COVID-19 'Pandemic'

spaminator

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Inquiry finds Britain was ill-prepared for COVID-19 pandemic and failed its citizens
Author of the article:Brian Melley, Associated Press
Published Jul 18, 2024 • 2 minute read

LONDON (AP) — The U.K. government was ill-prepared for the COVID-19 pandemic and serious errors in planning failed its citizens, an inquiry found Thursday.


Retired judge Heather Hallett, who is leading the ongoing inquiry, said the government wrongly believed in 2019 that it was one of the best-prepared countries in the world for an outbreak and it anticipated the wrong pandemic — influenza.

“This belief was dangerously mistaken,” Hallett said in releasing her first report. “In reality, the U.K. was ill-prepared for dealing with the whole-system civil emergency of a pandemic, let alone the coronavirus pandemic that actually struck.”

The COVID-19 pandemic has been blamed for more than 235,000 deaths in the U.K. through the end of 2023 — one of the highest death tolls in the world.

“Today’s report confirms what many have always believed — that the U.K. was under-prepared for COVID-19, and that process, planning and policy across all four nations failed U.K. citizens,” Prime Minister Keir Starmer said, referring to England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales.


“The safety and security of the country should always be the first priority, and this government is committed to learning the lessons from the inquiry and putting better measures in place to protect and prepare us from the impact of any future pandemic,” he said.

The first report from the three-year inquiry was focused only on pandemic preparedness. A second phase looking at the government’s response, including the “partygate” scandal in which then Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his staff broke their own rules by hosting work parties, is due later. A third phase will look into what lessons can be learned from how the nation handled the crisis.

The inquiry is due to hold hearings until 2026.

Hallett found that an outdated 2011 pandemic strategy for flu wasn’t flexible enough to adapt to a crisis nearly a decade later and was abandoned almost immediately.


“There were fatal strategic flaws underpinning the assessment of the risks faced by the U.K., how those risks and their consequences could be managed and prevented from worsening and how the state should respond,” Hallett said.

There also was a lack of focus on what was needed to deal with a rapidly transmissible disease, and not enough done to build up a system to test, trace and isolate infected patients.

Hallett said in her 217-page report that the U.K. needs to be better prepared for the next pandemic — one that could be even deadlier.

“The U.K. will again face a pandemic that, unless we are better prepared, will bring with it immense suffering and huge financial cost and the most vulnerable in society will suffer the most,” she said.

Hallett recommended that a new pandemic strategy be developed and tested every three years, and that government and political leaders should be accountable for having preparedness and resilience systems in place. She also said that outside experts should be used to prevent “the known problem of groupthink.”

“Unless the lessons are learned, and fundamental change is implemented, that effort and cost will have been in vain when it comes to the next pandemic,” Hallett said. “Never again can a disease be allowed to lead to so many deaths and so much suffering.”
 

spaminator

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Ontario ends wastewater testing for COVID, other viruses
Some public health experts call the move shortsighted

Author of the article:Canadian Press
Canadian Press
Nicole Ireland
Published Jul 31, 2024 • Last updated 15 hours ago • 2 minute read

Ontario is officially ending its COVID-19 wastewater surveillance program today in a move some public health experts call shortsighted.


Dr. Fahad Razak, the former scientific director of the COVID-19 Ontario Science Table, says the province’s decision is “incredibly disappointing.”

Razak says wastewater testing gives an early indication of when COVID-19 and other viruses are on the rise.

Razak says the wastewater surveillance in dozens of communities across Ontario is useful not only for detecting COVID, but for monitoring potential threats, including the possible arrival of H5N1 avian flu.

Ontario’s environment ministry says it is “winding down” its program as the Public Health Agency of Canada expands its wastewater surveillance sites in the province.

But a spokesperson for the Public Health Agency of Canada says it only plans to test in four Ontario cities in addition to its four existing sites in Toronto, which won’t duplicate the provincial program.


“The scope of the expansion would not replace the current scope of the Ontario program,” Anna Maddison said in an email Tuesday evening.

“Ontario’s decision to not continue their wastewater testing program was not co-ordinated with PHAC’s decision to expand its wastewater monitoring program.”

Alex Catherwood, press secretary for the Ontario minister of the Environment, Conservation and Parks, said in an email that the provincial government “will work with the federal government and propose sampling sites that provide quality data for public health across the province.”

The additional federal wastewater surveillance is expected to begin before flu season this fall, Maddison said.

Ontario Health Minister Sylvia Jones defended the province’s decision to drop the program.


“We have returned to what has been in place in Ontario for decades and that is a federal government that assesses the wastewater and works with our public health units and with our clinicians to make sure that as that information comes in, it is disseminated to public health units across Ontario,” Jones said Wednesday.

“We had an increase during the height of the pandemic because of the need for additional COVID wastewater testing and we are returning to what I would call a normal state of affairs,” she added.

