Posts

Still COVIDing Canada Posts

Still COVIDing Canada Posts

International Long COVID Awareness Day – COVID-cautious walk

Still COVIDing Canada Posts

DoNoHarm BC, Protect Our Province BC and the Canadian Covid Society warn of infection risks in healthcare

Still COVIDing Canada Posts

Still COVIDing Canada Posts

📣 Let PHAC and health ministers know you want timely access to the Novavax COVID-19 vaccine this fall

Still COVIDing Canada Posts

Event spotlights clean air, community care, and award-winning talent

Still COVIDing Canada Posts

Still COVIDing Canada Posts

📣 Let MPPs know you want funding for Ontario’s wastewater monitoring program to continue

Still COVIDing Canada Posts

📣 Take action! Let MPPs know you want funding for Ontario’s wastewater monitoring program to continue

Still COVIDing Canada Posts

Still COVIDing Canada Posts

Protect Our Province BC, DoNoHarm BC, and Masks4EastVan highlight harms and human rights violations from loss of healthcare safety

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Future public health, economic burdens

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Still COVIDing Canada Posts

Still COVIDing Canada Posts

Researchers focused on those with rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, inflammatory bowel disease, multiple sclerosis and other immune-mediated inflammatory diseases

Still COVIDing Canada Posts

Still COVIDing Canada Posts

Still COVIDing Canada Posts

Still COVIDing Canada Posts

Still COVIDing Canada Posts