As provinces and employers across Canada increase restrictions on the unvaccinated or introduce vaccine passports, cybercriminals are attempting to cash in by offering fake vaccination certificates for sale online.
Sellers are offering phoney proof-of-vaccination documents for several provinces that apparently look just like the real thing. Some of them even claim to be able to enter the data from the fake certificates into official government databases.
Prices and promises vary, according to offers viewed by CBC News on platforms like Telegram. One seller is offering fake proof-of-vaccination cards or QR codes for several provinces — including Manitoba and B.C. — for $200, payable in Bitcoin or Ethereum cryptocurrencies. They promise to deliver the fake documents within 48 hours by mail or in "just a few hours" if they're being sent electronically.
Just minutes after CBC News reached out to the seller, they sent a picture of an Ontario proof-of-vaccination form that appears to be identical to those being issued by many Ontario vaccination clinics. Photos posted online by the seller of fake proof-of-vaccination documents for B.C and Manitoba also mirror official documents.
The seller boasted that information on the bogus cards is entered in provincial databases.
Another seller claimed to be based in Montreal. His channel, which was being followed by 320,065 subscribers when it was viewed by CBC News, included offers of fake proof-of-vaccination from several jurisdictions around the world — and featured photos of an Alberta proof-of-vaccination certificate that resembles the real one.
There is no way to know how many fake vaccination documents are in circulation in Canada.
Provincial health authorities call into question sellers' claims that they can ensure the fake vaccination data is inserted into government databases.
https://www.cbc.ca/n...cates-1.6191154
Anti-Vaxxer Brags About Fake Vaccine Card On TikTok, Gets Reported To The FBI
Showing the fake card and lip-synching to "'What You Gonna Do About It?", the TikTokker got her answer quickly and a visit from the FBI.
https://crooksandlia...ke-vaccine-card
Canadian military leaders saw the pandemic as a unique opportunity to test out propaganda techniques on an unsuspecting public, a newly released Canadian Forces report concludes.
The federal government never asked for the so-called information operations campaign, nor did cabinet authorize the initiative developed during the COVID-19 pandemic by the Canadian Joint Operations Command, then headed by Lt.-Gen. Mike Rouleau.
But military commanders believed they didn’t need to get approval from higher authorities to develop and proceed with their plan, retired Maj.-Gen. Daniel Gosselin, who was brought in to investigate the scheme, concluded in his report.
The propaganda plan was developed and put in place in April 2020 even though the Canadian Forces had already acknowledged that “information operations and targeting policies and doctrines are aimed at adversaries and have a limited application in a domestic concept.”
A copy of the Dec. 2, 2020, Gosselin investigation, as well as other related documents, was obtained by this newspaper using the Access to Information law.
The plan devised by the Canadian Joint Operations Command, also known as CJOC, relied on propaganda techniques similar to those employed during the Afghanistan war. The campaign called for “shaping” and “exploiting” information. CJOC claimed the information operations scheme was needed to head off civil disobedience by Canadians during the coronavirus pandemic and to bolster government messages about the pandemic.
*snip*
Then chief of the defence Staff Gen. Jon Vance shut down the CJOC propaganda initiative after a number of his advisers questioned the legality and ethics behind the plan. Vance then brought in Gosselin to examine how CJOC was able to develop and launch the propaganda operation without approval.
Gosselin’s investigation discovered the plan wasn’t simply the idea of “passionate” military propaganda specialists, but support for the use of such information operations was “clearly a mindset that permeated the thinking at many levels of CJOC.” Those in the command saw the pandemic as a “unique opportunity” to test out such techniques on Canadians.
The views put forth by Rear Adm. Brian Santarpia, then CJOC’s chief of staff, summed up the command’s attitude, Gosselin noted in his report. “This is really a learning opportunity for all of us and a chance to start getting information operations into our (CAF-DND) routine,” the rear admiral stated.
The command saw the military’s pandemic response “as an opportunity to monitor and collect public information in order to enhance awareness for better command decision making,” Gosselin determined.
Gosselin also pointed out CJOC staff had a “palpable dismissive attitude” toward the advice and concerns raised by other military leaders.