Razak, who is an epidemiologist and internal medicine specialist at St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto, said many communities now won’t have the virus monitoring they need.

“(Wastewater surveillance) provides information fast enough for you to act. So knowing that you have lots of COVID cases in hospital, that’s too late to act in many ways,” he said.


“We now know that the signal from wastewater — not just for COVID, but for example for RSV — it provides an early warning system when the disease is emerging, which gives enough time for individuals to change their decision-making or (for) public health units or officials to react.”

The wastewater testing sites covered nearly three-quarters of Ontario’s population in 2023, Razak said, and also included some targeted monitoring of COVID-19 levels in high-risk places such as long-term care homes or homeless shelters.

“To me this is a significant equity issue,” he said.

“This is moving in exactly the opposite direction of what we want in the best of public health programs.”
 

spaminator

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Protesters not guilty of conspiring to kill Mounties at Coutts blockade
Author of the article:Canadian Press
Canadian Press
Published Aug 02, 2024 • 1 minute read

LETHBRIDGE, Alta. — A jury has found two men not guilty of conspiring to kill police at the border blockade at Coutts, Alta.

But Anthony Olienick and Chris Carbert have been convicted of mischief and possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose.

Olienick has also been convicted of possessing a pipe bomb.

The two were arrested after police found a cache of weapons, ammunition and body armour near the blockade at the Canada-U.S. border crossing in 2022.

The blockade was one of several held across the country to protest COVID-19 rules and vaccine mandates.

The trial heard statements and text messages from the accused warning that the blockade was a last stand against a tyrannical federal government.

More coming.
 

spaminator

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Feds paid $231M for ventilators that mostly became scrap metal: Report
Author of the article:postmedia News
Published Aug 06, 2024 • 1 minute read

Access-to-information records show Canadian taxpayers had to foot the bill for about $231.7 million worth of Quebec-made ventilators that later became scrap metal, according to Blacklock’s Reporter.


Records show CAE Incorporated of Montreal, formerly Canadian Aviation Electronics, was paid $231,650,000 for the ventilator contract, which was signed after then-industry minister Navdeep Bains spoke privately with the company’s CEO.

A total of 8,200 ventilators were delivered, the equivalent of about $28,250 each, which was the highest price paid by the Public Health Agency for any Canadian ventilator during the pandemic.

However, CAE had never before manufactured ventilators, which subsequently failed Department of Health safety tests, and the company was awarded its contract on April 9 just a few days before Bains’ testimony.


As a result of the ventilators job, CAE re-hired some 1,500 employees laid off at the outbreak of the pandemic and got a cash advance that was never disclosed.

Records show the Department of Health paid CAE about 25-49% more than what it paid other suppliers.

The $28,250 CAE device compared to $23,730 for one produced by Baylis Medical of Montreal, $22,600 by StarFish Medical of Toronto and $18,993 by Thornhill Medical of North York.

None of the CAE devices were known to be used in any medical setting and documents show that of the 8,200 CAE ventilators delivered, 8,180 were “slated for sale as scrap metal” as early as 2021.

Records did not disclose what the Public Health Agency did with the remaining 20 devices.
 

spaminator

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Fauci wants to bring back masks as COVID cases increase
Author of the article:Denette Wilford
Published Aug 13, 2024 • Last updated 1 day ago • 2 minute read

Dr. Anthony Fauci is urging those who are at risk of health problems to start wearing face masks again as COVID cases see an uptick across the globe.


In a recent interview with MedPage Today, the White House’s former top doc said of masking: “The message is that if you are in a risk category, that you have got to take this seriously.”

Fauci noted seniors suffering from chronic lung disease or obesity are examples of those who should mask up in “closed indoor spaces.”

He acknowledged that while people don’t have to social-distance or cut themselves off from society, they need to be safe, particularly in crowded, closes spaces.

“Certainly, when you get out on an airplane, you should do that,” Fauci added. “And you should be careful to avoid crowded places where you don’t know the status of other people.”

Fauci insisted that people should continue to get vaccinated and boosted on a regular basis.



The former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases revealed he had contracted COVID last month, marking his third bout with the coronavirus, despite having been vaccinated and keeping up with his boosters.

“Under certain circumstances I wear a mask,” Fauci said. “I mean, I always wear a mask when I’m on a plane… I just wear a mask because, despite what people say about the ventilation and the HEPA filters or whatever on an airplane, you’re in a closed tube for eight hours with people.”


Fauci’s face mask guidelines have long been criticized as people claimed they did not work to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

In testimony to a Republican lawmakers, the retired doctor admitted that he had not followed any studies regarding the impacts that forced mask wearing had on children, conceding the benefits of masking kids remain “up in the air.”

Health Canada no longer keeps the latest COVID-19 numbers, and instead directs people to their respective provinces. According to Public Health Ontario, the province is at a moderate level and saw a decrease from the previous week.
 

