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Tag: COVID-19

Topic: TorontoView all posts for the topic: Toronto

Toronto to develop wastewater surveillance program for FIFA World Cup

Published October 17, 2025

Still COVIDing Canada Posts

Published by: The Canadian Press
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By Hannah Alberga

TORONTO – Toronto Public Health is developing a wastewater surveillance program to detect any potential spread of diseases during the FIFA World Cup.

Toronto’s new Medical Officer of Health Dr. Michelle Murti said the pilot will collect sewage samples in areas where fans congregate and test them for infections such as COVID-19, influenza and RSV.

Murti said the public health unit is looking into whether other illnesses, such as measles, could also be monitored in wastewater given the large international audience expected next summer.

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Topic: long COVIDView all posts for the topic: long COVID

Long Covid Is Real — And It’s Changing an Entire Generation

Published October 16, 2025

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Published by: Rolling Stone
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By Eli Cahan

Hundreds of thousands of kids in America are struggling with an illness that many doctors and schools refuse to recognize

In January 2020, just weeks before the NBA shut down and Costco shelves emptied and Tom Hanks got sick, Joy Corbitt’s only brother died in his mid-forties with symptoms of Covid. Which meant, from the pandemic’s earliest days, Joy was taking no chances.

She’d heard that Black and brown people like her seemed to be getting sick and dying at higher rates than other Americans. And that kids were either not getting sick, or getting less sick, or getting sick in ways we didn’t really understand. So, when it came to protecting her then-14-year-old daughter Lia, the North Carolina mother was vigilant.

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Topic: researchView all posts for the topic: research

Covid virus changes sperm in mice, may raise anxiety in offspring: study

Published October 11, 2025

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Published by: France 24 / AFP
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Sydney (AFP) – Covid-19 infection causes changes to sperm in mice that may increase anxiety in their offspring, a study released Saturday said, suggesting the pandemic’s possibly long-lasting effects on future generations.

Researchers at the Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health in Melbourne, Australia, infected male mice with the virus that causes Covid, mated them with females, and assessed the impacts on the health of their offspring.

“We found that the resulting offspring showed more anxious behaviours compared to offspring from uninfected fathers,” the study’s first author Elizabeth Kleeman said.

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Topic: PEIView all posts for the topic: PEI

Masks will be required in all Health P.E.I. facilities starting Oct. 14

Published October 10, 2025

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Published by: CBC News
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By Brittany Spencer, Marilee Devries

Officials with Health P.E.I. say people will have to wear masks inside all of the provincial health authority’s facilities beginning next week.

The policy is being put in place in response to the growing presence of respiratory illnesses on the Island.

Lara MacMurdo, director of occupational health, safety and wellness with Health P.E.I., said rates of respiratory illness are often higher this time of year.

Continue readingMasks will be required in all Health P.E.I. facilities starting Oct. 14
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Topic: Nova ScotiaView all posts for the topic: Nova Scotia

Nova Scotians can now book COVID-19, flu vaccine appointments

Published October 9, 2025

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Published by: CTV News
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By Andrea Jerrett

Nova Scotia residents can now book appointments for the COVID-19 and influenza vaccines.

The Nova Scotia government says the free vaccines are recommended for everyone aged six months and older.

Nova Scotians can book an appointment with their family doctor, nurse practitioner or family practice nurse, or at their local pharmacy, public health office or mobile unit.

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Topic: long COVIDView all posts for the topic: long COVID

Scientists may have discovered what’s behind long COVID-related brain fog

Published October 9, 2025

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Published by: Toronto Star
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By Kevin Jiang

If you’re among the estimated one-in-five Canadians who developed long COVID symptoms after infection with COVID-19, you might be familiar with the memory problems, focusing difficulties and a whole slew of other cognitive impairments that have become emblematic of the condition — collectively known as “brain fog.”

But despite these cognitive symptoms being present in nearly 90 per cent of long COVID cases, the biological mechanism behind why brain fog happens — and how we can treat it — has remained largely elusive. Until now.

A new paper, published in peer-reviewed journal Brain Communications, found that people living with long COVID had more significantly higher levels of a certain brain receptor than their healthy peers. The more they had, the worse their symptoms tended to get, the study suggested.

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Topic: QuebecView all posts for the topic: Quebec

Quebec launches fall vaccination campaign: COVID-19 shots no longer free for all

Published October 7, 2025

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Published by: CityNews
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Quebecers can now book their appointments as the province’s fall vaccination campaign is underway but unlike previous years the COVID-19 shot is no longer free for all.

