Still COVIDing Canada

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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BC patients, health advocates slam removal of healthcare mask protections

Featured

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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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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long COVID

University of Waterloo students raise awareness about Long COVID

Published March 27, 2025

Published by: CTV News
Published on: March 27, 2025
By Jeff Pickel

Although COVID-19 no longer makes daily headlines, some are on a mission to spread awareness about the impact the virus is still having on the community.

The University of Waterloo hosted a silent walk on Thursday to raise awareness about the condition known as Long COVID – when the impact of an infection is still being experienced months after the fact.

Those who have or had Long COVID, and supporters of loved ones with it, were among those on hand.

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pro-virus policies

US cutting Gavi vaccine alliance aid may cause ‘over a million deaths’

Published March 27, 2025

Published by: France 24 / AFP
Published on: March 27, 2025

Paris (AFP) – The United States cutting funding to Gavi, an organisation that provides vaccines to the world’s poorest countries, could result in more than a million deaths and will endanger lives everywhere, the group’s CEO warned on Thursday.

The news that Washington is planning to end funding for Gavi, first reported in the New York Times, comes as the two-month-old administration of President Donald Trump aggressively slashes foreign aid.

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long COVID

‘Something was wrong with my brain’: How covid leaves its mark on cognition

Published March 27, 2025

Published by: The Washington Post
Published on: March 27, 2025
By Richard Sima

In March 2020, Hannah Davis fell ill, and everything changed. Her respiratory symptoms were mild, but the neurological and cognitive fallout was frightening.

“I could tell very early on that something was wrong with my brain,” she said after getting sick with covid-19.

And Davis had quantitative proof — her score for processing speed on a cognitive test dropped from the 96th percentile right before the pandemic to the 14th percentile after her coronavirus infection.

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wastewater monitoring

Measles ‘inevitable’ in Ottawa, expert warns as Ontario outbreak spreads

Published March 26, 2025

Published by: Ottawa Citizen
Published on: March 26, 2025
By Elizabeth Payne

Ottawa Public Health has begun monitoring wastewater for evidence of measles in the city as the highly infectious disease continues to surge throughout Ontario.

That makes Ottawa one of the only communities in the province and across Canada using wastewater as a possible early warning signal for measles. Ottawa Public Health says the tool is promising for detecting measles, but the research is limited and “many unknowns remain”.

There have been no cases in Ottawa so far this year but Dr. Gregory Rose, who is director of infection prevention and control at Queensway Carleton Hospital, warns that it is only a matter of time.

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wastewater monitoring

Amid Canada’s largest measles outbreak in more than a decade, experts say this COVID-era tool could help

Published March 26, 2025

Published by: CBC News
Published on: March 26, 2025
By Jennifer La Grassa

As Canada deals with its largest measles outbreak in more than a decade, health experts say a COVID-era tool could help tame the spread.

Wastewater surveillance, which involves testing sewage samples for viral pathogens, became essential during the pandemic. The data helped overwhelmed health officials map out COVID-19’s path and better predict the trajectory of cases.

At the time, it was praised as a critical public health tool that could serve as a warning system to keep Canadians safe from future harmful infections. And as the current measles outbreak surpasses 500 cases in Canada, experts say this is the moment where leaning into regional wastewater surveillance would be most helpful.

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Still COVIDing Canada Posts

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Future public health, economic burdens

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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

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

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