Tecumsehsbones

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I absolutely urge faggoty communist SOSHULISTS! to get vaccinated, wear masks, practice social distancing, and all that jazz.

I also urge Real MAGA! Murkans to refuse vaccines and masks, and to congregate in large groups.

Cuz this is about Trump, not about infectious disease!
 

Ron in Regina

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Apr 9, 2008
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The jab uses messenger RNA (mRNA), similar to Covid-19 vaccines, and works by presenting the immune system with tumour markers from NSCLC to prime the body to fight cancer cells expressing these markers.

Now experts are testing a new jab that instructs the body to hunt down and kill cancer cells – then prevents them ever coming back. Known as BNT116 and made by BioNTech, the vaccine is designed to treat non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), the most common form of the disease.
 
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petros

The Central Scrutinizer
Nov 21, 2008
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Low Earth Orbit
The jab uses messenger RNA (mRNA), similar to Covid-19 vaccines, and works by presenting the immune system with tumour markers from NSCLC to prime the body to fight cancer cells expressing these markers.

Now experts are testing a new jab that instructs the body to hunt down and kill cancer cells – then prevents them ever coming back. Known as BNT116 and made by BioNTech, the vaccine is designed to treat non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), the most common form of the disease.
Let's hope.
 

spaminator

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Zuckerberg says White House pressured Facebook over some COVID-19 content during pandemic
Author of the article:Associated Press
Associated Press
Published Aug 27, 2024 • Last updated 22 hours ago • 2 minute read

WASHINGTON (AP) — Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg says senior Biden administration officials pressured Facebook to “censor” some COVID-19 content during the pandemic and vowed that the social media giant would push back if it faced such demands again.


In a letter to Rep. Jim Jordan, the Republican chair of the House Judiciary Committee, Zuckerberg alleges that the officials, including those from the White House, “repeatedly pressured” Facebook for months to take down “certain COVID-19 content including humor and satire.”

The officials “expressed a lot of frustration” when the company didn’t agree, he said in the letter.

“I believe the government pressure was wrong and I regret that we were not more outspoken about it,” Zuckerberg wrote in the letter dated Aug. 26 and posted on the committee’s Facebook page and to its account on X.

The letter is the latest repudiation by Zuckerberg of efforts to target misinformation around the coronavirus pandemic during and after the 2020 presidential election, particularly as allegations have emerged that some posts were deleted or restricted wrongly.


“I also think we made some choices that, with the benefit of hindsight and new information, we wouldn’t make today,” he said, without elaborating. “We’re ready to push back if something like this happens again.”

In response, the White House said in a statement that, “When confronted with a deadly pandemic, this Administration encouraged responsible actions to protect public health and safety. Our position has been clear and consistent: we believe tech companies and other private actors should take into account the effects their actions have on the American people, while making independent choices about the information they present.”

Experts warn this year’s U.S. election could be swamped by misinformation on social media with the proliferation of artificial intelligence and other tools to produce false news stories and content that could mislead voters.


Facebook in early 2021 appended what Zuckerberg called labels with “credible information” to posts about COVID-19 vaccines. That’s after it moved in April 2020 — just as the virus had led to global shutdowns and radical changes in everyday life — to warn users who shared misinformation about COVID-19.

Conservatives have long derided Facebook and other major tech companies as favoring liberal priorities and accused them of censorship.

Zuckerberg has tried to change the company’s perception on the right, going on podcaster Joe Rogan’s show in 2022 and complimenting Republican nominee Donald Trump’s response to an assassination attempt as “badass.” He sent Monday’s letter to the House Judiciary Committee, whose chairman, Jordan, is a longtime Trump ally.


Zuckerberg also said he would no longer donate money to widen election access for voters through the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, the company that runs the philanthropy for him and his wife, Priscilla Chan.

The couple previously donated $400 million to help local election offices prepare for voters in the 2020 presidential election, with funds used for protective equipment to prevent the spread of the coronavirus at polling sites, drive-thru voting locations and equipment to process mail ballots.

“I know that some people believe this work benefited one party over the other” despite analyses showing otherwise, he said. “My goal is to be neutral and not play a role one way or another – or to even appear to be playing a role. So I don’t plan on making a similar contribution this cycle.”
 

pgs

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Zuckerberg says White House pressured Facebook over some COVID-19 content during pandemic
Author of the article:Associated Press
Associated Press
Published Aug 27, 2024 • Last updated 22 hours ago • 2 minute read

WASHINGTON (AP) — Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg says senior Biden administration officials pressured Facebook to “censor” some COVID-19 content during the pandemic and vowed that the social media giant would push back if it faced such demands again.


In a letter to Rep. Jim Jordan, the Republican chair of the House Judiciary Committee, Zuckerberg alleges that the officials, including those from the White House, “repeatedly pressured” Facebook for months to take down “certain COVID-19 content including humor and satire.”