Unless an individual is part of a high-risk group, the Association québécoise des pharmaciens propriétaires (AQPP) had said that the cost for a vaccine dose will range between $150 and $180.

The COVID-19 vaccine remains free of charge to:

  • Immunocompromised individuals or have chronic illnesses
  • People aged 65 and older
  • On dialysis
  • Residents of long-term care facilities (CHSLDs)
  • Private seniors’ residences (RPAs)
  • Adults living in remote and isolated areas
  • Healthcare workers
  • Pregnant individuals
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Topic: long COVIDView all posts for the topic: long COVID

Video | Photo exhibition highlights reality of Canadians with long COVID

Published October 4, 2025

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Published by: Global News
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The Living with Long COVID exhibition is a collaboration by the Museum of Vancouver and SFU’s Faculty of Health Sciences – offering a glimpse into the daily lives of people who continue to struggle with a variety of symptoms. Global’s Safeeya Pirani hears from those who are a part of the project, and how they are hoping to spread compassion by sharing stories.

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Topic: long COVIDView all posts for the topic: long COVID

Long COVID exhibition co-produced with community opens at the Museum of Vancouver

Published October 3, 2025

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Published by: Simon Fraser University
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By Sharon Mah, Gladys We

One in nine Canadians have experienced Long COVID symptoms, ranging from mild to debilitating. A new exhibition at the Museum of Vancouver, co-produced by Simon Fraser University’s Faculty of Health Sciences, invites visitors into the often-invisible world of those living with the life-altering effects of COVID-19.

Long COVID is a chronic condition affecting one or more organ systems that occurs after a SARS-CoV-2 infection and lingers for at least three months as a continuous, relapsing and remitting, or progressive disease state. Despite its prevalence, the condition remains widely misunderstood, under-researched, and stigmatized.

The Living with Long COVID exhibition brings these realities to light and offers a unique opportunity to intimately understand Long COVID through the eyes of those living it.

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Topic: researchView all posts for the topic: research

COVID ages women’s blood vessels, according to a study

Published October 2, 2025

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Published by: Radio-Canada
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By Marie-Pier Mercier

COVID-19 causes women’s blood vessels to age prematurely, according to an international study involving two researchers from Université Laval. The disease should therefore be considered an additional risk factor in cardiovascular health analyses. Specifically, in those who have developed severe symptoms, they warn.

The aging of blood vessels results in greater rigidity, which can increase the risk of certain cardiovascular diseases.

“The heart must work a little harder to propel blood through the arterial system, and this causes variations in pressure that can damage sensitive organs, including the brain and kidneys,” explains Catherine Fortier, a kinesiologist and researcher in vascular aging at the CHU de Québec-Université Laval.

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Topic: long COVIDView all posts for the topic: long COVID

Uncovering the Molecular Basis of Long COVID Brain Fog

Published October 1, 2025

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Published by: Yokohama City University
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Researchers use a specialized brain imaging technique to identify a potential biomarker and therapeutic target of Long COVID

Long COVID is a chronic condition that causes cognitive problems known as “brain fog,” but its biological mechanisms remain largely unclear. Now, researchers from Japan used a novel imaging technique to visualize AMPA receptors—key molecules for memory and learning—in the living brain. They discovered that higher AMPA receptor density in patients with Long COVID was closely tied to the severity of their symptoms, highlighting these molecules as potential diagnostic biomarkers and therapeutic targets.

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Topic: long COVIDView all posts for the topic: long COVID

Long Covid Risk for Children Doubles After a Second Infection, Study Finds

Published September 30, 2025

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Published by: The New York Times
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By Pam Belluck

Children and teenagers are twice as likely to develop long Covid after a second coronavirus infection as after an initial infection, a large new study has found.

The study, of nearly a half-million people under 21, published Tuesday in Lancet Infectious Diseases, provides evidence that Covid reinfections can increase the risk of long-term health consequences and contradicts the idea that being infected a second time might lead to a milder outcome, medical experts said.

Dr. Laura Malone, director of the Pediatric Post-Covid-19 Rehabilitation Clinic at Kennedy Krieger Institute in Baltimore, who was not involved in the study, said the findings echo the experience of patients in her clinic.

