Parents with children aged six months to 4 can now book an appointment for the COVID vaccine.
Ontario is opening up its online vaccine contact center to accept the booking this morning.
Parents can also also book appointments through the pubic health unit, participating pharmacies and their health practitioner at medical clinics.
The recent approval of a Moderna vaccine by Health Canada will allow young children to get vaccinated.
The turn of the weather in Ontario could mean a new type of vaccine in the fall, in the fight against COVID-19.
Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Kieran Moore told reporters last week that the bivalent vaccine will be effective against two or more variants of the virus.
“We’re getting clarity though on what that Omicron variant will be,” Dr. Kieran Moore said. “As you may have heard, the (U.S. Food and Drug Administration) is requesting a BA 4 and BA 5 variant be a component of the bivalent (vaccine), and we know that manufacturers have already created a BA 1 bivalent vaccine.”
Dr. Moore added that the exact timing for the new vaccine still isn’t known, but it could be available by November or December.
Vaccines that are currently available are monovalent, which means that they are tailored solely to the original novel coronavirus.
Moderna Canada submitted its bivalent booster candidate to Health Canada on June 30 for regulatory approval.
Pfizer Canada also has plans to seek approval for another COVID-19 vaccine.
A COVID-19 vaccine for young children should be available in the next couple of weeks.
That’s according to the Northwestern Health Unit.
Last week, Health Canada approved a Moderna vaccine for children from 6 months to 5 years old.
The Ministry of Health in Ontario is currently developing guidelines for use in the province and will be shipping the vaccines out to Health Units once the process is completed.
The Health Unit says it will notify the public when the vaccines are available.
Ontario’s Chief Medical Officer of Health is explaining his absence on the public stage.
Dr. Kieran Moore says he’ll show up anytime there is new messaging that has to be given, and this time it’s to get the fourth dose.
“The purpose of coming out today, as you remember my last press conference we told you I’d come out if there was an issue,” says Dr. Moore.
“The purpose today is to remind all Ontarians that they are eligible for boosters. 60 and above are eligible for the second booster, and I got mine yesterday.”
Dr. Moore is encouraging anyone who is eligible to get the booster.
“It’s a testament to the power of immunization and after four or five months our immunization benefit fades and our antibodies decline and at this point at 5 months after your booster for those 60 and above, I’m really asking all Ontarians to come forward and get their booster.”
Dr. Moore says the vaccine does work because the unvaccinated are four times more likely to be hospitalized and six times more likely to be in ICU.
Meantime, the province is looking at extending the mask mandate in long-term care homes.
The mandate will expire at the end of the month.
Dr. Moore says with an increase in the number of cases of COVID-19, they are looking at all health restrictions.
He believes this wave won’t settle until middle or end of May.
Dr. Moore says they encourage mask use, especially in indoor settings.
Ontario is getting ready for one of the largest flu shot campaigns in its history.
Health Minister Christine Elliott says they have spent 89 million dollars to purchase the flu vaccine.
“This year we have purchased over 7.6 million doses of the flu vaccine which is 1.4 million more doses than last year,” states Elliott.
She adds the flu vaccine is compatible with another vaccine they have rolled out.
“I would also like to note that the National Advisory Committee on Immunization or NASI has recommended that the COVID-19 vaccines may be given at the same time as the flu vaccine.”
Elliott is encouraging anyone who hasn’t had a first or second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, do so with their flu shot.
She confirms that residents in long-term care homes have already been vaccinated and everyone else will be able to get a flu shot starting next month.
If you received two different COVID-19 vaccine doses, international travel may have to wait a while longer.
Canada’s chief public health officer Dr. Theresa Tam says officials are talking with other countries to see if they will recognize Canadians with mixed doses as being fully immunized.
Dr. Tam says while some European countries have already agreed because they also administered mixed doses, you should be sure before you book any travel.
“They must check in with the specific country requirements prior to travel because it is a bit of a varied landscape out there, but we are doing everything we can to facilitate that recognition,” she says.
If you want to head to the United States, Dr. Tam says right now main question is whether it will recognize AstraZeneca doses.
“We’ve been presenting our data, for example, on the vaccine effectiveness of the mixed dose schedule such as AstraZeneca followed by mRNA vaccines,” Dr. Tam explains.