The officials “expressed a lot of frustration” when the company didn’t agree, he said in the letter.

“I believe the government pressure was wrong and I regret that we were not more outspoken about it,” Zuckerberg wrote in the letter dated Aug. 26 and posted on the committee’s Facebook page and to its account on X.

The letter is the latest repudiation by Zuckerberg of efforts to target misinformation around the coronavirus pandemic during and after the 2020 presidential election, particularly as allegations have emerged that some posts were deleted or restricted wrongly.


“I also think we made some choices that, with the benefit of hindsight and new information, we wouldn’t make today,” he said, without elaborating. “We’re ready to push back if something like this happens again.”

In response, the White House said in a statement that, “When confronted with a deadly pandemic, this Administration encouraged responsible actions to protect public health and safety. Our position has been clear and consistent: we believe tech companies and other private actors should take into account the effects their actions have on the American people, while making independent choices about the information they present.”

Experts warn this year’s U.S. election could be swamped by misinformation on social media with the proliferation of artificial intelligence and other tools to produce false news stories and content that could mislead voters.


Facebook in early 2021 appended what Zuckerberg called labels with “credible information” to posts about COVID-19 vaccines. That’s after it moved in April 2020 — just as the virus had led to global shutdowns and radical changes in everyday life — to warn users who shared misinformation about COVID-19.

Conservatives have long derided Facebook and other major tech companies as favoring liberal priorities and accused them of censorship.

Zuckerberg has tried to change the company’s perception on the right, going on podcaster Joe Rogan’s show in 2022 and complimenting Republican nominee Donald Trump’s response to an assassination attempt as “badass.” He sent Monday’s letter to the House Judiciary Committee, whose chairman, Jordan, is a longtime Trump ally.


Zuckerberg also said he would no longer donate money to widen election access for voters through the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, the company that runs the philanthropy for him and his wife, Priscilla Chan.

The couple previously donated $400 million to help local election offices prepare for voters in the 2020 presidential election, with funds used for protective equipment to prevent the spread of the coronavirus at polling sites, drive-thru voting locations and equipment to process mail ballots.

“I know that some people believe this work benefited one party over the other” despite analyses showing otherwise, he said. “My goal is to be neutral and not play a role one way or another – or to even appear to be playing a role. So I don’t plan on making a similar contribution this cycle.”
He he the next one to come out of the closet and throw his support behind Trump ?
 

spaminator

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Crown recommends 9 years in prison for protesters at Coutts border blockade
Author of the article:Canadian Press
Canadian Press
Bill Graveland
Published Aug 29, 2024 • Last updated 3 hours ago • 2 minute read

A truck convoy of anti-COVID-19 vaccine mandate demonstrators block the highway at the busy U.S. border crossing in Coutts, Alta., Wednesday, Feb. 2, 2022.
A truck convoy of anti-COVID-19 vaccine mandate demonstrators block the highway at the busy U.S. border crossing in Coutts, Alta., Wednesday, Feb. 2, 2022.
LETHBRIDGE, Alta. — A Crown prosecutor says two men convicted of mischief and weapons offences at the 2022 border blockade at Coutts, Alta., should spend nine years in prison.


Anthony Olienick and Chris Carbert were convicted earlier this month of public mischief over $5,000 and possessing a firearm dangerous to the public peace. Olienick was also convicted of possessing a pipe bomb.

A jury found them not guilty of the most serious charge they faced: conspiracy to murder police officers.

Crown prosecutor Steven Johnston told a sentencing hearing Thursday that the case isn’t about the right to protest government policy and believing in a cause doesn’t excuse committing a crime.

“This case has never been, nor should it be, about the idea of what the cause was … was the cause good? That is not what this court should be weighing,” Johnston said.

“The relative goodness, (or) how hard you believe in your cause, does not excuse criminality. The question now before the court is what’s the appropriate sanction?”


Johnston is also asking for a 10-year weapons prohibition ban for Olienick and a lifetime ban for Carbert.

The blockade was one of several held across the country to protest COVID-19 rules and vaccine mandates.

Olienick and Carbert were charged after RCMP found guns, ammunition and body armour in trailers near the blockade at the key Canada-U. S. border crossing.

More guns, ammunition and two pipe bombs were located at Olienick’s home in Claresholm, Alta.

“Mr. Carbert and Mr. Olienick believed they were at war. They were prepared to die for their cause. The very real risk is that firefight would have occurred,” Johnston said.

“The Crown would describe it as a final firefight where he would … resist the police taking steps which Mr. Olienick would determine were inappropriate.”


Johnston also noted that Olienick’s suggestion he was being a sheepdog to protect the protesters doesn’t hold water.

“It is not a defence in Canada to arm yourself to have combat with the state. It’s just not a thing. There’s a country that allows that … it’s not Canada.”

