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Tag: vaccines

Saskatchewan government working on COVID vaccination plan after feds discontinue supply

With province[s] now responsible for purchasing COVID-19 vaccines, the Government of Saskatchewan says it’s figuring out what the coming flu season response will be.

The federal government announced in early January that it would stop funding COVID-19 vaccines this year, with provinces and territories now responsible for buying, determining the timing and rollout of the vaccinations.

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Nasal COVID-19 vaccine based on WashU technology to enter U.S. clinical trials

A nasal vaccine for COVID-19 – based on technology developed at Washington University in St. Louis – is poised to enter a phase 1 clinical trial in the U.S. after an investigational new drug application from Ocugen, Inc. was approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Ocugen, a U.S.-based biotechnology company, licensed the innovative technology from WashU in 2022.

The trial will be sponsored and conducted by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The FDA’s action is a critical first step toward initiation of the phase 1 trial, planned for this spring.

While cases of COVID-19 have fallen dramatically since the early years of the pandemic, the virus continues to circulate and still causes significant illnesses and deaths. The nasal vaccine technology is designed to induce strong immunity in the nose and upper respiratory tract, right where the virus enters the body, thereby potentially stopping transmission of the virus in addition to reducing serious illness and death. Most COVID-19 vaccines are injected into the arm or leg, and while they are effective at reducing illness and death, they do not halt transmission. The new trial will evaluate the safety and efficacy of the vaccine administered via two routes: inhaled into the lungs and sprayed into the nose.

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A Canadian Province Released a COVID Report Full of Pseudoscience. Who Wrote It, and Why?

Last week the province of Alberta published a report on its pandemic-response calling for COVID vaccines to be restricted to “high-risk groups” and to stop “their use in healthy children and teenagers.” A mix of vaccine skeptics, fringe academics, and a Trump-appointee were behind it.

The report also recommends regulators, namely the province’s medical licensing body, be stripped of powers to discipline doctors who promote risky and ineffective off-label treatments.

The report has garnered nationwide criticism from the scientific and medical communities, with dozens of experts calling on the government to officially dismiss the report in an open letter. Dr. Joss Reimer, president of the Canadian Medical Association, said the report was “an unfortunate use of public dollars” that funneled CAD$2,000,000 into furthering misinformation. She said it will cause harm globally, as it will be referenced in jurisdictions outside of Canada.

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RFK Jr. kept asking to see the science that vaccines were safe. After he saw it, he dismissed it

WASHINGTON (AP) — The man who hopes to be President Donald Trump’s health secretary repeatedly asked to see “data” or “science” showing vaccines are safe – but when an influential Republican senator showed him evidence, he dismissed it.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. spent two days this week insisting to senators that he’s not anti-vaccine. He said that he instead supports vaccinations and will follow the science in overseeing the $1.7 trillion Department of Health and Human Services, which, among other duties, oversees vaccine research, approval and recommendations.

But Kennedy repeatedly refused to acknowledge scientific consensus that childhood vaccines don’t cause autism and that COVID-19 vaccines saved millions of lives, and he falsely asserted the government has no good vaccine safety monitoring. While appearing to ignore mainstream science, he cited flawed or tangential research to make his points, such as suggesting Black people may need different vaccines than whites.

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People need to ‘remain vigilant’ as measles cases rise, Waterloo region’s medical officer says

While international travel was the initial source of these outbreaks, all the people with recent measles infections were exposed to the virus in Canada.

The majority of measles cases reported in Canada occur among unvaccinated people, many of whom are children and include infants under the age of one who are more vulnerable and have not yet had the opportunity to be vaccinated… that is why we need to remain vigilant and I recommend that we keep up-to-date with the recommended vaccinations.

— Dr. Hsiu-Li Wang, Medical Officer of Health for Waterloo Region
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‘Bad science’: Academics tear apart Alberta’s $2-million report on COVID

False narratives in a new $2-million report on COVID 19 in Alberta send Albertans the wrong signals, said a former chief medical officer of health for the province.

An adjunct professor at the University of Alberta’s School of Public Health, Dr. James Talbot said the 269-page report released late last Friday cherry-picks information and includes unproven ideas, including that the vaccine is ineffective and potentially harmful.

“We’ve given literally billions of doses of this vaccine around the world with the best surveillance we’ve ever had. This is one of the safest, most effective vaccines that we’ve ever had,” he said.

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Video | Caroline Kennedy accuses cousin RFK Jr. of being a ‘predator’

CNN’s Arlette Saenz reports on video shared by Caroline Kennedy warning senators to reject her cousin Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s nomination to be Health and Human Services secretary ahead of confirmation hearings on Wednesday.

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VIDO funded $24M to help develop ‘holy grail’ coronavirus vaccine

The Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization (VIDO) at the University of Saskatchewan has been awarded a $24 million grant to help develop a vaccine to protect against wide-ranging strains of coronaviruses.

