Spring allergy season has begun. Where is it worse in Canada?
The spring allergy season has started early in many parts of Canada, with high levels of pollen in some cities already. Experts weigh in on which areas have it worse so far this season.
A study involving more than a million fully vaccinated people found that COVID-19 breakthrough infections were more common among immunocompromised individuals and were far more likely to lead to hospitalization or death.
Researchers from Pfizer published their findings in the Journal of Medical Economics on Tuesday. They looked at 1.2 million people in the U.S. who had received both doses of the company's mRNA vaccine for COVID-19 between December 2020 and July 2021 in what they claim is the largest study of its kind.
“Several countries are currently experiencing a resurgence of SARS-CoV-2 infections despite the rollout of mass vaccination programs. While COVID-19 mRNA vaccines help protect people from getting infected and severely ill, the risk of breakthrough infections in fully vaccinated people is not completely eliminated,” lead author Manuela Di Fusco said in a news release.
Of the cohort, 17.7 per cent were identified as immunocompromised. Some of the immunocompromising conditions in the cohort included solid tumours, kidney disease, inflammatory diseases, organ transplants and HIV/AIDS.
However, immunocompromised participants accounted for 38.2 per cent of all breakthrough infections, 59.7 per cent of all hospitalizations and 100 per cent of all deaths.
Proportionally, the risk of breakthrough infections was three times higher among immunocompromised individuals. These individuals had a breakthrough infection rate of 0.18 per cent, compared to 0.06 per cent among non-immunocompromised individuals.
"While some COVID-19 vaccine breakthrough infections among those who are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 are expected, the findings of this study show that they are rare and less likely to result in hospitalization or death in those without an (immunocompromising) condition," the authors wrote.
Among the immunocompromised participants, organ transplant recipients were found to have the shortest time to infection as well as the highest rates of breakthrough infections.
The researchers say their findings underscore the need for health authorities to offer third doses for immunocompromised individuals, especially as vaccine immunity wanes and new variants such as Omicron emerge.
Health Canada gave the green light to use the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine as a booster shot for adults. The rollout of these third doses has varied among the provinces and territories, with most prioritizing seniors, immunocompromised individuals, health-care workers, First Nations communities and those who received a non-mRNA vaccine.
“The results supplement other real-world studies and support the introduction of a third dose of a COVID-19 vaccine to increase protection among the immunocompromised individuals," Di Fusco said.
The spring allergy season has started early in many parts of Canada, with high levels of pollen in some cities already. Experts weigh in on which areas have it worse so far this season.
Premier Doug Ford says that lawsuits launched by four Ontario school boards against a trio of social media platforms are “nonsense” and risk becoming a distraction to the work that really matters.
Multiple flight attendants from Pakistan International Airlines have abandoned their jobs and are believed to have sought asylum in Canada in the past year and a half, a spokesperson for the government-owned airline says.
A New Brunswicker will go to bed Thursday night much richer than he was Wednesday after collecting on a winning lottery ticket he let sit on his bedroom dresser for nearly a year.
Calgary police have shut down a number of bridges into and out of the downtown core as officers deal with a distraught individual.
King Charles III gave public remarks for Maundy Thursday, addressing the importance of acts of friendship, following his and Catherine, Princess of Wales’ cancer diagnoses.
Crypto entrepreneur Sam Bankman-Fried was sentenced Thursday to 25 years in prison for a massive fraud that unravelled with the collapse of FTX, once one of the world's most popular platforms for exchanging digital currency.
Peggy is a stout and muscular Staffordshire bull terrier, and Molly is a magpie, an Australian bird best known for swooping on humans during breeding season, not for befriending dogs. But in an emotional video posted online, Peggy’s owners announced that the animals had been separated.
A Toronto restaurant introduced a surprising new rule that reduced the cost of a meal and raised the salaries of staff.
B.C. conservation officers recently seized a nine-foot-long Burmese python from a home in Chilliwack.
A New Brunswicker will go to bed Thursday night much richer than he was Wednesday after collecting on a winning lottery ticket he let sit on his bedroom dresser for nearly a year.
The Ontario government is introducing changes to auto-insurance, but some experts say the move is ill-advised.
A Toronto restaurant introduced a surprising new rule that reduced the cost of a meal and raised the salaries of staff.
Newfoundland’s unique version of the Pine Marten has grown out of its threatened designation.
A Toronto man is out $12,000 after falling victim to a deepfake cryptocurrency scam that appeared to involve Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
It started small with a little pop tab collection to simply raise some money for charity and help someone — but it didn’t take long for word to get out that 10-year-old Jace Weber from Mildmay, Ont. was quickly building up a large supply of aluminum pop tabs.
There’s a group of people in Saskatoon that proudly call themselves dumpster divers, and they’re turning the city’s trash into treasure.
Ontario is facing a larger than anticipated deficit but the Doug Ford government still plans to balance its books before the next provincial election.