Olienick’s lawyer, Marilyn Burns, said her client never had any intention of hurting the police. She said a nine-year sentence would be excessive and called for a total of six months in jail for the dangerous weapon charge, with an absolute discharge on the explosives one and community service on the mischief conviction.

“I would suggest he’s learned his lesson,” Burns said.

Justice David Labrenz is expected to hand down the sentences Friday.

Two other protesters charged with conspiracy to commit murder at the blockade pleaded guilty earlier this year to lesser charges.

Christopher Lysak was sentenced to three years for possession of a restricted firearm in an unauthorized place. Jerry Morin was sentenced to 3 1/2 years for conspiracy to traffic firearms.

Those sentences amounted to time the men had served in pretrial custody.
 

spaminator

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’Mismatched guidance’ on pulling COVID vaccines ahead of updated shots raises concern
Author of the article:Canadian Press
Canadian Press
Hannah Alberga
Published Sep 05, 2024 • 3 minute read

British Columbia will not be withdrawing its COVID-19 vaccines until new ones are approved, despite the Public Health Agency of Canada instructing provinces to destroy doses.
British Columbia will not be withdrawing its COVID-19 vaccines until new ones are approved, despite the Public Health Agency of Canada instructing provinces to destroy doses.
As several provinces get rid of their existing COVID-19 vaccine supplies to make way for updated shots expected in the fall, pharmacists and some doctors say the move raises questions about gaps in vaccine access and government messaging.


Officials in Ontario, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Quebec say they are following a directive from the Public Health Agency of Canada to dispose of vaccine stocks that target the XBB.1.5 variant, before new formulations are approved and distributed. Alberta health officials said more than 300,000 doses have been withdrawn in the province while Ontario and Saskatchewan said it will take time to determine their counts.

In contrast, British Columbia says it will continue to offer its remaining supply of COVID vaccines.

“We are encouraging people in B.C. to wait for the new formulation if they can — but we are ensuring in the interim that vaccine remains available for people who may need it,” a spokesman for the provincial health officer said in a statement.


Meanwhile, Manitoba residents who still want a dose of the XBB.1.5 vaccine can make a request that will be considered on a case-by-case basis, a provincial spokesperson said.

The federal government previously stated on its website that after Aug. 31, “there will no longer be XBB.1.5 COVID-19 vaccines available for use in Canada.”

But on Wednesday, a spokesperson for the Public Health Agency of Canada and Health Canada told The Canadian Press that PHAC is working on a “transition plan” with the provinces and territories that gives them “flexibility to ensure ongoing access to current supply until new vaccines are approved.”

The Canadian Pharmacists Association said Thursday that “mismatched guidance” on existing COVID vaccines can lead to confusion for patients.


“While we understand that many provincial governments have communicated specific instructions to pharmacists based on the federal government’s direction to withdraw existing XBB vaccine supplies, that communication varies between provinces,” an association spokesperson said in a statement.

“When there is a gap in access this can lead to a lot of questions from patients at the pharmacy.”

Dr. Brian Conway, medical director of the Vancouver Infectious Diseases Centre, said he takes issue with the federal agencies’messaging on pulling COVID vaccines that are still effective.

“I’m trying to make sure that we don’t reduce public confidence in the vaccine,” Conway said in an interview.

“A message like this, ‘We’re taking a vaccine that we told you was good, really good, and you needed to get six or nine months ago, and now we’re saying, oh, well, now we’re destroying it, even though it’s not expired.’ It’s a message that is already being a little bit misinterpreted by the public.”


Conway said B.C.’s decision to provide doses of the XBB vaccine to people who may still want one is a “reasoned” approach.

“If you really need a shot now for a medical reason, this is still a very good vaccine that has good cross-protection against the currently circulating strains,” Conway said.

Health Canada says it’s reviewing updated COVID vaccines from Pfizer, Moderna and Novavax on “an expedited basis,” and expects to authorize them this fall if they meet safety and efficacy standards. A spokesperson for the Ontario health minister said it’s estimated that provinces will get the new vaccine supplies from Health Canada in October.

Individuals who need a vaccine dose in the short term should account for a “very small number of people,” said Dr. Zain Chagla, an associate professor at McMaster University and an infectious diseases physician in Hamilton.

“Even people at risk are better off just waiting, recognizing that they want that protection and they want optimized protection going into the season,” Chagla said.
 

spaminator

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PHAC explains reason for pulling COVID-19 vaccines before new ones approved
Author of the article:Canadian Press
Canadian Press
Hannah Alberga
Published Sep 10, 2024 • Last updated 1 day ago • 2 minute read

The Public Health Agency of Canada says it asked provinces to get rid of existing COVID-19 vaccines to avoid confusion with new formulations that will have the same drug identification number.


“We can’t have them both in the same pharmacy, the same vaccine clinic, at the same time, because you won’t have any way to distinguish what is what,” says Dr. Donald Sheppard, PHAC’s vice-president of infectious diseases and vaccination programs branch.

