| 
New variant sparks concerns The World Health Organization has officially added a new variant to its list of COVID-19 "variants of concern" for the first time since May. The latest mutation, called “Omicron,” was first identified in South Africa. South Africa's announcement of the discovery on Thursday sparked immediate concern around the world, as officials there said that it seemed to have outcompeted the previous Delta variant in some regions, and that it contained a number of worrying mutations – notably ones that could help it spread more quickly and evade people's immunity from vaccines. Here's a close look at the Omicron COVID-19 variant and why it has countries so worried. Overnight Thursday and all day Friday, country after country announced travel bans to southern African nations while a handful of countries, including Israel, Hong Kong and Belgium, said they had already discovered cases of Omicron. Canada announced a set of travel restrictions for southern African countries on Friday. Global News national online reporter Aaron D'Andrea has the details. 
Vaccinating children Children across Canada started getting their first doses of COVID-19 vaccine this week, after Health Canada approved the Pfizer vaccine for five to 11-year-olds a week ago. Demand was high, with provinces reporting tens of thousands of appointment bookings just hours after websites and phone lines opened. Experts expect vaccinating kids will make a big impact in Canada's fight against COVID-19, and could mean a nine per cent jump in vaccination rates. If you're thinking about vaccinating your child, here's a guide to some frequently asked questions about the vaccine, by Global News health reporter Leslie Young. 
Q: Do we know whether giving children the COVID vaccine will affect their ability to procreate down the road? "The health care community has decades of experience with different vaccines, and there have not been any vaccines that have been shown to affect fertility in the short or long term despite some of the claims on social media about this," said Dr. Laura Sauvé, a pediatric infectious diseases specialist and clinical assistant professor at the University of British Columbia. "Despite the fact that there has not been any evidence to suggest an impact on fertility and that it is scientifically unlikely, this is a common fear that we hear expressed. "For the pediatric vaccine specifically, in the trials done so far, there were no significant safety concerns. And so far in the United States, about 2.5 million first doses have been given to children aged five to 11, with no serious concerns. With each passing week, more data become available, however very long term data for this specific vaccine will not be available for some time. "In the adult human and animal model studies there has been no evidence for effects on fertility from the mRNA vaccines developed to protect against COVID-19, or in other mRNA vaccine studies. Studies looking at sperm parameters before and after the vaccines have not showed any differences.” The Society of Obstetricians and Gynecologists of Canada, the Canadian Fertility and Andrology Society and the American Society for Reproductive Medicine have all put out reassuring statements on this issue, she said. "We do know that while a lot of children get only mildly ill from COVID-19 vaccine, there are some who get severely ill and need to be hospitalized either because of COVID-19 or MIS-C (Multi-inflammatory Syndrome in Children) and we can't predict easily which children will get severely ill," Sauvé said. | 
No comments:
Post a Comment