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Month: May 2025

Topic: pandemic responseView all posts for the topic: pandemic response

COVID-19 Disease Burden Remains Greater Than Influenza, Study Shows

Published May 31, 2025

Still COVIDing Canada Posts

Published by: Forbes
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By Dave Wessner

Researchers in Denmark conducted a large-scale evaluation of the disease burdens associated with COVID-19 and influenza. Their conclusion? COVID-19 has a greater impact than influenza, resulting in more hospitalizations and deaths. These findings, they note, emphasize the continued need for a strong public health response.

COVID-19 Exhibits Greater Disease Burden Than Influenza

To compare the disease burden of COVID-19 and influenza, the researchers evaluated data available from Danish health registries from May 16, 2022 to June 7, 2024. The results were published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases. A commentary about the findings was published in the same issue of the journal.

During this period, the risk of hospitalization due to COVID-19 was approximately two times higher than the risk of hospitalization due to influenza. The risk of death was approximately three times higher. The researchers note that these increased risks were greater during the first year of the study period but still were evident during the second year. The risk of mortality, for example, was five times greater for COVID-19 during the first year of the study. That increased risk dropped during the second year, but COVID-19 still had a two and a half times greater risk of mortality than influenza.

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Topic: ManitobaView all posts for the topic: Manitoba

‘Very high risk’ air quality in Brandon, as smoke persists

Published May 31, 2025

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Published by: The Brandon Sun
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By Abiola Odutola

The Air Quality Health Index (AQHI) for Brandon reached 10+, indicating a “very high risk” level on Saturday morning, as thick smoke was expected to linger in the air until Saturday night.

Environment Canada’s forecast anticipates that these hazardous conditions will persist through Saturday night, with only a slight improvement expected, dropping to a “moderate risk” (AQHI 6) by Sunday morning and a “high risk” (AQHI 7) by Sunday night.

The elevated readings are the result of thick wildfire smoke that drifted into Brandon Friday evening and remains heavy over the city Saturday morning. The smoke originates from wildfires burning in northern Manitoba and northern Saskatchewan and has led Environment Canada to issue a special air quality statement for the city.

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Topic: vaccinesView all posts for the topic: vaccines

FDA approves a next-generation Covid vaccine from Moderna, with restrictions

Published May 31, 2025

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Published by: STAT
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By Helen Branswell

The Food and Drug Administration approved Moderna’s new Covid-19 vaccine late Friday, though it placed restrictions on its use that the company’s existing Covid shot, Spikevax, does not currently face.

The new vaccine, which will be marketed under the name mNexspike, will not immediately replace Spikevax. A statement from the company said both vaccines will be available on the market for the time being.

“The FDA approval of our third product, mNEXSPIKE, adds an important new tool to help protect people at high risk of severe disease from Covid-19,” Moderna CEO Stéphane Bancel said in the statement. “Covid-19 remains a serious public health threat, with more than 47,000 Americans dying from the virus last year alone.”

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Topic: SaskatchewanView all posts for the topic: Saskatchewan

Wildfire smoke descends on Saskatoon

Published May 30, 2025

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Published by: CTV News
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By Rory MacLean

Saskatoon was under an air quality advisory Friday morning, as wildfires raging in northern Alberta and Saskatchewan sent smoke across the southern parts of the province.

Those who left a window open overnight likely woke up to the familiar smell of a campfire, but Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) is advising residents to close their windows and limit strenuous outdoor activities or exercise while the system of air pollution passes through.

“Protect your indoor air from wildfire smoke. Actions can include using a clean, good quality air filter in your ventilation system and/or a certified portable air cleaner that can filter fine particles,” the statement said.

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Topic: disinformationView all posts for the topic: disinformation

‘Make America Healthy Again’ report updated to remove nonexistent studies

Published May 29, 2025

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Published by: Agence France-Presse / Vermont Community Newspaper Group
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By Marisha Goldhamer, Bill McCarthy

The White House downplayed questions about its flagship report on children’s health, but edited the document Thursday after authors listed in the paper confirmed it cited studies that do not exist.

The highly anticipated “Make America Healthy Again” (MAHA) report was released on May 22 by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and the presidential commission tasked with assessing drivers of childhood chronic disease.

But authors and publishers of at least four studies listed in the original document told AFP they or their organizations were credited with papers they did not write — or that never existed.

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New COVID strain found in Montreal wastewater: health ministryElectron microscope image of SARS-CoV-2 virus particles. Virus particles are shown emerging from the surface of cells cultured in the lab. Image captured and colourized at NIAID’s Rocky Mountain Laboratories in Hamilton, Montana. Photo by: NIAID. Creative Commons CC BY 2.0 DEED Attribution 2.0 Generic license: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/.
Topic: QuebecView all posts for the topic: Quebec

New COVID strain found in Montreal wastewater: health ministry

Published May 29, 2025

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Published by: Montreal Gazette
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By Leora Schertzer

SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, has mutated into two new variants that are circulating across Asia, Europe and North America, and Quebec’s public health authority warns one of the strains was detected in Montreal wastewater data.

