As runners crossed the finish line in the first in-person Royal Victoria Marathon 8K race since 2019, many had their names called out.
Crossing quietly without that honour, however, was Dr. Bonnie Henry, B.C.’s provincial health officer, even though she finished in the top five in her age category.
Henry also didn’t run alone — she had a male and a female security officer on her heels.
Given the anti-vaccination crowds downtown in the days prior to the race — which longtime Royal Victoria organizer Rob Reid described as more of a mob than demonstrators — there was concern for the safety of the woman who has led the province through the COVID-19 pandemic.
“It wasn’t anything formal in not saying her name or anything,” said Reid, “but we just wanted to downplay it.”
Announcer Rod McCrimmon said Henry’s name never came over the scroll of names from which he tries to read as many as possible, especially notable ones. “I think it was by design.”
https://www.timescol...race-1.24365721
FORT ST. JOHN, B.C. – A former self-described anti-vaxxer says if he knew a vaccine could save his wife’s life, he would have gotten it months ago.
Fort St. John resident Dwayne Binette is pleading with the community to get their COVID-19 vaccines while his pregnant wife lies alone on life support and doctors say she has a 10 per cent chance of surviving.
“We were pretty stubborn about not getting vaccinated because we just were like everybody else that [are considered] anti-vaxxers. There is not enough information for the long term, and we want more information,” said Binette.
*snip*
Dwayne says the baby is strong and is being monitored constantly, and the doctors hope that with his wife’s lungs not having to do any work, it will slowly repair itself.
Dwayne and his kids are currently in quarantine and are unable to visit.
“We can’t leave to go see my wife. My kids can’t see their mother because of all of this. So it makes it a lot worse when your family member is dying in the hospital, and you can’t go see them.”
The doctors told Dwayne that his 39-year-old wife, with no pre-existing medical conditions, has a 10 per cent chance of surviving.
Dwayne believes everyone should have been vaccinated months ago, but for those who are against it or are still unsure, he poses one question for them: “If you see your family member in jeopardy, would you not do what it would take to save their life ?”
Dwayne says he is just trying to get the word out in hopes that it could potentially save someone from dying.
https://energeticcit...ed-anti-vaxxer/
Sask. plans to send more COVID-19 patients to Ontario
‘Up to 3’ ICU transfers a day are expected early next week, province says
https://www.cbc.ca/n...tario-1.6220947
Ontario plans to lift all COVID-19 public health measures — masks included — by March
https://www.cbc.ca/n...ifted-1.6220653
Patients diagnosed with COVID-19 may show neurological symptoms, such as loss of smell, delirium and cognitive impairment. Mayo Clinic researchers are investigating these side effects to determine whether being infected with COVID-19 influences development or progression of Alzheimer's disease and Alzheimer's disease-related dementias (ADRD).
https://medicalxpres...n-symptoms.html
People vaccinated against Covid-19 less likely to die from any cause, study finds
https://www.cnn.com/...ates/index.html
Majority of 15–19-year-olds wanted COVID jab
https://www.eurekale...releases/932478
To determine mortality risk associated with COVID-19 vaccination, researchers evaluated the electronic health records of 6.4 million COVID-19 vaccine recipients compared to 4.6 million unvaccinated people with similar demographics and geographic locations from December 14, 2020, through July 31, 2021. The study looked at only non-COVID-19-related deaths to avoid masking any safety concerns regarding COVID-19 vaccine-related death with the protective effects of COVID-19 vaccine.
The study population included members of 7 Vaccine Safety Datalink sites: Kaiser Permanente Southern California, Kaiser Permanente Northern California, Kaiser Permanente Colorado, Kaiser Permanente Northwest, Kaiser Permanente Washington, HealthPartners in Minnesota, and Marshfield Clinic in Wisconsin.
The Pfizer and Moderna mRNA vaccines require 2 doses for full vaccination, while the Johnson & Johnson adenoviral vector vaccine requires only one dose. The 1-dose and 2-dose vaccines had different comparison groups due to differences in when the vaccines were available and potential differences in the demographics of people who chose the 1- or 2-dose vaccines. All analyses were adjusted for age, sex, race, ethnicity, and Vaccine Safety Datalink site.
- Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine recipients had a mortality rate of 4.2 deaths per 1,000 vaccinated people per year after first dose, and 3.5 deaths after second dose.
- The unvaccinated comparison group had a mortality rate of 11.1 deaths per 1,000 people per year.
- Moderna COVID-19 vaccine recipients had 3.7 deaths per 1,000 people per year after the first dose, and 3.4 deaths after the second dose.
- The unvaccinated comparison group had a mortality rate of 11.1 deaths per 1,000 people per year.
- Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine recipients had 8.4 deaths per 1,000 people per year.
- The unvaccinated comparison group had a mortality rate of 14.7 deaths per 1,000 people per year.
https://www.eurekale...releases/932463
Poor immune response in many double- vaccinated blood cancer patients
https://www.eurekale...releases/932328
New Zealand sets 90% vaccine target to end lockdown
https://medicalxpres...e-lockdown.html
South Korea reaches goal of 70% vaccinations for COVID-19
https://www.channeln...ictions-2264067
Britain has recorded an average of 47,000 new cases of COVID-19 a day in the past week, up 18% from the week before, according to figures released on Friday. There was an average of 135 deaths a day, a 16% rise from the previous week. Britain has recorded more than 139,000 coronavirus deaths during the pandemic, the highest toll in Europe after Russia.
Many scientists are urging the government to reintroduce some of the measures that it lifted three months ago when more than a year of restrictions ended, including mandatory mask-wearing indoors, social distancing and work-from-home advice.
The Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies, a body of scientists that advises the government, says "policy work on the potential reintroduction of measures should be undertaken now so that it can be ready for rapid deployment," according to minutes of a meeting held last week.
https://medicalxpres...prep-rapid.html
Germany's health ministry said Friday the country was seeing a surge in coronavirus infections and warned that the situation was likely to worsen as winter approaches.
https://medicalxpres...ovid-cases.html
Just a year after the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the landlocked East African country of Uganda polio-free, the crippling and sometimes deadly disease has returned to haunt the country, along with other African nations.
As healthcare systems remain preoccupied with combating COVID-19, 31 African countries including Uganda have recorded 1,069 polio cases over the past year. Uganda’s Health Ministry has warned that 4.6 million children 5 and younger are at high risk of contracting poliovirus.
Speaking to Anadolu Agency on eve of Sunday’s World Polio Day, Ugandan health official Shukura Nebaza said the COVID-19 crisis has disrupted lifesaving immunization services in lower-income countries like his.
He said if the circulation of polio is left unchecked and the number of unimmunized children grows, this will undoubtedly create an increasingly high risk that polio will spread internationally.
https://www.aa.com.t...-uganda/2400723
RAIPUR: Chhattisgarh’s Raigarh district has achieved 100% vaccination target of all adults. They have received at least first jab of the vaccine.
Chief minister Bhupesh Baghel congratulated the district administration including health workers and people for the achievement.
Out of total population of 16,94,234 of Raigarh, the district administration has achieved the set target of vaccinating a total 10,42,625 adults, who have received first dose of Covid-19 vaccine across the nine blocks in the district.
The majority of population was covered in door-to-door campaign and vaccination drive which was initiated by health department, said health officials.
“It gives me immense pleasure to inform all that Raigarh district of Chhattisgarh has achieved 100% vaccination of all 18+ people in the district. It is first in Chhattisgarh to do so. I thank the administrative team and people of Raigarh for this,” said district collector Bhim Singh.
https://timesofindia...ow/85566483.cms
Adobe will put U.S. employees on unpaid leave if they’re not vaccinated by Dec. 8
https://www.cnbc.com...december-8.html
via https://www.engadget...-130633393.html
In February, Pfizer was accused of “bullying” governments in COVID vaccine negotiations in a groundbreaking story by the Bureau of Investigative Journalism. A government official at the time noted, “Five years in the future when these confidentiality agreements are over you will learn what really happened in these negotiations.”
