Grandparents killed in wrong-way crash on Hwy. 401 identified
A 60-year-old man and a 55-year-old woman killed in a wrong-way crash on Highway 401 earlier this week have been identified by the Consulate General of India in Toronto.
Last June, as COVID-19 cases were surging across Brazil, Camila Basto waited at a São Paulo hospital to find out what was wrong with her 9-year-old daughter, Manuela.
Manuela had a fever that reached 40 C (104 F), spots all over her skin and a lump growing out of her neck. Her kidneys didn't function for nearly two days. "Her heart almost stopped," Basto said.
After three days, Manuela was diagnosed with multisystem inflammatory syndrome, a rare condition that affects children who have been infected by COVID-19.
Manuela recovered from COVID-19, but its side effects have left a lasting impression on her heart: She now has arrhythmia, an irregular heartbeat.
"It is so horrible. She was a healthy child, with no underlying conditions," Basto said.
Manuela survived COVID-19. But hundreds of other children in Brazil haven't.
Between March 2020 and November 2021, 308 children aged between 5 and 11 have died from COVID-19, according to data from the Ministry of Health.
Pediatrician and infectious disease specialist Marcelo Otsuka told CNN that COVID-19 has killed more children than meningitis and measles in the same period, only trailing behind deaths from road accidents.
Now, as a nationwide COVID-19 vaccination campaign for children aged 5-11 is underway, it's providing relief to many Brazilian parents like Basto, who says that it will give her a "peace of mind."
The rollout began on Monday, and with schools back in session from February, many parents feel the same way.
A nationwide survey from the Datafolha Institute released on Monday revealed that 79 per cent of respondents support vaccinating children in that age group. (The survey was conducted by phone on Jan. 12 and 13 among 2,023 people aged 16 and older.)
But the vaccine couldn't come fast enough for some parents, who have been waiting nearly a month to take their kids to get the shot.
The reason? Mainly Brazil's own President Jair Bolsonaro.
Bolsonaro, who says he is unvaccinated, has been widely criticized at home and abroad for playing down the severity of the virus, including discouraging others to get vaccinated, despite Brazil battling one of the worst coronavirus outbreaks in the world.
The president's opposition to child vaccination is the latest instalment in this crusade.
On Dec. 16, Brazil's regulatory agency Anvisa green lit the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine for children. That same day, Bolsonaro called the decision "unbelievable," and threatened to release the names of Anvisa staff involved in the decision.
Congresswoman Bia Kicis, a loyal Bolsonaro supporter who also has discredited child vaccinations on social media, later revealed those names to a WhatsApp group of Bolsonaro supporters. Kicis justified her actions, saying she thought the documents were public in a hearing on the issue earlier this month.
And just days before the rollout got underway, Bolsonaro falsely claimed in an interview to TV Nova Nordeste that no children have died of COVID-19, before later saying in the same interview that "some children must have died, but they must have some comorbidity."
Perhaps those words come as no surprise: Last June, while speaking at an event, an unmasked Bolsonaro asked a child to remove her mask, and also took off another child's mask.
His actions are a slap in the face for the hundreds of parents still grieving the loss of their children -- and to Manuela's mother, Basto, who was fearing the worst.
Bolsonaro has also said that he will not vaccinate his 11-year-old daughter, saying that "children have not been dying in a way that justifies a vaccine."
However, "these vaccines offer really good protection, with even greater protection to children than to adults, and with excellent safety," pediatrician and infectious disease expert Dr. Marcelo Otsuka told CNN.
"All studies suggest that vaccines are safe and have very good efficiency for the 5-11 age group," he said.
Otsuka cited data from the U.S., saying: "When you analyze data from the 7 million doses given in the U.S. to this age group there were no adverse effects reported that should make us concerned."
But Bolsonaro and his administration are largely undeterred by scientific evidence, with their rhetoric instead delaying the rollout.
Esther Solano, professor of international relations at Sao Paulo University, told CNN that Bolsonaro's messaging around vaccines for children is part of his long-term political strategy.
When the rollout was approved, Solano said that it presented a "paradox" for the Brazilian leader, who has been denying the effectiveness of vaccines.
"He has to follow his strategy, as he cannot change the speech and adopt a favourable one for the children," Solano said.
