Dates for flu and Covid vaccination clinics in the Northwest Territories have been made public on the territorial health authority’s website.
The website now shows dates in November for Yellowknife, late October for Fort Smith and Hay River, and mid-October in Inuvik.
Not all communities have specific dates. Some residents are told to contact their local health centre instead.
Comments closedQuebec public health authorities on Monday launched the annual influenza and COVID-19 vaccination campaign, administering the shots first to people in long-term care before making the vaccines available for free to the general population as of Oct. 16.
And for the first time this year, medical staff will be immunizing infants up the age of 18 months against respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), a seasonal pathogen that often leads to overcrowded pediatric emergency rooms during the winter. Health Canada has approved a monoclonal antibody therapy, Nirsevimab, which is now being injected into premature infants in Quebec before they leave the hospital.
Comments closedAt the height of the pandemic in February of 2021, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced he had found a partner to make millions of doses…
Comments closedBC Conservative leader John Rustad assured anti-vaccine activists British Columbia would be open to joining other jurisdictions in legal proceedings inspired by the Nuremberg Trials that would be aimed at prosecuting those deemed responsible for COVID-19 public health measures and vaccines.
“Nuremberg 2.0,” an idea popular among COVID-19 conspiracy theorists and the online far-right, is simultaneously inspired by the Nuremberg Code, a set of ethical principles on human experimentation, as well as the Nuremberg Trials that prosecuted Nazi leaders after the Second World War.
Nuremberg 2.0 advocates typically call for those who created, justified or enforced public health measures — including politicians, doctors, academics, journalists and police — to be jailed and even executed for “crimes against humanity.”
Comments closedShipments of updated COVID-19 and flu vaccines have arrived in the London region, according to the Middlesex-London Health Unit (MLHU), with more rolling in as respiratory virus season inches closer.
A spokesperson for the MLHU said high risk populations are eligible for the shots for now, and the general population will have to wait until the end of the month to update their immunization.
Comments closedFamily doctors and nurse practitioners have been told they will not be receiving deliveries of flu or COVID-19 vaccines in time for the fall immunization program launch later this month. And it is unclear if they will get any at all.
In addition to AHS public health clinics and pharmacies, community medical clinics can administer publicly funded vaccines, including those that protect against COVID and influenza.
But shipments of vaccines — to these clinics — have stopped, jeopardizing their participation in the fall immunization campaign.
Comments closedUpdated COVID-19 vaccines are starting to roll out to some high-risk Canadians, but others will have to wait a little while longer before these new shots are offered to them.
Last month, Health Canada approved Pfizer and Moderna’s latest COVID-19 vaccines targeting the most recent variants of the virus.
Both shots are approved for everyone aged six months and older.
The new mRNA vaccines from both pharmaceutical companies target the KP.2 subvariant of Omicron that was dominating COVID-19 spread earlier this year.
Comments closedThe federal government’s decision to not provide Novavax’s COVID-19 vaccine this respiratory virus season raises health equity concerns, experts and advocates say, as some Canadians look to the U.S. to get the shot.
The Public Health Agency of Canada said it won’t provide the protein-based vaccine called Nuvaxovid because the manufacturer required a minimum order that far exceeds last year’s uptake of the vaccine.
The health agency said 125,000 Nuvaxovid doses were ordered in 2023, but only 5,529 were administered. This fall, it will only supply provinces and territories with the reformulated Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna mRNA COVID-19 vaccines.
But some Canadians who say they are immunocompromised and have had adverse reactions to the mRNA vaccines are calling the decision unfair.
Comments closedTORONTO – The Public Health Agency of Canada says it is not providing Novavax’s COVID-19 vaccine this respiratory virus season, citing low demand.
It says the manufacturer requires a minimum order of its updated protein-based vaccine, called Nuvaxovid, which far exceeds the uptake by Canadians last year.
The agency says a very small portion of the doses ordered in 2023 were used and that its decision reflects efforts to limit vaccine wastage.
It is distributing two mRNA vaccines — made by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna — that are approved for adults and children six months and older.
Comments closedHealth Canada approved Pfizer-BioNTech’s updated COVID-19 vaccine on Tuesday, marking its third authorization of vaccine formulations that protect against the most recently circulating variants of the virus.