VIDO’s funding flows from Norwegian-based Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) into its ongoing development of its pan-sarbecovirus vaccine.

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Alberta doctors push back on provincial COVID-19 task force report

I think it was a waste of time. It was a waste of money. And under no circumstances should the recommendations be implemented until there’s been a full and expert public discussion of the report.

— Dr. James Talbot, former chief medical officer of health for Alberta

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Alberta task force recommends halt of COVID-19 vaccines in new report

An Alberta government task force has recommended that the use of COVID-19 vaccines be halted unless more information is provided about risk, in a report rife with suggestions that run counter to mainstream scientific consensus.

The $2-million task force’s final report, released Friday, touched on several points common with disinformation campaigns such as the effectiveness of public health restrictions and masking, while also recommending some government authority over media.

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Sask. has enough COVID-19 vaccines for spring, won’t confirm whether it plans to buy more

Saskatchewan’s Ministry of Health has enough COVID-19 vaccine doses for the province’s high-risk population this spring, but would not confirm whether it plans to purchase more doses in the future.

The province has more than 100,000 doses, all of which were provided through the federal government’s procurement process.

Ottawa has been paying for the shots and distributing them across the country since they became available. Earlier this month, the Public Health Agency of Canada quietly announced that practice would come to an end.

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As Polio Survivors Watch Kennedy Confirmation, All Eyes Are on McConnell

Their numbers are dwindling now, the faded yellow newspaper clippings reporting their childhood trips to the hospital tucked away in family scrapbooks. Iron lungs, the coffin-like cabinet respirators that kept many of them alive, are a thing of the past, relegated to history books and museums. Some feel the world has forgotten them.

Now the nation’s polio survivors are reliving their painful memories as they watch events in Washington, where the Senate will soon consider the nomination of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a fierce critic of vaccines, to be the nation’s next health secretary. And they are keeping a close eye on one of their own: Senator Mitch McConnell, the former Republican leader.

It has been nearly 70 years since Dr. Jonas Salk’s polio vaccine was pronounced “80 to 90 percent effective” against the paralytic form of the disease. Although the government does not keep official numbers, advocacy groups say there are an estimated 300,000 survivors in the United States. Mr. Kennedy’s nomination has prompted some to speak out.

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Alberta government weighs future of COVID-19 vaccination as federal program winds down

No answer on whether COVID shots will continue to be free in Alberta once change takes effect

The future of Alberta’s COVID-19 vaccination program is unclear with federal funding set to end this summer.

Ottawa has been paying for the shots and distributing them across the country since they became available.

But the Public Health Agency of Canada quietly announced, last week, the provinces and territories will take over purchasing their own supply of COVID-19 vaccines.

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Public health experts, scientists warn senators on confirming RFK Jr

A new coalition of more than 700 public health professionals, scientists and activists signed an open letter to oppose Senate confirmation of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as health secretary, saying his “fringe” views and inexperience would put the country at serious risk from severe infectious diseases.

The letter from the coalition called “Defend Public Health” said Kennedy’s “unfounded, fringe beliefs could significantly undermine public health practices across the country and around the world.”

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Quebec calls for vigilance following 11th case of measles

An eleventh case of measles has been reported in Quebec, the Ministère de la Santé et des Services sociaux (MSSS) announced on Sunday.

The government is urging the public to be extra cautious and to follow public health recommendations “due to the active circulation of measles in Quebec and the presence of several exposure sites in the Laurentides, Laval, Montréal and Montérégie regions,” the MSSS said in a press release.

The last infected person visited the Carrefour Laval during his/her contagious period on January 7.

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Feds issue new COVID vaccine guidance, says provinces now responsible for buying them

TORONTO – Federal funding for COVID-19 vaccines will stop this year and the provinces and territories will be responsible for buying them, as well as determining the timing of the vaccinations, the Public Health Agency of Canada says.

The agency published the information online on Friday, along with the National Advisory Committee on Immunization’s COVID-19 vaccine guidance for 2025 through to the summer of 2026.

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Hospital workers who refused COVID-19 vaccine lose court battle

It strains all credulity to accept that the Premier of Ontario, a number of cabinet ministers and 54 non-governmental defendants somehow conspired to concoct a plan to declare a ‘false pandemic’ all for the predominant purpose of harming the plaintiffs.

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Why We Vaccinate

There’s a concerning trend emerging in Canada and the United States when it comes to vaccine hesitancy.

In the United States, a key legal adviser to Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the man tapped to be the next U.S. health secretary, is working to get rid of polio and hepatitis B vaccines in America, according to the New York Times. Kennedy himself has vocally opposed vaccines for years.

And here in Canada the overall childhood vaccination rate is declining, said Dr. Jason Wong, chief medical officer at the BC Centre for Disease Control. Wong is the deputy provincial health officer and a clinical associate professor in the University of British Columbia school of population and public health.

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