The variant found in Quebec, XFG, has also been detected in wastewater in other parts of Canada, the United States, and Europe. Another new strain, NB.1.8.1, is associated with a rise in COVID cases and hospitalizations in China, Hong Kong, India, Taiwan, Thailand, and Singapore, according to Marie-Pierre Blier, a spokesperson from the health ministry.

Although XFG has made its way to Quebec, public health authorities assure there is no need to panic. Blier wrote in an email that it hasn’t markedly impacted public health, adding that the ministry continues to monitor the situation closely.

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Topic: vaccinesView all posts for the topic: vaccines

Almost 70 per cent of Canadians surveyed want child vaccines to be mandatory: poll

Published May 29, 2025

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Published by: The Canadian Press
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By Hannah Alberga

A new poll suggests nearly 70 per cent of Canadians support mandatory childhood vaccinations, but at least one public health official says she’s uncomfortable with the idea of forcing parents to immunize their kids.

The Angus Reid Institute survey landed Thursday as Public Health Ontario said 93 new measles cases have emerged in the province over the past week, bringing the total number of infections there to 1,888 since October.

The poll found 69 per cent of respondents said proof of immunization should be required for kids to attend daycare and school. That’s an increase from the 55 per cent of respondents who said the same thing last year, before a measles outbreak emerged in multiple provinces and infected mostly unvaccinated infants, kids and teens.

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Topic: kakistocracyView all posts for the topic: kakistocracy

Loss Of MRNA, Bird Flu Vaccines Threatens Our Biosecurity

Published May 29, 2025

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Published by: Forbes
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By Judy Stone

The Department of Health and Human Services announced Thursday that it’s canceling a $760 million contract with Moderna for a bird flu vaccine, saying that further development “was not scientifically or ethically justifiable.” The cancellation comes after Moderna received positive interim data from a trial testing the safety and immunogenicity of its H5N1 bird flu vaccine candidate. The fact that the Biden administration had approved the contract with Moderna did not help.

This administration’s distrust of mRNA vaccines has been apparent. In February, Rep. Adam Schiff stated that HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., “promoted the lie that mRNA vaccines alter human DNA.” Kennedy has previously called mRNA COVID-19 vaccinations dangerous. Further, at least seven states have proposed GOP-sponsored legislation banning or limiting mRNA vaccines and fueling mistrust in vaccines.

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Topic: vaccinesView all posts for the topic: vaccines

COVID vaccine ‘strongly recommended’ during pregnancy, Canadian doctors say

Published May 28, 2025

Still COVIDing Canada Posts

Published by: CTV News / The Canadian Press
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TORONTO — Canada’s gynecologists say COVID-19 vaccination “remains safe and strongly recommended” during pregnancy and while breastfeeding.

The Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Canada issued the assurance Wednesday, a day after U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. — a longtime anti-vaccine activist — declared the shot is no longer recommended for healthy children and pregnant women south of the border.

Pregnant women who become infected with COVID-19 are at higher risk of severe illness requiring hospitalization and intensive care than women who are not pregnant, the SOGC said.

Getting the COVID-19 vaccine also helps protect against serious complications associated with the virus, such as preterm birth, it said.

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Topic: kakistocracyView all posts for the topic: kakistocracy

Doctors fear ‘devastating consequences’ for pregnant people after RFK Jr order on Covid-19 boosters

Published May 28, 2025

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Published by: The Guardian
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By Jessica Glenza

Kennedy’s unilateral decision to change the CDC’s recommended immunization schedule for Covid-19 vaccines demonstrates once again why he is completely unqualified to be the HHS secretary.

In Congressional testimony on May 14, Kennedy said, ‘I don’t think people should be taking medical advice from me.’ Yet two weeks later he is making arbitrary public health decisions, defying norms, and with no accountability.

— Dr Robert Steinbrook, research director at consumer rights group Public Citizen
Continue readingDoctors fear ‘devastating consequences’ for pregnant people after RFK Jr order on Covid-19 boosters
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Topic: OntarioView all posts for the topic: Ontario

Ontario government exempts disability benefit as income

Published May 27, 2025

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Published by: CTV News
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By Reta Ismail, Lauren Kuivenhoven

The Ontario government announced today that the Canada Disability Benefit (CDB) will be exempted as income.

“In a time of unprecedented economic uncertainty brough on by US tariffs and trade barriers, our government is taking action to keep costs down and protect Ontario families,” the provincial minister of children, community and social services said in a statement.

This decision will help the most vulnerable, the statement continued. People who rely on social assistance will receive the benefit without reduction in their social assistance payments.

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Topic: kakistocracyView all posts for the topic: kakistocracy

RFK Jr says no COVID vaccines for healthy children, pregnant women

Published May 27, 2025

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Published by: CIDRAP
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By Stephanie Soucheray

Today Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. made another sweeping change to the US vaccine landscape, saying the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has removed its recommendation of the COVID-19 vaccine for healthy children and pregnant women.

“I couldn’t be more pleased to announce that, as of today, the COVID vaccine for healthy children and healthy pregnant woman has been removed from the CDC recommended immunization schedule,” Kennedy said in a video message, flanked by Martin Makary, MD, MPH, commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, and Jay Bhattacharya, MD, PhD, director of the National Institutes of Health.