Pfizer-BioNTech’s mRNA vaccine, called Comirnaty, targets the KP.2 subvariant of Omicron, replacing the previous version that targeted the XBB.1.5 Omicron subvariant.
The approval of Comirnaty follows last week’s authorization of Moderna’s updated Spikevax mRNA vaccine and Novavax’s updated protein-based vaccine, Nuvaxovid.
Comments closedWith the approval of Moderna’s updated COVID-19 vaccine, doctors are hoping the shots will be available soon and Albertans will opt to roll up their sleeves to get one.
Last week, Health Canada announced it had authorized Moderna’s new formulation, which targets the recent KP.2 subvariant, and that shipments would arrive within days.
A decision on Pfizer’s new formulation is expected in the next few weeks.
Comments closedAn updated version of Novavax’s COVID-19 vaccine has been approved by Canada’s health agency.
According to a Thursday update on the government’s vaccine portal, Health Canada will replace the older version of the protein-based vaccine, Nuvaxovid XBB.1.5. The new version will include an update to the antigen composition targeting the JN.1 variant.
“After a thorough scientific review Health Canada has approved the company’s JN.1 Variant vaccine,” the agency posted on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Comments closedThe federal government has decided against procuring a protein-based COVID-19 vaccine for the fall immunization campaign — despite it being the only type that some immunocompromised people say they have been able to tolerate.
While the mRNA vaccines made by Pfizer and Moderna are effective at preventing severe illness, hospitalization and death, some people with autoimmune diseases say the jabs can come with a terrible trade-off.
Comments closedLinda Wilhelm, 64, of Bloomfield, N.B., is planning a road trip to the United States. But it’s not to go sightseeing or shopping.
Wilhelm, who suffers from severe rheumatoid arthritis, hopes to get the updated Novavax COVID-19 vaccine, which won’t be available in Canada as part of the fall vaccination campaign, unless provinces and territories order doses on their own.
Wilhelm, president of the Canadian Arthritis Patient Alliance and a member of the Canadian Immunocompromised Advocacy Network, says the protein-based vaccine is a better option for immunocompromised people like her than the more common Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna mRNA vaccines. She says she feels “expendable” and urges the federal government to reconsider.
Less than two months ago, the network wrote to numerous federal, provincial and territorial officials, calling for improved access to Novavax and increased awareness.
Comments closedBritish Columbia says its current supply of COVID-19 vaccines will remain available until new formulations are approved — unlike other provinces that say they’re following a federal directive to destroy existing doses.
A spokesperson for the provincial health officer says B.C. residents are encouraged to wait for the updated COVID vaccines if possible, but people can still get last season’s shots if they need them.
Officials in Alberta, Ontario, Quebec and Saskatchewan and say they are following instructions from the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) to dispose of vaccine stocks that target the XBB.1.5 variant, since updated formulations are expected this fall.
Comments closedHealth Canada has directed provinces to withdraw and destroy remaining supplies of last year’s COVID-19 vaccines while it works to authorize updated shots, which is expected to happen in October, according to Ontario’s health ministry.
“Vaccines will be available once Ontario receives supply from Health Canada following their regulatory authorization of the new, updated vaccine formulation,” read a statement from Ontario spokesperson Hannah Jensen.
A notice posted on the federal government’s immunization guide says vaccines aimed at Omicron variant XBB.1.5 is no longer available in Canada. Updated shots, made to target the now-dominant JN.1 or KP.2 strains are expected to get the green light “in the coming weeks.”
Comments closed✉️ 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.
Comments closedPublic health officials in Ottawa are ramping up a vaccination program to limit the spread of the mpox virus, and there are signs that early uptake has been brisk.
After announcing on Saturday that it was opening 36 spots for vaccination against the virus that causes the infectious disease formerly known as monkeypox, Centretown health clinic MAX Ottawa said Monday it’s fully booked and exploring ways to expand the program.
Ottawa Public Health’s (OPH) Sexual Health Clinic on Clarence Street is also offering vaccination against mpox. Eligibility criteria can be found on the OPH website.
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