Health Canada says it is reviewing updated COVID-19 vaccines that essentially modify the current shot to target a more recent strain of the virus for an expected fall rollout.

That’s opposed to waiting for an entirely new formulation that would carry a different number but take longer to develop from scratch and slow down the approval process.

Sheppard is explaining what’s behind the federal agency’s plan after some pharmacists and doctors said removing current COVID-19 vaccines before new ones are approved could leave gaps in vaccine access spanning weeks.


This is the practice with other regularly updated vaccines, including those for influenza, according to Sheppard.

Canada has entered a similarly routine phase for COVID-19 vaccinations, Sheppard says, noting the past several shots have been updated versions of previous formulations but those rollouts didn’t direct provinces to dump old stock.

There were still concerns last year that shifting gears on the rollout process could be considered too soon, says Sheppard.

He says now it’s time to move forward with a more “routine phase” that we can “sustain long-term.”

“This year, as is every year with the flu vaccine, we need to make sure that before the new formulations roll out into the clinics, the old formulations have all been removed,” Sheppard says.


The federal agency released a directive to provinces and territories last month to dispose of vaccine stocks that target the previously-dominant XBB.1.5 variant, before formulations targeting JN.1 or KP.2 are approved and distributed.

Ontario, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Quebec said they were following this directive but British Columbia and Manitoba said residents who want a dose of the remaining supply will still have access to it.

Some health-care providers, including the Canadian Pharmacists Association, raised concerns last week that this “mismatched guidance” on vaccines could lead to confusion for patients.

Sheppard says his guidance to the public is as follows: “Whether you get your vaccine this Tuesday or next Tuesday or the following Tuesday, the difference in your protection is not likely to be very substantial. However, the difference in getting a new formulation that is a better match may actually be substantial.”
 

spaminator

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Health Canada approves updated Moderna COVID-19 vaccine
Author of the article:Canadian Press
Canadian Press
Nicole Ireland
Published Sep 17, 2024 • Last updated 1 day ago • 2 minute read

Health Canada has authorized Moderna's updated COVID-19 vaccine that protects against currently circulating variants of the virus.
Health Canada has authorized Moderna's updated COVID-19 vaccine that protects against currently circulating variants of the virus.
TORONTO — Health Canada authorized Moderna’s updated COVID-19 vaccine that protects against currently circulating variants of the virus on Tuesday.


The mRNA vaccine, called Spikevax, has been reformulated to target the KP.2 subvariant of Omicron, the agency said.

It replaces the previous version of the vaccine that was released last year, which targeted the XBB.1.5 subvariant of Omicron.

Health Canada recently asked provinces and territories to get rid of their older COVID-19 vaccines to ensure the most current vaccine will be used during this fall’s respiratory virus season.

Health Canada is also reviewing two other updated COVID-19 vaccines but has not yet authorized them. They are Pfizer’s Comirnaty, which is also an mRNA vaccine, as well as Novavax’s protein-based vaccine.

Like Moderna’s vaccine, the Pfizer vaccine under review targets the KP.2 strain. The Novavax vaccine targets the JN.1 variant. KP.2 is a sublineage of JN.1.


The JN.1 group, including its descendants, continues to be the dominant lineage group in Canada, according to the Public Health Agency of Canada’s COVID-19 update page.

Moderna’s vaccine is approved for adults and children six months of age and older, the company said in a news release Tuesday.

“With vaccines ready, Moderna will begin delivery of updated doses to the Public Health Agency of Canada, ensuring supply is available in time for provincial and territorial vaccination campaigns,” the release said.

In May, the National Advisory Committee on Immunization issued guidance for use of updated COVID-19 vaccines this fall, pending their approval by Health Canada.

In that guidance, NACI strongly recommended updated COVID-19 vaccinations for all adults 65 and older, people living in long-term care and other group living settings, people with underlying conditions that put them at higher risk of severe illness, people from Indigenous and racialized communities, and those who are pregnant or who provide essential community services.

NACI also said all other adults and children six months or older should also be eligible for an updated COVID-19 vaccination this fall.

As of Sept. 8, the viral activity level of COVID-19 in this country is “moderate,” according to Public Health Agency of Canada’s wastewater testing data.

Levels of other respiratory diseases — specifically influenza and RSV — in wastewater are currently “low.”
 

pgs

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B.C.
Health Canada approves updated Moderna COVID-19 vaccine
Author of the article:Canadian Press
Canadian Press
Nicole Ireland
Published Sep 17, 2024 • Last updated 1 day ago • 2 minute read

Health Canada has authorized Moderna's updated COVID-19 vaccine that protects against currently circulating variants of the virus.
Health Canada has authorized Moderna's updated COVID-19 vaccine that protects against currently circulating variants of the virus.
TORONTO — Health Canada authorized Moderna’s updated COVID-19 vaccine that protects against currently circulating variants of the virus on Tuesday.