The move comes just 1 week after the FDA announced—via an opinion piece in the New England Journal of Medicine—that the vaccine would now be offered only to adults 65 years and older or those with underlying conditions that made them vulnerable to severe COVID-19.

Today’s video message is short and direct but is already causing confusion, as pregnancy itself is considered a risk factor for severe COVID-19.

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Topic: ME/CFSView all posts for the topic: ME/CFS

Sick and tired: More than 20,000 Manitobans suffer from ME/CFS, a long-term chronic disease

Published May 26, 2025

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Published by: Winnipeg Free Press
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By AV Kitching

There is a scene in a season 5 episode of ’80s sitcom The Golden Girls where one of the main characters, Dorothy, who has been…

Continue readingSick and tired: More than 20,000 Manitobans suffer from ME/CFS, a long-term chronic disease
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Topic: researchView all posts for the topic: research

Scientists have lost their jobs or grants in US cuts. Foreign universities want to hire them

Published May 25, 2025

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Published by: The Associated Press
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By Christina Larson, Adithi Ramakrishnan, Jamey Keaten

As the Trump administration cut billions of dollars in federal funding to scientific research, thousands of scientists in the U.S. lost their jobs or grants…

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Topic: new waveView all posts for the topic: new wave

U.S. reports cases of new COVID variant NB.1.8.1 behind surge in China

Published May 23, 2025

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Published by: CBS News
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By Alexander Tin

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s airport screening program has detected multiple cases of the new COVID-19 variant NB.1.8.1, which has been linked to a large surge of the virus in China.

Cases linked to the NB.1.8.1 variant have been reported in arriving international travelers at airports in California, Washington state, Virginia and the New York City area, according to records uploaded by the CDC’s airport testing partner Ginkgo Bioworks.

Details about the sequencing results, which were published in recent weeks on the GISAID, or Global Initiative on Sharing All Influenza Data, virus database, show the cases stem from travelers from a number of countries, including Japan, South Korea, France, Thailand, the Netherlands, Spain, Vietnam, China and Taiwan. The travelers were tested from April 22 through May 12, the records show.

Continue readingU.S. reports cases of new COVID variant NB.1.8.1 behind surge in China
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Topic: measlesView all posts for the topic: measles

Measles cases increase by 173 in Ontario, bringing outbreak’s total close to 1,800

Published May 22, 2025

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Published by: The Canadian Press
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By Nicole Ireland

TORONTO – Public Health Ontario says 173 more people have been infected with measles in the province over the past week, bringing the number of cases to 1,795 since the outbreak began last October.

“That’s 173 more cases than we want to see,” said Dr. Sarah Wilson, a public health physician at the agency.

Public Health Ontario’s weekly measles report, released Thursday, said the virus continues to spread primarily among people who have not been vaccinated.

Continue readingMeasles cases increase by 173 in Ontario, bringing outbreak’s total close to 1,800
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Topic: kakistocracyView all posts for the topic: kakistocracy

The FDA’s misguided new Covid vaccine policy repeats past mistakes

Published May 21, 2025

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Published by: MSNBC
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By Dr. Kavita Patel

The Food and Drug Administration is rewriting America’s Covid vaccine playbook — and not for the better. Its new guidance would trade the clarity and reach of our current vaccination strategy for a confusing age-based and risk-based framework that simply doesn’t fit the realities of Americans’ health. As a primary care physician who has spent years on the front lines of pandemic response, I see this as a step backward that ignores both the lessons of our past and the needs of our most vulnerable patients.

The FDA’s proposed framework eerily mirrors the segmentation we attempted in fall 2021 with Covid boosters. When boosters initially rolled out in September 2021, the FDA authorized them only for specific groups: adults 65 and older, those 18-64 with high-risk conditions, and those with occupational exposure risks.

The approach failed. As someone who had to explain these complex eligibility requirements to confused patients, I can attest to the chaos it created. This limited approach created tremendous confusion among health care providers and patients alike. Pharmacies and clinics struggled to verify eligibility, people misunderstood their risk category and, ultimately, many high-risk individuals who genuinely needed boosters never received them.

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Topic: NovavaxView all posts for the topic: Novavax

F.D.A. Approves Novavax Covid Vaccine With Stricter New Conditions

Published May 17, 2025

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Published by: The New York Times
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By Christina Jewett, Apoorva Mandavilli

The Food and Drug Administration on Friday approved the Novavax Covid-19 vaccine, but only for older adults and for others over age 12 who have at least one medical condition that puts them at high risk from Covid.

Scientific advisers to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, who typically make decisions on who should get approved shots and when, have been debating whether to recommend Covid shots only to the most vulnerable Americans. The F.D.A.’s decision appeared to render at least part of their discussion moot.

The new restriction will sharply limit access to the Novavax vaccine for people under 65 who are in good health. It may leave Americans who do not have underlying conditions at risk if a more virulent version of the coronavirus were to emerge. It could also limit options for people who want the vaccine for a wide array of reasons, including to protect a vulnerable loved one.

Continue readingF.D.A. Approves Novavax Covid Vaccine With Stricter New Conditions
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