Grandparent scam: London, Ont., senior beats fraudsters not once, but twice
It was a typical Tuesday for Mabel Beharrell, 84, until she got the call that would turn her world upside down. Her teenaged grandson was in trouble and needed her help.
Health Canada approved on Friday the use of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 booster vaccine that targets the BA.4 and BA.5 strains of the Omicron variant.
The vaccine, which is approved for people at least 12 years old, can be given three to six months after a second dose of the primary vaccine series, or the most recent booster shot.
Health Canada said the bivalent booster has already been given to nearly five million people in the United States and there have been no new safety concerns.
"Canada will have enough supply of the Omicron-targeting bivalent vaccines to cover the anticipated demand for fall boosters," Dr. Howard Njoo, Canada's deputy chief public health officer, said on Thursday.
Njoo said people who already had a booster shot of the original mRNA vaccines do not need to get a bivalent booster.
"Evidence continues to show that original mRNA vaccines provide good protection against serious illness and hospitalization," he said.
It is the second combination vaccine greenlighted by Health Canada's vaccine review team, but the first that targets the virus strains that are now most common in Canada.
The Moderna combination shot approved five weeks ago targets the original virus and the first Omicron variant, while the Pfizer shot targets the BA.4 and BA.5 strains. The Moderna vaccine is approved for people who are 18 and older.
Health Canada was already reviewing a BA.1 vaccine from Pfizer, but said it chose to prioritize the newer vaccine because it was expected to be in higher demand.
Health Canada said 88 per cent of the COVID-19 cases identified in mid-September were BA.5 and nine per cent were BA.4.
"We are starting to see an increase in cases, we are heading into the fall season, there's a lot of gatherings and festivals that are happening as well, so we know that there's going to be increasing circulating virus," said Dr. Supriya Sharma, Health Canada's chief medical adviser.
Canada's chief public health officer, Dr. Theresa Tam, said the late-summer wave of Omicron declined only very gradually and weekly COVID-19 case counts have climbed in recent weeks.
"Hospital trends are still elevated, although critical-care trends and death remain at a low level," Tam said.
Tam encouraged people to get a booster shot, saying that population immunity is falling over time because it has been more than six months since many Canadians were boosted or infected.
Officials say at this stage of the pandemic it is challenging to know what variants may be emerging next, but that Omicron seems to have the most staying power.
"There's a bit of a variant soup out there right now," Sharma said.
Uptake of booster vaccines has not been anywhere near as high as the initial vaccines. About 82 per cent of Canadians received two doses of a vaccine as of Sept. 11, but just shy of 50 per cent have at least one booster.
"We have lots of experts behind the scenes looking at what different ways or what ways we can reinforce in terms of giving the right information, not just to the average Canadian to be quite honest, but also to health-care providers and community leaders using multiple platforms, so that people at the end of the day can make an informed decision," Njoo said.
He acknowledged there has been vaccine fatigue over the past two years, but said he believes people will start to think about updating their COVID-19 vaccines in a similar way to the annual flu shot.
"We certainly anticipate that we will increase and improve uptake," he said.
Tam cited the World Health Organization in saying the world has never been in a better position to end the pandemic.
"Though we're not there yet, the end is in sight."
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 7, 2022.
It was a typical Tuesday for Mabel Beharrell, 84, until she got the call that would turn her world upside down. Her teenaged grandson was in trouble and needed her help.
The deaths of four people on a farm near the Saskatchewan village of Neudorf have been confirmed a murder-suicide.
The Canada Revenue Agency announced Thursday it will not require 'bare trust' reporting from Canadians that it introduced for the 2024 tax season, just four days before the April 2 deadline.
The Parole Board of Canada has granted full parole to one of three men convicted in the brutal murders of three McDonald's restaurant workers in Cape Breton more than 30 years ago.
Nearly 20 hours after a man climbed and remained perched on top of the Reconciliation Bridge in downtown Calgary, the situation came to a peaceful resolution.
Ontario released its annual sunshine list Thursday afternoon, noting that the largest year-over-year increases were in hospitals, municipalities, and post-secondary sectors.
Genetic analysis has shed light on a long-standing mystery surrounding the fates of U.S. President George Washington's younger brother Samuel and his kin.
A spokesman for a regional Muslim advocacy group says Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre's stance on the Israel-Hamas war could complicate his party's relationship with Muslim Canadians.
Former U.S. President Donald Trump is officially selling a copy of the Bible themed to Lee Greenwood’s famous song, 'God Bless the USA.' But the concept of a Bible covered in the American flag has raised concern among religious circles.
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.