Press "Enter" to skip to content

Category: News

Topic: British ColumbiaView all posts for the topic: British Columbia

Long COVID patients ‘devastated’ by impending changes to virtual care access in B.C.

Changes to the Medical Services Plan are due to take effect Nov. 1

Published October 22, 2026

Still COVIDing Canada Posts

Published by: CBC News
Published on:
By Ruby Cornish

Seven years ago, Vancouver resident Katy McLean was juggling a full-time job as an urban planner, a busy social calendar, and an active outdoor lifestyle.

Nowadays, even basic chores are a challenge.

“It’s my dream just to be able to go for a walk,” she said.

“I can walk around the block. But if I want to go farther, like to a big grocery store, I need to use a mobility scooter.”

Continue readingLong COVID patients ‘devastated’ by impending changes to virtual care access in B.C.
Comments closed
Topic: British ColumbiaView all posts for the topic: British Columbia

B.C. flu and COVID vaccine rollout is too little, too late

Published October 15, 2026

Still COVIDing Canada Posts

Published by: Victoria News
Published on:
By Dr. Lyne Filiatrault

Where are B.C.’s vaccines?

Influenza A and COVID are already spreading. Another flu season in B.C., another round of vaccination arriving too late.

Last week, the Provincial Health Officer finally announced that flu vaccination for the higher risk population will start on Oct. 13. Thereafter the general public will be receiving vaccination notifications until early November.

Of course, Dr. Bonnie Henry is well aware that it takes another two weeks after vaccination for full antibody protection to develop.

Vaccination will then happen after many families will have gathered for Thanksgiving dinner with perhaps one or more uninvited guests floating in the air such as influenza A and COVID.

Continue readingB.C. flu and COVID vaccine rollout is too little, too late
Comments closed
Topic: QuebecView all posts for the topic: Quebec

Flu vaccine: appointments are now available in Quebec

Published October 13, 2026

Still COVIDing Canada Posts

Published by: Radio-Canada
Published on:
By Stéphane Bordeleau, Simon Bérubé

The flu has already returned to Quebec, where the season is expected to be early. Again this year, Quebecers will be able to get a flu vaccine in pharmacies, in clinics, and in certain RPAs (private residences for seniors).

Appointments can be booked starting today (October 13) on the Clic Santé platform (new window) or via the websites of private pharmacies. Vaccinations will begin on October 20.

This year, the vaccine will only be offered free of charge to those who are the most vulnerable to the flu (see the table below).

Continue readingFlu vaccine: appointments are now available in Quebec
Comments closed
Topic: British ColumbiaView all posts for the topic: British Columbia

Flu and COVID-19 vaccinations underway in B.C. as respiratory illness season arrives early

An early peak in flu season is being driven by the H1N1 strain, according to the BCCDC

Published October 7, 2026

Still COVIDing Canada Posts

Published by: CBC News
Published on:
By Claire Palmer

B.C. has launched its annual fall immunization campaign amid an early start to the cold and flu season.

New this year, the province will be offering an enhanced flu shot and an immunization for RSV for seniors.

The B.C. Centre for Disease Control said the early rise in cases is predominantly being driven by this year’s flu strain — H1N1, or influenza A — which is known to peak earlier and cause more severe illness.

Continue readingFlu and COVID-19 vaccinations underway in B.C. as respiratory illness season arrives early
Comments closed
Topic: British ColumbiaView all posts for the topic: British Columbia

Beginning immunizations for viral respiratory season

People encouraged to protect themselves, loved ones from influenza, COVID-19, other viral illnesses

Published October 7, 2026

Still COVIDing Canada Posts

Published by: Government of British Columbia
Published on:

Summary

  • Vaccines are available for influenza and COVID-19
  • Notifications began for priority populations on Monday, Oct. 5, 2026, and appointments will start as early as Tuesday, Oct. 13
  • Notifications will continue and will expand to the general population through early November 2026
  • New this year: Seniors 75+ and Indigenous people 60+ are eligible for the RSV vaccine
Continue readingBeginning immunizations for viral respiratory season
Comments closed
Topic: SaskatchewanView all posts for the topic: Saskatchewan

Sask. opens flu and COVID immunization bookings as sickness circulates

Too early to know how bad flu and COVID season may be, health officer says

Published October 6, 2026

Still COVIDing Canada Posts

Published by: CBC News
Published on:
By Emma Stuart-Kiss

Saskatchewan has opened bookings for flu and COVID-19 vaccines.

