Canadians raced to get vaccinated against COVID-19 in the first years of the pandemic, but data suggests there’s far less of a rush to get the latest shots available this fall.
Federal figures show only 15 per cent of the population aged five and up had received an updated vaccine by Dec. 3. And while older age groups had higher uptake rates, more than half of higher-risk older adults still hadn’t gotten a dose by early December, either.
Comments closedDue to its rapid growth and potential to add to the respiratory virus burden in Northern Hemisphere countries, the World Health Organization (WHO) today designated JN.1, part of the BA.2.86 SARS-CoV-2 lineage, as its own variant of interest.
The announcement came following an assessment from the WHO’s Technical Advisory Group on SARS-CoV-2 evolution.
Comments closedHospitals and emergency rooms could be forced to ration care by the end of this month, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned Thursday, saying recent trends in COVID-19 and influenza are now on track to again strain America’s health care system. The new COVID variant JN.1 is making up an increasing share of cases, the CDC’s tracking shows.
“COVID-19 hospitalizations are rising quickly,” the agency said in its weekly update. “Since the summer, public health officials have been tracking a rise in multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C), which is caused by COVID-19. Influenza activity is growing in most parts of the country. RSV activity remains high in many areas.”
Comments closedNever before have so many coronavirus particles been found in the wastewater as now. Coronavirus variant watcher Josette Schoenmakers reports this on X. At the time of writing, the national government’s coronavirus dashboard has not yet been updated with the most recent data.
Comments closedNearly 1 in 10 new COVID-19 cases in the U.S. are from the BA.2.86 variant, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimated Monday, nearly triple what the agency estimated the highly mutated variant’s prevalence was two weeks ago.
Comments closedTwo new COVID-19 variants quickly gaining traction across Canada are already dominant in New Brunswick.
So far, HV.1 and HK.3, related to Omicron EG.5, do not appear to cause more severe disease than other recent variants, said Colin Furness, an infection control epidemiologist and assistant professor at the University of Toronto.
Comments closedThe World Health Organization (WHO) last week reclassified the Omicron BA.2.86 variant—and its offshoots, including JN.1—as a variant of interest as global proportions grow, including in the United States, where it now makes up about 9% of circulating viruses, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said today.
Comments closedCOVID hasn’t just colonized billions of humans. The virus has entered North America’s white-tailed deer populations, transforming one of the largest remaining wild mammal populations on Earth into another rapidly evolving reservoir for COVID.
Comments closedA new COVID-19 subvariant called HV.1 is gaining traction across Canada, but whether or not it is more contagious than past variants remains to be seen, according to health experts.
Comments closedThe concern is that the new mutations gave it an advantage to become much more infectious and that persisting in people instead of hospitalizing them is exactly what the virus wants. Persisting in people gives it an advantage, but it causes many long-term problems, reducing the quality of life and ultimately shortening lifespans.
Comments closedThe World Health Organization (WHO) on Wednesday expressed concern about “worrying trends” regarding COVID-19 as winter approaches in the northern hemisphere, calling for increased vaccination and surveillance of the virus.
Comments closedPublic health experts warn that the higher levels of COVID-19 observed in Ottawa over the past month are expected to continue to rise throughout the fall.
Leave a commentHealth Canada is currently reviewing applications for Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech’s new mRNA vaccines, developed against the dominant XBB.1.5 variant ahead of a vaccination campaign set for the fall.
Comments closedHigher COVID-19 levels seen in Ottawa in the past month are expected to continue to rise through the fall, public health experts warn.
Comments closedThough case reporting doesn’t accurately reflect COVID-19 activity because of decreased testing and reporting, the number reported over the past month increased by 63%, with increased cases reported in three regions, the World Health Organization (WHO) said in its latest weekly update yesterday.
Comments closedA highly mutated form of the coronavirus that threatens to be the most adept yet at slipping past the body’s immune defenses is capturing the attention of virologists and health officials.
Comments closedComments closedWe’re seeing new data all the time on the long-term consequences of infection, whether it’s long COVID or the impact on the heart.