The directive for the propaganda plan was issued by CJOC on April 8, 2020, but it took until May 2 of that year before Vance’s order to shut it down took effect.
https://ottawacitize...ces-report-says
via https://sputniknews....1089555621.html
And he's exhausted emotionally because he believes he can trace those infections back to a local church with a pastor who, he's been told, "discouraged people from protecting themselves" with vaccinations, masks and physical distancing.
"Different people who are connected with that church have explained, they have shared with me, that that pastor used this disease as a way to test people's faith in the Lord."
That also makes him angry.
"For people to say, 'Oh, you shouldn't get angry' … we all have a right to be scared, and we damn sure have a right to be angry.
"Vaccines are free. Vaccines are not poison.… You need to go get vaccinated, because if you don't, you just might be living the nightmare that I'm living right now."
Gee is the only person among his siblings and parents who's vaccinated. He's breaking his silence to take on what he says is a widespread anti-vaccination sentiment in the Perth-Andover area driven by several local churches.
"It's stupidity," he says. "If you want to make this a thing about religion, why not tell people that the Lord has already answered our prayers by giving us brains, and by giving us science?
"Jesus was a healer. People trusted Jesus. Why don't they trust these doctors that have the information that we need to protect ourselves and protect our loved ones?"
https://www.cbc.ca/n...dover-1.6194479
of course there's this story
A storm descends on a small town, and the downpour soon turns into a flood. As the waters rise, the local preacher kneels in prayer on the church porch, surrounded by water. By and by, one of the townsfolk comes up the street in a canoe.
"Better get in, Preacher. The waters are rising fast."
"No," says the preacher. "I have faith in the Lord. He will save me."
Still the waters rise. Now the preacher is up on the balcony, wringing his hands in supplication, when another guy zips up in a motorboat.
"Come on, Preacher. We need to get you out of here. The levee's gonna break any minute."
Once again, the preacher is unmoved. "I shall remain. The Lord will see me through."
After a while the levee breaks, and the flood rushes over the church until only the steeple remains above water. The preacher is up there, clinging to the cross, when a helicopter descends out of the clouds, and a state trooper calls down to him through a megaphone.
"Grab the ladder, Preacher. This is your last chance."
Once again, the preacher insists the Lord will deliver him.
And, predictably, he drowns.
A pious man, the preacher goes to heaven. After a while he gets an interview with God, and he asks the Almighty, "Lord, I had unwavering faith in you. Why didn't you deliver me from that flood?"
God shakes his head. "What did you want from me? I sent you two boats and a helicopter."
https://www.psycholo...ress-management
Study: It is safe for people to be vaccinated against COVID-19 and influenza at the same time
https://medicalxpres...-influenza.html
study of the day
Among thousands of the earliest survivors of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, nearly half had at least one persistent symptom a full year after being released from the hospital, according to a new study published in JAMA Network Open.
The study followed up with 2,433 adult patients who had been hospitalized in one of two hospitals in Wuhan early on in the pandemic. Most had nonsevere cases, but a small number had severe COVID-19 and required intensive care. All of the patients were discharged between February 12 and April 10, 2020, and the study follow-up took place in March of 2021.
Overall, 45 percent of the patients reported at least one symptom in that one-year follow-up. The most common symptoms were fatigue, sweating, chest tightness, anxiety, and myalgia (muscle pain). Having a severe case of COVID-19 increased the likelihood of long-lingering symptoms; 54 percent of the 680 severe cases reported at least one symptom after a year. But persistent symptoms were also common among the nonsevere cases, with 41.5 percent of 1,752 nonsevere cases reporting at least one symptom a year later.
https://arstechnica....-have-symptoms/
Merck & Co. said Friday that its experimental COVID-19 pill reduced hospitalizations and deaths by half in people recently infected with the coronavirus and that it would soon ask health officials in the U.S. and around the world to authorize its use.
If cleared, Merck's drug would be the first pill shown to treat COVID-19, a potentially major advance in efforts to fight the pandemic. All COVID-19 therapies now authorized in the U.S. require an IV or injection.