The mRNA vaccine, called Spikevax, has been reformulated to target the KP.2 subvariant of Omicron, the agency said.

It replaces the previous version of the vaccine that was released last year, which targeted the XBB.1.5 subvariant of Omicron.

Health Canada recently asked provinces and territories to get rid of their older COVID-19 vaccines to ensure the most current vaccine will be used during this fall’s respiratory virus season.

Health Canada is also reviewing two other updated COVID-19 vaccines but has not yet authorized them. They are Pfizer’s Comirnaty, which is also an mRNA vaccine, as well as Novavax’s protein-based vaccine.

Like Moderna’s vaccine, the Pfizer vaccine under review targets the KP.2 strain. The Novavax vaccine targets the JN.1 variant. KP.2 is a sublineage of JN.1.


The JN.1 group, including its descendants, continues to be the dominant lineage group in Canada, according to the Public Health Agency of Canada’s COVID-19 update page.

Moderna’s vaccine is approved for adults and children six months of age and older, the company said in a news release Tuesday.

“With vaccines ready, Moderna will begin delivery of updated doses to the Public Health Agency of Canada, ensuring supply is available in time for provincial and territorial vaccination campaigns,” the release said.

In May, the National Advisory Committee on Immunization issued guidance for use of updated COVID-19 vaccines this fall, pending their approval by Health Canada.

In that guidance, NACI strongly recommended updated COVID-19 vaccinations for all adults 65 and older, people living in long-term care and other group living settings, people with underlying conditions that put them at higher risk of severe illness, people from Indigenous and racialized communities, and those who are pregnant or who provide essential community services.

NACI also said all other adults and children six months or older should also be eligible for an updated COVID-19 vaccination this fall.

As of Sept. 8, the viral activity level of COVID-19 in this country is “moderate,” according to Public Health Agency of Canada’s wastewater testing data.

Levels of other respiratory diseases — specifically influenza and RSV — in wastewater are currently “low.”
Surprise , surprise !
 
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spaminator

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‘Sneaky’ NYC COVID advisor admits breaking lockdown rules to attend sex parties
Author of the article:Denette Wilford
Published Sep 20, 2024 • Last updated 2 days ago • 2 minute read

New York City’s former COVID adviser bragged about breaking his own lockdown rules during the COVID-19 pandemic to host drug-fuelled sex parties.


Dr. Jay Varma was secretly filmed when he bragged about how “pissed” New Yorkers would have been at the time if they had learned of his rule-breaking escapades.

Varma, the former deputy commissioner of the New York City Health Department, served as senior health adviser to then-mayor Bill de Blasio and was responsible for managing the city’s pandemic response.

He no longer works for City Hall but confessed to the Post that he “participated in two private gatherings” between April 2020 and May 2021, insisting the just-released recordings were “taken out of context.”

“I had to be kind of sneaky about it … because I was running the entire COVID response in the city,” Varma told an unidentified woman last month, the New York Post reported.

He confessed his actions in hidden-camera conversations with an “undercover operative” from the conservative podcaster Steven Crowder’s Mug Club.

The edited footage, recorded between July 27 and Aug. 14 in New York, was released by Crowder on Thursday.



In one clip, Varma acknowledged that it would have been a “real embarrassment” if he had been busted at the gatherings – despite advising the public of restrictions stating the opposite.

“We went to some, like, underground dance party … underneath a bank on Wall Street …,” he detailed in the video.

“We were all rolling, we’re all taking molly [MDMA] and everybody’s high,” Varma continued. “And I was so happy because I hadn’t done that in like a year and a half.”

He added: “But I was looking around being like, ‘F—, I wonder if anybody sees me, they’re gonna be pissed.’ Because this was not COVID-friendly.”

Varma said in the footage: “The only way I could do this job for the city was if I had some way to blow off steam every now and then.”


Varma also boasted about his job and the power he appeared to wield over the city.

“I did all this deviant, like, sexual stuff while I was like, you know, like on TV and stuff,” he said in another recording. “People were like, ‘Aren’t you afraid? Aren’t you embarrassed?’ and I was like, ‘No, actually, I’m like, I love being my authentic self.’”

Varma said in a statement, “I take responsibility for not using the best judgment at the time.”



But the former official also blasted the recordings, saying he was “targeted by an operative for an extremist right-wing organization determined to malign public health officials and take down the public health system in America,” noting the “private conversations” were “secretly recorded, spliced, diced, and taken out of context.”

In the statement, Varma maintained the advice he doled out at the time worked.

“Facing the greatest public health crisis in a century, our top priority was to save lives, and every decision made was based on the best available science to keep New Yorkers safe,” he said.