The flu has been circulating this past month, with some parts of the country experiencing an early start to flu season. Health Canada reported 815 confirmed influenza cases for the week ending Sept. 26, compared to 291 in the week ending Sept. 5.

Continue readingSask. opens flu and COVID immunization bookings as sickness circulates
Comments closed
Topic: QuebecView all posts for the topic: Quebec

Most Quebeckers lose flu shot coverage as viral season gets early start

Published October 2, 2026

Still COVIDing Canada Posts

Published by: The Globe and Mail
Published on:
By Tu Thanh Ha, Alanna Smith

Quebeckers who are not considered high-risk will have to pay nearly $200 to get vaccinated against influenza and COVID-19 this season, charting a path opposite to other provinces in Canada as the viral season picks up speed.

Quebec is the only province scrapping universal flu coverage, owing its decision to guidance from the province’s immunization committee. Only some categories will be eligible for a free flu shot, such as Quebeckers 65 and older; people with certain chronic conditions – such as immunocompromised people – and those living with them; pregnant women; residents of seniors’ homes and long-term care facilities.

Those who do not qualify can expect to be charged around $150 for the COVID-19 vaccine, which came into effect in the province last year. Now, they will also need to pay between $30 and $40 for the flu shot, said Marilie Beaulieu-Gravel, a spokesperson for the association representing pharmacy owners in Quebec.

Continue readingMost Quebeckers lose flu shot coverage as viral season gets early start
Comments closed
Topic: QuebecView all posts for the topic: Quebec

The flu and COVID-19 vaccination campaign will begin on October 20

It will not be free for everyone this year.

Published October 1, 2026

Still COVIDing Canada Posts

Published by: Le Devoir
Published on:
By Florence Morin-Martel

Quebecers will be able to make appointments starting on October 13, to be vaccinated against the flu and COVID-19 during the autumn campaign. This will start on October 20, but this year the free vaccinations will be reserved for groups considered to be the most vulnerable.

In less than two weeks, the public will therefore be able to make appointments on Clic Santé. It will also be possible to do this at pharmacies, with over 1,700 in the province offering the flu and COVID-19 vaccines free of charge to those who are eligible.

This year, the free influenza and COVID-19 vaccine doses are reserved for people aged 65 years and older, as well as residents of CHSLDs (residential and long-term care centres), private residences for the elderly, and other communal settings that include many vulnerable people.

Continue readingThe flu and COVID-19 vaccination campaign will begin on October 20
Comments closed
Topic: OntarioView all posts for the topic: Ontario

Flu and COVID-19 vaccines available to some Ontarians starting today. Here is who is eligible

Published September 28, 2026

Still COVIDing Canada Posts

Published by: CTV News
Published on:
By Phil Tsekouras

The Ontario government is launching its fall immunization program ahead of flu season and some people can get their shots starting this week.

In a news release, the Ministry of Health said an initial supply of COVID-19 and flu vaccines will be available for high-risk and priority groups who live, work or study in Ontario starting Monday. Those individuals include:

  • Hospitalized patients
  • Hospital staff
  • Residents and staff in long-term care homes, retirement homes and other congregate settings
  • Individuals aged 65 and older
Continue readingFlu and COVID-19 vaccines available to some Ontarians starting today. Here is who is eligible
Comments closed
Topic: war on scienceView all posts for the topic: war on science

‘Zombified’ C.D.C., Hobbled by Cuts, Struggles to Fulfill Scientific Mission

The agency has lost its independence and nearly a third of its staff, as Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and associates have tightened control.

Published September 26, 2026

Still COVIDing Canada Posts

Published by: The New York Times
Published on:
By Apoorva Mandavilli

For decades, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was the undisputed global leader in public health. Its scientists helped train health officials worldwide. In the United States, it was the primary source of guidance for prevention and treatment of diseases, including diabetes, H.I.V. and the seasonal flu.

But after a year and a half in the cross hairs of Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s drive to remake public health policy, the agency is a skeleton of the powerhouse it was.