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Topic: vaccinesView all posts for the topic: vaccines

COVID vaccines may have averted thousands of hospital stays in infants, pregnant women over 18 months

Published September 30, 2025

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Published by: CIDRAP
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By Mary Van Beusekom

A US modeling study published yesterday in JAMA Pediatrics estimates that vaccinating pregnant women against COVID-19 prevented 7,000 hospitalizations in infants and 3,000 in pregnant women from January 2024 to May 2025.

The Stanford University–led research team analyzed COVID-NET surveillance data on COVID-19 hospitalization rates in infants younger than 6 months and incidence data on pregnant women aged 18 to 49 years under a relative risk of 2.65. The aim was to estimate the health impact of vaccination during pregnancy, mainly during the second or third trimester.

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Topic: airborne transmissionView all posts for the topic: airborne transmission

Grandma’s stories

Published September 29, 2025

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Published by: La Presse
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By Dr. Lyne Filiatrault

The author identifies several weak points in the discourse of Quebec Public Health regarding the prevention of COVID, particularly with regard to vaccination and the spread of the virus.

Grandmother Germaine liked to tell stories. I often fell asleep next to her, lulled by the adventures of Tom Thumb. She also liked to sprinkle our days with a lot of advice, and it was only later that I realized they were also grandmother’s stories. How many times has she repeated to me: “Put your hat on, you’re going to catch a cold!” While studying medicine, I quickly understood that wearing my hat wouldn’t prevent me from catching a virus!

My grandmother passed away a long time ago, but others have taken over and in turn tell a grandmother’s stories. Take, for example, Quebec Public Health: in 2025, it continues to repeat to us to wash our hands to avoid catching COVID. While it is true that washing the hands helps prevent other infections (such as gastroenteritis), this measure is not effective in protecting oneself from COVID.

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Topic: vaccinesView all posts for the topic: vaccines

COVID-19 vaccine campaigns launch across Canada for 2025-26

Published September 29, 2025

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Published by: CBC News
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By Amina Zafar

Provinces and territories are starting to roll out updated vaccines to protect people from COVID-19.

The Public Health Agency of Canada’s immunization guide says COVID vaccines have been shown to be effective at preventing severe disease, including hospitalization and death and can decrease the risk of post-COVID-19 condition, or long COVID.

The vaccination campaign comes as COVID-19 cases in people going to emergency or urgent care for respiratory symptoms have increased. About 10 per cent of tests were positive for the week ending Sept. 20, up from 9.6 per cent the previous week, according to the federal respiratory virus snapshot.

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Topic: OntarioView all posts for the topic: Ontario

COVID vaccine still free in Ontario as chief medical officer calls for action to combat skepticism, mistrust

Published September 26, 2025

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Published by: Ottawa Citizen
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By Elizabeth Payne

When Ontario rolls out its fall vaccination campaign at pharmacies, doctor’s offices and clinics across the province in the coming weeks, it will be bucking a trend.

At a time when both Alberta and Quebec have stopped funding COVID vaccines for the general public, limiting them to higher risk populations, and access to COVID vaccines is becoming limited in the United States, Ontario is moving in another direction.

The fall vaccination campaign, beginning in October, includes free access to an updated COVID-19 vaccine for the general public as well as expanded access to a vaccine to prevent RSV (respiratory syncytial virus) for older adults, and the flu vaccine.

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Topic: science denialView all posts for the topic: science denial

Trump makes unfounded claims about Tylenol and repeats discredited link between vaccines and autism

Published September 22, 2025

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Published by: The Associated Press
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By Lauran Neergaard, Ali Swenson

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Monday used the platform of the presidency to promote unproven and in some cases discredited ties between Tylenol, vaccines and autism as his administration announced a wide-ranging effort to study the causes of the complex brain disorder.

“Don’t take Tylenol,” Trump instructed pregnant women around a dozen times during the unwieldy White House news conference, also urging mothers not to give their infants the drug, known by the generic name acetaminophen. He also fueled long-debunked claims that ingredients in vaccines or timing shots close together could contribute to rising rates of autism in the U.S., without providing any medical evidence.

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Topic: ManitobaView all posts for the topic: Manitoba

Manitoba offers COVID-19 shots for free as some provinces begin charging residents

Published September 22, 2025

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Published by: CBC News
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Manitoba will continue covering the cost of COVID-19 shots as some other provinces begin charging residents.

The vaccinations are free for anyone six months and up and will remain that way in Manitoba, according to the province.

“There are no plans to change Manitoba’s policy at this time,” reads a statement from a Manitoba government spokesperson.

The news comes as Alberta and Quebec recently announced they would stop offering COVID-19 shots for free to the general public.

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