Public Citizen has identified several unredacted Pfizer contracts that describe the outcome of these negotiations. The contracts offer a rare glimpse into the power one pharmaceutical corporation has gained to silence governments, throttle supply, shift risk and maximize profits in the worst public health crisis in a century. We describe six examples from around the world below.
Pfizer’s demands have generated outrage around the world, slowing purchase agreements and even pushing back the delivery schedule of vaccines. If similar terms are included as a condition to receive doses, they may threaten President Biden’s commitment to donate 1 billion vaccine doses.
High-income countries have enabled Pfizer’s power through a favorable system of international intellectual property protection. High-income countries have an obligation to rein in that monopoly power. The Biden administration, for example, can call on Pfizer to renegotiate existing commitments and pursue a fairer approach in the future. The administration can further rectify the power imbalance by sharing the vaccine recipe, under the Defense Production Act, to allow multiple producers to expand vaccine supplies.[19] It can also work to rapidly secure a broad waiver of intellectual property rules (TRIPS waiver) at the World Trade Organization. A wartime response against the virus demands nothing less.
etc https://www.citizen..../pfizers-power/
via https://www.democrac...ced_governments
Over 500,000 healthcare workers quit in August, the most recent month figures are available for, and more than two dozen strikes amongst healthcare workers have taken place since the start of the year, according to reports.
A tracker from Cornell University's School of Industrial and Labor Relations found there have been 35 strikes in the Healthcare and Social Assistance industry as of Friday.
Over the past four months, thousands of workers at more than two dozen hospitals in California have gone on strike. Earlier this month, close to 31,000 healthcare workers at Kaiser Permanente voted to authorize a strike over wages.
Nurses at one hospital in Massachusetts have been on strike since March, Masslive reported.
The strikes are occurring during a time of increased demand for patient care and a shortage of workers. In addition to the Delta variant, the US is also facing a rise in chronically ill patients who delayed care during the pandemic, Politico reported.
Healthcare workers told Politico that while they know walking out may garner "scorn" from some, they wanted to use the attention they've recieved throughout the pandemic to demand better conditions.
"We're drowning here," Mike Pineda, a senior transport technician at Sutter Delta Medical Center in Antioch, California, told Politico. "The wear and tear on everyone got to the point where people became frustrated."
https://www.business...hortages2021-10
On Friday, CNN reported on a private school in Florida with an absolutely whacky policy that requires students who get the Covid-19 vaccine to stay home for 30 days, according to an email to parents obtained by WSVN.
Such controversy is nothing new for Centner Academy in Miami, which in April asked teachers and staff not to get vaccinated until the end of the school year.
CNN’s Gary Tuchman went to the school and spoke to parents about the policy. One father he talked to said that vaccines are “a family decision.”
“It is a family decision, but it makes everyone safer,” replied Tuchman. “Because so many people have gotten the vaccinations, tens of thousands people are not dying.”
“There’s a lot of people who get the vaccine and [are] dying right now,” said the man.
“That’s not true,” responded Tuchman.
“No, it is true. Fox News says it’s truth.”
“Fox News says it’s true but it’s definitely not true. It’s false. That’s the problem.”
The parent went on to say, “Fauci is not the best scientist in the world. That’s just one opinion.”
etc
https://www.mediaite...ws-on-vaccines/
Scientists at the Food and Drug Administration presented an analysis late Friday showing that the protection offered to children between the ages of 5 and 11 by the Covid vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech “would clearly outweigh” the risk of myocarditis, a heart-related side effect, that the vaccine appears to cause.
The FDA’s analysis was made public ahead of a Tuesday meeting of outside scientists convened to make a recommendation on authorizing the vaccine for children in that age range. An agenda for the meeting shows sessions dedicated to the vaccine’s effectiveness, and to the potential risk of myocarditis, an inflammation of the heart. The FDA is not bound by the votes of its advisory committees, but it generally follows their advice.
New data from Pfizer were also made public on Friday. They show that the vaccine is about 91% effective in preventing Covid-19 in 5- to 11-year-olds.
https://www.statnews...n-ages-5-to-11/