The Trump administration’s widespread layoffs in early 2025 cut 18 percent of the C.D.C.’s staff. But new personnel data, compiled by a group of former federal scientists and reported here for the first time, indicate that the agency’s staff has dwindled far more, as large numbers of employees retired or resigned. As of May 2026, the C.D.C. had 30 percent fewer employees than it did before the layoffs, the data show.

Continue reading‘Zombified’ C.D.C., Hobbled by Cuts, Struggles to Fulfill Scientific Mission
Comments closed
Topic: ME/CFSView all posts for the topic: ME/CFS

Abandoned, dismissed and gaslighted: there is no excuse for the way ME sufferers have been betrayed

Changes in guidance and science seem to have little impact on millions of devastated lives. It’s a shocking social crisis playing out behind closed doors

Published September 24, 2026

Still COVIDing Canada Posts

Published by: The Guardian
Published on:
By George Monbiot

I’ve spent my working life covering neglected issues. But few are neglected like the devastating chronic condition ME/CFS (myalgic encephalomyelitis, or chronic fatigue syndrome). In severe cases, the illness shuts down people’s lives almost entirely, causing an extreme loss of energy and a wide range of physical and cognitive symptoms that can prevent patients from working, socialising and, sometimes, even moving or eating. Yet these people have been more or less airbrushed from our minds.

To find out what this neglect looks like in practice, this week I put out a call on Bluesky asking people with ME/CFS about their recent experiences of treatment. I was immediately inundated with horrifying testimonies. “I’ve just been completely abandoned”; “a 10-year waiting list for treatment”; “we’ve given up seeking medical support”; “stuck in limbo”; “I just felt utterly unheard, invalidated”. I’ve been sent hundreds of shocking and heart-rending accounts.

Continue readingAbandoned, dismissed and gaslighted: there is no excuse for the way ME sufferers have been betrayed
Comments closed
Topic: airborne transmissionView all posts for the topic: airborne transmission

‘Outdated’ health policies surrounding Covid still pose a danger today, says U of C researcher

Published September 18, 2026

Still COVIDing Canada Posts

Published by: CTV News
Published on:
By Tommy Osborne

University of Calgary professor Mark Ungrin has dedicated years of research highlighting what he believes is of significant concern to all Canadians’ health.

He says health policy and the federal government’s response to Covid was based on outdated information, and even today that same policy remains in place.

“Unfortunately, when Covid hit, there was very little attention paid to aerosol transmission as a means of Covid infecting from one person to another,” Ungrin said. “Warnings were provided by scientists, engineers, occupational health and safety experts, many people within the medical profession, but infection control leaders really based their decisions on some fairly outdated understandings of aerosol biology and disease transmission via aerosols, and as a result, they basically assumed that it was not possible for Covid to be airborne.”

Continue reading‘Outdated’ health policies surrounding Covid still pose a danger today, says U of C researcher
Comments closed
Topic: vaccinesView all posts for the topic: vaccines

Health Canada Authorizes Pfizer and BioNTech’s Omicron XFG-Adapted COVID-19 Vaccine

Published September 17, 2026

Still COVIDing Canada Posts

Published by: PR Newswire
Published on:
By Pfizer Canada

KIRKLAND, QC, Sept. 17, 2026 /CNW/ — Pfizer Canada ULC and BioNTech SE today announced that Health Canada has authorized the XFG variant-adapted COMIRNATY® for active immunization of individuals aged 6 months and older against COVID-19. The updated COMIRNATY® vaccine targets the Omicron XFG lineage, in alignment with public health recommendations for the 2026-2027 season.

The Health Canada approval is based on the cumulative body of evidence previously submitted by Pfizer and BioNTech that includes clinical, non-clinical and real-world data supporting the safety and effectiveness of COMIRNATY®.

Continue readingHealth Canada Authorizes Pfizer and BioNTech’s Omicron XFG-Adapted COVID-19 Vaccine
Comments closed
Topic: AlbertaView all posts for the topic: Alberta

Alberta government maintaining COVID vaccine fee as it prepares for fall influenza campaign

Province says Albertans can start booking vaccination appointments on Oct. 5

Published September 14, 2026

Still COVIDing Canada Posts

Published by: CBC News / The Canadian Press
Published on:

The Alberta government says its provincewide influenza, COVID and respiratory syncytial virus vaccination campaign will begin next month.