Merck and its partner Ridgeback Biotherapeutics said early results showed patients who received the drug, called molnupiravir, within five days of COVID-19 symptoms had about half the rate of hospitalization and death as patients who received a dummy pill. The study tracked 775 adults with mild-to-moderate COVID-19 who were considered higher risk for severe disease due to health problems such as obesity, diabetes or heart disease.
Among patients taking molnupiravir, 7.3 per cent were either hospitalized or died at the end of 30 days, compared with 14.1 per cent of those getting the dummy pill. There were no deaths in the drug group after that time period compared with eight deaths in the placebo group, according to Merck.
The results were released by the company and have not been peer reviewed. Merck said it plans to present them at a future medical meeting.
https://www.cbc.ca/n...eaths-1.6196007
9 killed in Romania hospital blaze
https://www.aa.com.t...l-blaze/2380099
Croatia recognizes China's COVID-19 vaccines
http://www.ecns.cn/n...pe0573473.shtml
NEW DELHI: UK nationals visiting India this month will have to undergo mandatory quarantine even if they are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 in retaliation for UK curbs on Indian citizens, a senior government source in New Delhi said on Friday (Oct 1).
https://www.channeln...-source-2216016
Somalia opens nation's first public oxygen plant amid pandemic
https://english.alar...t-amid-pandemic
Egypt’s pyramids site regains 50 percent of visitors under COVID-19 measures: official
https://www.globalti...9/1235385.shtml
Syria hospitals hit hard as Covid-19 cases spike
https://english.alar...-19-cases-spike
BRUSSELS: A global scheme designed to ensure fair access to COVID-19 vaccines will this month for the first time distribute shots only to countries with the lowest levels of coverage, the World Health Organization said.
Co-led by the WHO, COVAX has since January largely allocated doses proportionally among its 140-plus beneficiary states according to population size.
This made some richer nations that had already secured vaccines through separate deals with pharmaceutical firms eligible for COVAX doses alongside countries with no supplies at all.
With some nations administering booster shots while others are still giving first jabs to the most vulnerable, the WHO has now tweaked the rules.
"For the October supply we designed a different methodology, only covering participants with low sources of supply," Mariangela Simao, WHO Assistant Director General for Access to Vaccines, said in a recording of a conference presentation last week posted on the WHO's website.
https://www.channeln...nations-2215736
Russia records another 24,522 coronavirus cases, highest daily number since July 19
For the fourth day in a row, Russia’s COVID-19 death toll hit an all-time high since the start of the pandemic
https://tass.com/society/1344653
Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh Tests Positive for Covid-19
https://www.mediaite...e-for-covid-19/
San Juan County, Colorado, can boast that 99.9% of its eligible population has received at least one dose of covid-19 vaccine, putting it in the top 10 counties in the nation, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
If vaccines were the singular armor against covid’s spread, then on paper, San Juan County, with its 730 or so residents on file, would be one of the most bulletproof places in the nation.
Yet the past few months have shown the complexity of this phase of the pandemic. Even in an extremely vaccinated place, the shots alone aren’t enough because geographic boundaries are porous, vaccine effectiveness may be waning over time and the delta variant is highly contagious. Infectious-disease experts say masks are still necessary to control the spread of the virus.
The county logged its first hospitalizations of the pandemic in early August — this year, not 2020. Five summer residents were hospitalized. Three ended up on ventilators: Two recovered and the third, a 53-year-old woman, died at the end of August. All were believed to be unvaccinated.
Those cases and even the ones that didn’t need hospitalization raised the alarms for the county with a single incorporated town: Silverton. It’s a tightknit former mining community nestled in the mountains of southwestern Colorado, where snowstorms and avalanches often block the lone road that passes through.
“The pandemic is just still going on,” said DeAnne Gallegos, the county’s public information officer and director of the local chamber of commerce. “We kept thinking it was going to end before this summer. Then we were thinking in November. Now we’re like, ‘No, we don’t know when.’”
https://khn.org/news...snt-over-there/
Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump took over the nation's COVID-19 response in the early days of the pandemic, according to a new tell-all book from former White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham.
https://www.rawstory...anka-and-jared/
https://www.politico...response-514852
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