| 
Kids under 5 can soon get their COVID-19 vaccine On Thursday, Health Canada announced it had approved Moderna‘s pediatric COVID-19 vaccine for children under five, making it the first pandemic vaccine approved for the nearly two million toddlers and preschoolers in Canada. The Moderna vaccine can be given to young children between the ages of six months and five years old in doses one-quarter the size of that approved for adults. The National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI) is recommending two doses at least eight weeks apart Clinical trial data shows the vaccine was about 44 per cent effective for kids six months to two years and close to 38 per cent effective for those two to six years of age, which is comparable to efficacy of the vaccine for older kids and adults. It was also determined to be equally as safe. Many provinces have already started to announce the rollout of the new shot, with some, like Ontario and Alberta, making it available later this month and others, like B.C. and Nova Scotia doing so in August. Read more details about this new vaccine for young children in this story. 
Monkeypox cases are rising in Canada. What does this mean for you? On Wednesday, Canada reported a significant increase in monkeypox cases over last week – mirroring a trend of rising cases reported across the globe. Canada now has 477 confirmed cases of monkeypox since its emergence as part of the unusual global outbreak that started in May. Between July 4 and July 13, a total of 177 new cases have been confirmed in the country, representing a 59 per cent increase in case numbers during that time frame. Though cases are on the rise, the risk to the general population remains low, health experts say – but that doesn't mean Canadians shouldn't be vigilant. Read more advice from health experts about the risk of monkeypox to the general public in this story. 
Q: What is the BA.5 variant and how is different than previous variants of COVID-19? For this question, we’ve enlisted the expertise of Dr. Giorgia Sulis, and infectious disease epidemiologist at McGill University. BA.5 is a sub-variant of Omicron, first detected in April of this year. While it shares several mutations with the original Omicron variant, BA.5 has additional mutations particularly in the gene encoding the spike protein, which is the portion of the virus that allows it to attach to human cells and start the infection, Dr. Sulis says. The new mutations observed in BA.5 make it able to partially escape the immune response, thus increasing the risk of re-infection among those who got infected with the original Omicron or earlier variants, even if that happened recently. “Even if some degree of immune escape had already been seen with Delta and the first Omicron, the ability of BA.5 to re-infect is greater, which is what makes it different from previous variants,” she said. “Although our knowledge of BA.5 is still limited, it does not seem to cause more severe disease as of now. Vaccines remain our primary tool for controlling COVID-19, including BA.5.” Even if vaccinated individuals can still get infected, vaccines continue to protect against severe disease, she added. “For those who have already been infected with one of the earlier versions of Omicron, it is also important to get a booster dose because immunity from natural infection only is weaker than that resulting from prior infection plus vaccination.” Read more about global concerns about BA.5 in this Global News online post. | 
No comments:
Post a Comment