In a news release issued Monday, the province said it’s maintaining the $100 fee it brought in last year for those seeking the COVID vaccine, though there’s a long list of reasons that could see the fee be waived for people, such as having health conditions that put them at risk for severe illness.

Continue readingAlberta government maintaining COVID vaccine fee as it prepares for fall influenza campaign
Comments closed
Topic: healthcareView all posts for the topic: healthcare

Provinces are turning to U.S. health-care workers to help with shortages. And it’s working

Recruitment can help fill gaps, but experts say Canada needs to do more to retain its own health-care workers

Published September 13, 2026

Still COVIDing Canada Posts

Published by: CBC Radio
Published on:
By Colleen Ross

Registered nurse Shane Tyson was done with the U.S.

He was working in Minnesota at the not-for-profit Mayo Clinic Health System and the Olmsted Medical Center. But in 2025, Tyson says he became increasingly concerned about the deterioration of health care, as well as tighter immigration enforcement.

Then ICE agents arrested a patient as they were leaving a primary care appointment where he worked, Tyson says.

Continue readingProvinces are turning to U.S. health-care workers to help with shortages. And it’s working
Comments closed
Topic: long COVIDView all posts for the topic: long COVID

Why Is No One Talking About Long COVID?

Published September 6, 2026

Still COVIDing Canada Posts

Published by: MedpageToday
Published on:
By Jeffrey D. Klausner, Lao-Tzu Allan-Blitz

More than 6 years after the COVID-19 pandemic began, its effects have continued. In March 2024, roughly 17 million adults (7% of all U.S. adults) reported currently having symptoms consistent with long COVID, a chronic condition characterized by persistent symptoms lasting 3 months or longer after infection. Long COVID can affect any system or organ in the body. Symptoms of long COVID include chronic fatigue, brain fog, difficulty concentrating, severe tiredness after exercise, lightheadedness and palpitations when standing, and many other problems. Those chronic symptoms often make it difficult for people to go to work or school.

As a result, long COVID imposes substantial disability. In fact, researchers have estimated that years lived with disability attributable to long COVID is comparable to other common diseases like Alzheimer’s and asthma. In addition to the immediate effects on patients and their families, that disability translates into profound economic losses. Economists estimated in 2022 that the costs of long COVID will result in more than $3 trillion lost to society over 5 years, either through reduced quality of life and increased medical care or through lost economic productivity.

Continue readingWhy Is No One Talking About Long COVID?
Comments closed
Topic: AustraliaView all posts for the topic: Australia

20 years. Millions of lives saved. One revolutionary vaccine

Published August 27, 2026

Still COVIDing Canada Posts

Published by: The University of Queensland
Published on:

Twenty years ago, the first dose of a UQ-developed vaccine was given to a teenage girl in Brisbane. That same vaccine is now on track to end cervical cancer in Australia.

August 28, 2026, marks the 20th anniversary of the first dose of the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine – now known as Gardasil 9 – which immunises recipients against the virus that is the leading cause of cervical cancer.

The vaccine, developed by Emeritus Professor Ian Frazer AC and the late Dr Jian Zhou, is now offered to all children aged 12-13 years old through the school-based National Immunisation Program.

Worldwide, more than 600 million doses of Gardasil have been administered.

Continue reading20 years. Millions of lives saved. One revolutionary vaccine
Comments closed
Topic: British ColumbiaView all posts for the topic: British Columbia

Free N95 masks available in many BC Interior communities as smoke persists

Published August 17, 2026

Still COVIDing Canada Posts

Published by: KamloopsBCNow
Published on:

While there has been bits of relief at times over the past few days, wildfire smoke continues to be a part of our daily lives in the BC Interior right now.

Of course, wildfire smoke exposure can affect both short-term and long-term health, and people can’t always stay inside to avoid the poor outdoor air quality.

As a result, the Canadian Red Cross has stepped up to offer free N95 respirator masks across many BC Interior communities.

Continue readingFree N95 masks available in many BC Interior communities as smoke persists
Comments closed