“I stand by my efforts to get New Yorkers vaccinated against COVID-19, and I reject dangerous extremist efforts to undermine the public’s confidence in the need for and effectiveness of vaccines.”
 

spaminator

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Health Canada approves Pfizer-BioNTech’s updated COVID-19 vaccine
Author of the article:Canadian Press
Canadian Press
Nicole Ireland and Hannah Alberga
Published Sep 24, 2024 • Last updated 18 hours ago • 2 minute read

Health 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.

Health Canada recently asked provinces and territories to get rid of their older COVID-19 vaccines to ensure the most current vaccine will be used during this fall’s respiratory virus season.

The timelines for when people can roll up their sleeves to get the new shots is up to the provinces and territories, Public Health Agency of Canada spokesperson Anna Maddison said in an email last week.


“Canada has secured sufficient supply of COVID-19 vaccines to meet provincial and territorial demand requirements for fall and winter 2024 vaccination campaigns,” she said.

The Novavax vaccine targets the JN.1 subvariant, while the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines target the KP.2 subvariant. KP.2 is a sublineage of the JN.1 strain.

Pfizer and Moderna vaccines are approved for adults and for children six months of age and older.

Novavax’s vaccine is approved for adults and for children 12 years and older. Nuvaxovid’s product monograph says the vaccine has not yet been evaluated for safety and efficacy in children under 12.

In May, the National Advisory Committee on Immunization issued guidance for use of updated COVID-19 vaccines this fall if they were to be approved by Health Canada.


In that guidance, NACI strongly recommended updated COVID-19 vaccinations for all adults 65 and older, people living in long-term care and other group living settings, people with underlying conditions that put them at higher risk of severe illness, people from Indigenous and racialized communities, and those who are pregnant or who provide essential community services.

NACI said all other adults and children six months or older should also be eligible for an updated COVID-19 vaccination this fall.

According to the Public Health Agency of Canada’s wastewater data, updated on Tuesday, COVID-19 viral activity is moderate on a national level, but some wastewater collection points in Yukon, British Columbia, Manitoba, New Brunswick and Newfoundland and Labrador have registered high levels of activity as of Sept. 8.
 

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After nearly dying of COVID, Al Pacino says there's no afterlife: 'There's nothing there'
'You're here, you're not. I thought: 'Wow, you don't even have your memories. You have nothing.' Strange porridge'


Author of the article:Mark Daniell
Published Oct 07, 2024 • Last updated 1 day ago • 3 minute read

In a new interview, Al Pacino has revealed that he nearly died of COVID-19 in 2020, and said the experience left him with some new insight into what happens after we die.


In a conversation with the New York Times’ The Interview podcast, Pacino, 84, detailed his battle with the disease and said he “felt not good — unusually not good” when paramedics arrived at his home in the early days of the pandemic.

“What happened was, I felt not good — unusually not good. Then I had a fever, and I was getting dehydrated and all that. So I got someone to get me a nurse to hydrate me. I was sitting there in my house, and I was gone. Like that. I didn’t have a pulse,” Pacino explained during a chat to promote his coming memoir, Sonny Boy.

“In a matter of minutes they were there — the ambulance in front of my house. I had about six paramedics in that living room, and there were two doctors, and they had these outfits on that looked like they were from outer space or something. It was kind of shocking to open your eyes and see that. Everybody was around me, and they said: ‘He’s back. He’s here,'” the father of four recounted.


But the Godfather star said that his brush with death didn’t leave him with any “metaphysical ripples.”

“It was so — you’re here, you’re not. I thought: ‘Wow, you don’t even have your memories. You have nothing.’ Strange porridge,” he said.

“I didn’t see the white light or anything. There’s nothing there. As Hamlet says, ‘To be or not to be’; ‘The undiscovered country from whose bourn, no traveller returns.’ And he says two words: ‘no more.’ It was no more. You’re gone. I’d never thought about it in my life. But you know actors: It sounds good to say I died once. What is it when there’s no more?”

Pacino said his vast filmography and his children were offered some “consolation” for the prospect that there’s nothing after death.


“It’s natural, I guess, to have a different view of death as you get older. It’s just the way it is. I didn’t ask for it. Just comes, like a lot of things just come,” the Heat star said.

But in a separate interview with PEOPLE, Pacino said he was left confused by the ordeal of nearly dying. “I looked around and I thought, ‘What happened to me?’” he recalled.


The Oscar winner also questioned whether he actually died.

“I thought I experienced death. I might not have. I don’t think I have, really. I know I made it,” he said. “I don’t think I died. Everybody thought I was dead. How could I be dead? If I was dead, I fainted. And when I opened my eyes, there were six paramedics in my living room. There was an ambulance outside the door, and two of my doctors in those space suits (like) on Mars. I looked around and I thought, ‘What happened to me?’

“So I couldn’t have died, because how did all those people gather together, the ambulance in front of my house?”

Asked if the experience changed how he looks at his life, Pacino told PEOPLE, “Not at all.”

mdaniell@postmedia.com