Bolsonaro's anti-vaccine rhetoric is not necessarily aimed to stop Brazilian kids from getting the shot, Solano added, but rather part of his long standing campaign to recruit and play up to his far-right base ahead of the October 2022 elections.
"Bolsonaro is mobilizing his radical supporters in thinking about the next elections," Solano said.
Bolsonaro and Health Minister Marcelo Queiroga also proposed a period of public consultation before rolling out the shots and that parents present a medical prescription to get their children vaccinated.
While those proposals didn't pass -- it did stall the rollout.
Brazil is now starting the process much later than many other Latin American countries -- including Cuba, Chile and Argentina, whose child vaccine campaigns have been running for months.
And Queiroga hasn't stopped his attempts to undermine their efficacy. This week, he falsely claimed that thousands of people had died from adverse reactions caused by the vaccines, directly contradicting his government's own data. He later said that those comments were taken out of context by the media.
It's hard to know what Bolsonaro and his allies will benefit from railing against child vaccination, given public support largely backs them -- especially in an election year where the cards could be stacking against him.
Political scientist Camila Rocha told CNN that Bolsonaro's "aim is to unify and mobilize his core supporters (around 20 per cent of voters) around a new controversy -- as well as diverting attention from other subjects that can be uncomfortable."
For Bolsonaro's supporters, the child vaccination issue won't affect their support, Rocha said.
"It could have negative consequences among people who voted for Bolsonaro and are disappointed with his governments and his attitudes during the pandemic -- especially women and young people," she added.
For Basto, Bolsonaro lost her trust a long time ago. She has seen what COVID-19 has done to the country and to her child.
"He is a crazy denialist, what can you say? It is unbelievable that a president would have such attitudes," she said.
A 60-year-old man and a 55-year-old woman killed in a wrong-way crash on Highway 401 earlier this week have been identified by the Consulate General of India in Toronto.
Three people have been arrested and charged in the killing of B.C. Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar – as authorities continue investigating potential connections to the Indian government.
Pius Suter scored with 1:39 left and the Vancouver Canucks advanced to the second round of the NHL playoffs with a 1-0 victory over the Nashville Predators on Friday night in Game 6.
TD Bank Group could be hit with more severe penalties than previously expected, says a banking analyst after a report that the investigation it faces in the U.S. is tied to laundering illicit fentanyl profits.
A Quebec man who pleaded guilty to threatening Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Premier François Legault has been sentenced to 20 months in jail.
RCMP say human remains found in a rural area in central Saskatchewan may have been there for a decade or more.
A source close to singer Britney Spears tells CNN that the pop star is 'home and safe' after she had a 'major fight' with her boyfriend on Wednesday night at the Chateau Marmont in West Hollywood.
As Wegovy becomes available to Canadians starting Monday, a medical expert is cautioning patients wanting to use the drug to lose weight that no medication is a ''magic bullet,' and the new medication is meant particularly for people who meet certain criteria related to obesity and weight.
Drew Carey took over as host of 'The Price Is Right' and hopes he’s there for life. 'I'm not going anywhere,' he told 'Entertainment Tonight' of the job he took over from longtime host Bob Barker in 2007.
Alberta Ballet's double-bill production of 'Der Wolf' and 'The Rite of Spring' marks not only its final show of the season, but the last production for twin sisters Alexandra and Jennifer Gibson.
A British Columbia mayor has been censured by city council – stripping him of his travel and lobbying budgets and removing him from city committees – for allegedly distributing a book that questions the history of Indigenous residential schools in Canada.
Three men in Quebec from the same family have fathered more than 600 children.
A group of SaskPower workers recently received special recognition at the legislature – for their efforts in repairing one of Saskatchewan's largest power plants after it was knocked offline for months following a serious flood last summer.
A police officer on Montreal's South Shore anonymously donated a kidney that wound up drastically changing the life of a schoolteacher living on dialysis.
Since 1932, Montreal's Henri Henri has been filled to the brim with every possible kind of hat, from newsboy caps to feathered fedoras.
Police in Oak Bay, B.C., had to close a stretch of road Sunday to help an elephant seal named Emerson get safely back into the water.
Out of more than 9,000 entries from over 2,000 breweries in 50 countries, a handful of B.C. brews landed on the podium at the World Beer Cup this week.
Raneem, 10, lives with a neurological condition and liver disease and needs Cholbam, a medication, for a longer and healthier life.