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.
A group of Ontario hospitals is urging pregnant people to get vaccinated against COVID-19, citing recent infant hospitalizations due to the disease.
Toronto's Hospital for Sick Children, McMaster Children's Hospital, the Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario and Kingston Health Sciences Centre made a joint statement on the issue Wednesday.
"No one wants their little one to be sick in hospital, let alone for COVID-19," the statement said. "For this reason, as well as for the health of the pregnant individual, we are encouraging anyone who is pregnant and eligible for vaccination — as well as all eligible members in their household — to get vaccinated."
The group said six babies younger than 12 months have been admitted to Hamilton and Ottawa facilities because of COVID-19 since the middle of December.
"Previous to that, it was a rare occurrence that an infant was hospitalized for COVID-19 infection," the statement said.
All infants admitted to the Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario in Ottawa had unvaccinated mothers, the statement said.
The group of hospitals said infants' immune systems have difficulty fighting disease especially without maternal antibodies transferred during pregnancy from vaccination.
Their statement cited research out of the Ottawa children's hospital that has shown no adverse pregnancy outcomes in Ontario from COVID-19 vaccines. Despite that, the group said vaccination coverage has remained lower among pregnant people than the general population.
"We strongly support ongoing efforts to better understand the reasons why some pregnant individuals are not being vaccinated; this could help inform approaches for education that are tailored to the needs of specific communities," the statement added. It also said pregnant people should reach out to health-care providers with questions or concerns about vaccination.
The call from hospitals came as the highly contagious Omicron variant prompted stricter provincewide public health measures aimed at slowing down infection and hospitalizations.
Officials have said the unprecedented number of infections is causing staff shortages in key industries including healthcare. But public health has acknowledged that the full picture of the virus' spread is not known because tests are now being restricted to those considered at high risk from an infection.
One child under the age of five has died from COVID-19 in Ontario within the past three weeks, according to data from Public Health Ontario as of Wednesday. Data show that 38 Ontario children in the same age range have been hospitalized from the virus over the same period.
Children younger than five are the only age group currently not eligible to for COVID-19 vaccination.
Vaccinations for children between the ages of five and 11 began in November. As of Wednesday, that demographic had the lowest vaccination rate in the province, with 44 per cent having received first doses and two per cent with both shots.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 5, 2022.
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.