Canada - Coronavirus COVID-19

[otto]

I think it is foolish for the government to fool around with a vaccine that has not been properly tested - in terms of how other medications and vaccines are tested. I read that one dose provides 80% protection, two doses provide 95% protection.

Because there is a shortage, governments are modifying scientific recommendations regarding vaccine delivery. I wonder what the consequences will be, and in particular I wonder whether it will create a situation where the virus has just enough room to mutate and beat the vaccine.

"Canada's national panel of vaccine experts says the second COVID-19 vaccine dose can be delayed briefly in order to quickly get first doses to more people.

The National Advisory Committee on Immunization says every effort should be made to follow the 21-day and 28-day dosing schedules recommended for the two vaccines approved in Canada to date.

But as the pandemic heats up, and as vaccine supplies trickle in slowly, the panel also says that delaying the second dose for up to six weeks — instead of three or four — could quickly give more people at least some protection against COVID-19.
...

Alan Bernstein of Canada's COVID-19 vaccine task force said he is opposed to delaying the second dose.

"It would create a situation where people think they're immune, but they're not," he said. "If we start tampering with those regimes, we really are experimenting on human subjects, and we need to get informed consent."

If provinces change shot schedules, it might also affect the delivery of future doses. Procurement Minister Anita Anand said Tuesday she'll consult with the companies. "
​

https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/vaccine-panel-ok-to-delay-second-dose-1.5871677

 

[deugirtni]

this is disgusting - although if she regularly had two workers twice a day, that's more than my family had with my Mom for months recently (which doesn't make it right)

Senior presumed to have COVID-19 left soiled in bed for days after home care visits cancelled

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toro...7iRsYXCiaV3VoBclK2CzuBd7CvmJTQnc8huL8iDD6f4Vg

Everyone brings their own personal experiences, knowledge, etc., to this forum, which makes WS a great place to get different POVs and perspectives, etc. I'm NOT saying that it is NOT disgusting that this man was left 'soiled in bed for days', however I see so many OTHER things wrong with this story. Something about 'cake and eating it too', and 'pick your poison', come to my mind.

The man had to suffer in his own home 'soiled for days' with only his family to care for him, but at least he DID have them to care for him, (as per his family's choice, I might add), AND he's alive. It's not like this man lived alone while our healthcare system had no LTC bed to offer him and THEN abandoned him alone at home when he contracted Covid. It seems like this family ended up okay even though 3 of them contracted Covid. (How? The man's wife seems to have been first to contract it. In any case, it was through no fault of our government.) Imo, sometimes we have to suck it up and tell ourselves, 'hey, it was my choice to care for him at home, and maybe I made the right choice even with some skin irritation to deal with in the end', or 'maybe I made the wrong choice and I should get him back into his nursing home, since I've now proven I CAN'T care for him at home'. Some people's needs are too great to be a candidate for in-home care. Perhaps this man was one of them. My guess is that his wife had already been told this. (My guess is also that if her husband was healthy and happened to be employed by VON as a home-care worker, she wouldn't want him going into private homes with Covid to care for patients. VON has their own protocols for keeping their staff safe.) I can't believe the news even covered this. imo.

 

[LadyL]

!!!

More than 30 international flights land in Toronto since start of 2021 with passengers who later tested positive for COVID-19

 

[deugirtni]

!!!

More than 30 international flights land in Toronto since start of 2021 with passengers who later tested positive for COVID-19

And that is only the ones they already know about for sure? If the testing was 'voluntary', how many of those travellers on those 30 flights volunteered? Wow.

 

[Tadpole12]

Stay-at-home emergency alert message sent to Ontarians
Jan 14, 2021

 

[otto]

Yes, that's him.. don't know why I was thinking he'd gone to UK.. must've been mixing up the 'London' part? Who knows... anyway.. in further news:

Former London hospital CEO files $2.5M lawsuit after being fired for traveling to the U.S.
Former London hospital CEO files $2.5M lawsuit after being fired for traveling to the U.S.

From the article:

"Woods, who is a Canadian citizen also holds permanent residency status in the United States.

On March 21, 2020, when the federal governments of Canadian and the United States restricted all non-essential travel across the land border, the statement said that Woods, as a permanent resident of the U.S., was exempt from that restriction and that he did not take that decision “lightly.”
​

I looked for information about travel exemptions and couldn't find anything to support this claim. The USA and Canada have closed the border to non-essential travel. I couldn't find anything stating that people with citizenship or residency status in both countries are exempt from the border closure.

The dual residency/citizenship options means that he can enter both countries without border issues, but I don't think it translates to an exemption.

 

[Tadpole12]

Why months of 'Stay Home' messaging didn’t work in Ontario - Macleans.ca

 

[LadyL]

'Ramp up' of vaccine delivery in Canada not expected until April, Fortin says

Ontario under new orders as emergency doctors call for vaccine rollout transparency

COVID-19: Poll finds majority of Canadians want borders closed to stop people vacationing

 

[otto]

'Ramp up' of vaccine delivery in Canada not expected until April, Fortin says

I'm in phase 3 of the vaccine rollout - the last phase. I'm good with this. I won't be a guinea pig with a delay between the two shots, and, by Summer/Fall, we'll know whether the vaccine is effective with the new strains that are emerging.