The United States never approved AstraZeneca’s vaccine for use, so Canada has been providing its own figures that the U.S. can use to make its own decision.
AstraZeneca seems to be the current focus, as Dr. Tam underlines “The issue isn’t with the mRNA vaccines in terms of interchangeability.”
While she says talks are going well, the U.S. border is still closed to non-essential travel for Canadians.
One of Ontario’s healthcare unions says the province’s latest announcement on vaccines for healthcare workers is not clearly explained.
The province announced Tuesday that healthcare workplaces need to create policies by early September requiring workers to be vaccinated against COVID-19, or get regular testing.
SEIU Healthcare President Sharleen Stewart calls it “very confusing,” saying this follows a pattern set by other announcements from Premier Doug Ford.
“When he said there was an ‘iron ring’ around long-term care [residents], there wasn’t. When he said he was going to go to the bank and make sure that workers got a wage increase, he didn’t do that. He’s saying that this is a mandatory vaccine directive, it isn’t,” she says.
“SEIU does support the mandatory vaccination, our members do. We polled them, and the vast majority see it as a health and safety issue in the workplace,” Stewart explains, and says around 90 per cent of those members are vaccinated.
“I mean, if the province is going to issue a mandatory vaccination [requirement], they should do that,” Stewart notes. She adds the union wants to work with the province to encourage the remaining few eligible unvaccinated healthcare workers to get immunized.
She points out the vaccine policies laid out in the announcement have been mandatory in the long-term care sector for some time, and this simply expands them to other healthcare workers.
The announcement indicates similar rules will also be put in place for the education sector.
COVID-19 vaccines will soon be mandatory for federal public servants like mail carriers.
Dominic LeBlanc, federal Intergovernmental Affairs Minister, and federal Transport Minister Omar Alghabra announced Friday afternoon that the federal government intends to require public servants to be fully immunized “as early as the end of September.”
Workers in federally-regulated sectors like rail will be required to do the same by the end of this October at the latest.
Along with vaccine requirements for air, rail and marine transportation workers, those rules will also extend to commercial air, rail and cruise ship passengers.
Minister Alghabra said that for those who require exemptions and can’t get the vaccine, the government will put enhanced testing and screening in place.
A warning of a very rare side effect of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine.
Health Canada says a small number of people in Canada and around the world have reported temporary weakness or paralysis on one side of the face after getting the vaccine.
The condition, called Bell’s Palsy, usually starts to improve in a few weeks and was already listed as a possible side effect of the Moderna vaccine.
Health Canada is looking into this issue in other COVID-19 vaccines, but says all authorized vaccines are still safe and protect against the virus.
Canada is on the path towards concerning COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations according to COVID-19 modelling revealed by the country’s top health officials on Friday.
The loosening of pandemic restrictions throughout provinces and territories paired with slowing vaccination rates and the rapid spread of the delta variant has generated concern among health officials.
“This updated longer-range forecast shows how the epidemic trajectory may evolve through early September. It suggests that we are at the start of the Delta driven fourth wave but that the trajectory will depend on ongoing increase in fully vaccinated coverage and the timing, pace and extent of re-opening,” said Chief Public Health Officer of Canada Dr. Theresa Tam.
The seven-day rolling average for cases is 93% lower than the peak of the third wave, although a resurgence in cases has been recorded.
“Not surprisingly the majority of cases, hospitalizations and fatal outcomes are occurring among unvaccinated people,” said Tam.
“There have been relatively few cases reported in people that have received at least one dose of COVID-19 and fewer still among those who are fully vaccinated.”
Canada’s previous success battling COVID-19 has prompted many provinces to loosen their health measures, however, the recent figures suggest the changes may be too soon.
“This forecast reaffirms the need to take a cautious approach to relaxing public health measures, to remain vigilant and responsive to signs of resurgence and to continue to increase first and second dose vaccine coverage,” Tam said.
Long-term forecasts indicate a resurgence of cases is likely this Fall and Winter when restrictive measures and individual precautions are lifted.
“Canada has made great progress on increasing vaccine coverage over the last month, but we need more eligible people vaccinated.”