It's unfortunate that it takes so long to inoculate 33 million people, but what a relief it will be when it is done!

On Wednesday, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he was "very concerned" about the Brazilian variant of the virus. ...

Felipe Naveca, deputy director of research at the Brazilian state-run Oswaldo Cruz Foundation, said the new variant was "of concern" and its origin was "undoubtedly" from the Amazon region.

He told the BBC's South America correspondent Katy Watson the new variant had evolved separately from those in the UK and South Africa, but that it showed some of the same mutations.

"Some of these mutations have been linked to increased transmission and that is of concern," he said, adding: "We have to stop the virus from circulating, because we're giving it the opportunity to evolve."
​

Covid Brazilian variant sparks South America travel ban

 

[LadyL]

LTC workers explain what it feels like to get second dose and be fully vaccinated against COVID

 

[otto]

It's to be expected that countries are now competing to be the first to vaccinate/inoculate the entire population of a country. Israel galloped out of that gate. Other "big" countries are now racing to prove that they are better, or at least equal, including Canada.

The USA seems to be behind the 8 ball here - all the internal strife looks like people with no moral compass acting out personal issues and uninterested in big picture solutions.

Canada was doing great in terms of handing the situation until Quebec and Ontario got out of control - gotta wonder whether it's politicians thinking that law is for the little people; that the population needs to get their virus under control so the elite and government can get on with their work.

 

[otto]

Ontario and Quebec are refining plans for who will receive treatment when there are ICU shortages.

"But there is now planning underway in Quebec and Ontario to prepare for the possibility hospitals may have to make a choice between who gets access to critical care beds when the demand for space exceeds capacity.
...

Staff at Montreal's Royal Victoria Hospital and Montreal General Hospital will soon begin what Goldberg called "dry runs," in which a group of three staff will decide if a patient is best suited to receive critical care, or if the bed should be left for someone with a better chance of survival.
....

Broadly speaking, doctors are advised to prioritize patients most likely to survive an intensive care hospitalization.

Each patient is assessed based on the medical issues that would likely prevent them from being successfully weaned off a ventilator.

The protocol was revised this summer, after disability advocates raised concerns the criteria was discriminatory. It stipulated, for instance, that those with an advanced and irreversible neuromuscular disease, such as Parkinson's, would also not be entitled to intensive care in the event there was a shortage of resources.
...

"If two patients arrive and we really run out of beds, and we've done everything else that we can to try and move people around, but really at the end of the road, this committee will look at the medical records, medical files and start the clinical evaluation," she said. "​

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/quebec-protocol-triage-covid-1.5873458

 

[LadyL]

Montreal hospital on verge of life-and-death triage

Pfizer to temporarily reduce vaccine deliveries to Canada, minister says

Montreal police stop woman going to work during curfew and search her lunch bag

The latest news on COVID-19 developments in Canada

 

[Tadpole12]

COVID-19: Pfizer announces vaccine delays; Ottawa death toll climbs above 400; Ford removes MPP from caucus | Ottawa Citizen

 

[deugirtni]

Ontario’s health minister says all long-term care residents in Toronto’s 87 homes have been vaccinated against COVID-19.

Christine Elliott made the announcement on Twitter, saying the vaccinations happened a week before their goal of Jan. 21.

All Toronto LTC homes vaccinated against COVID-19, health minister says - CityNews Toronto

 

[otto]

Ontario’s health minister says all long-term care residents in Toronto’s 87 homes have been vaccinated against COVID-19.

Christine Elliott made the announcement on Twitter, saying the vaccinations happened a week before their goal of Jan. 21.

All Toronto LTC homes vaccinated against COVID-19, health minister says - CityNews Toronto

I think the claim is false - a half truth. Vaccinations have started with that group, but they are not fully vaccinated:

"A second dose will be necessary following this date as both the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines require multiple shots. The interval between Moderna doses is 28 days; for the Pfizer vaccine, it’s 21 days."
​

Today we learned that 50% of expected vaccinations will not be delivered, which means this group may not receive the second dose when it should be administered.

 

[deugirtni]

I think the claim is false - a half truth. Vaccinations have started with that group, but they are not fully vaccinated:

"A second dose will be necessary following this date as both the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines require multiple shots. The interval between Moderna doses is 28 days; for the Pfizer vaccine, it’s 21 days."
​

Today we learned that 50% of expected vaccinations will not be delivered, which means this group may not receive the second dose when it should be administered.

I'm pretty sure they were only talking about the first dose. But I agree, I really doubt if that claim is true.

 

[otto]

I'm pretty sure they were only talking about the first dose. But I agree, I really doubt if that claim is true.

I think it's careless to state that all residents in some long term care residences are vaccinated when we know that 2 injections are needed and they have only received one injection. If this vulnerable group does not receive the second injection on schedule, then it will look like the government is experimenting on seniors to see what happens with 80% protection. Something about the claim doesn't seem right.

 

[LadyL]

Just yesterday, Toronto police issued a statement that they would not be pulling over cars to expressly check for this.

Ontario police pull over four in car, charge them under stay-at-home orders

 

[dotr]

Why are a number of people still not wearing masks outside or even attempting to move over on the sidewalk? It may not really stop one from getting covid, but is it not a form of courtesy and civility to at least look as if you are trying to be respectful of others?
imo.
Edited out my own less than civil observation.