Stamp prices rise for the third time in five years amid financial woes for Canada Post
Canada Post is increasing stamp prices for the third time since 2019, a move the Crown corporation says is a "reality" of its sales-based revenue structure.
It’s been more than one week now since the first cases of the Omicron COVID-19 variant were detected in Canada. While the government has been swift to react, much still remains unknown about the new variant, including its transmissibility and the severity of disease.
Questions also remain about the effectiveness of vaccines in protecting against Omicron, including booster shots. But for those considering holding off until more information or even a new vaccine is available, Chief Public Health Officer Dr. Theresa Tam advises against this.
“The extent of the protection against Omicron from the primary series and booster dose remains to be seen, and we're going to learn a lot about this in the days to come,” she said during a news conference on Friday. “But nevertheless, it is still prudent to maximize the possibility of protection from vaccine by, first of all, offering the vaccine to anyone who hasn't had the primary series, but then offering the boosters.”
On Friday, the National Advisory Committee on Immunization announced it strongly recommends that adults aged 50 and older receive a COVID-19 booster shot. The committee also made a discretionary recommendation on booster shots for Canadians 18 to 49 years of age, saying they “may” be offered a third dose based on individual risks and where they live. Tam said these recommendations would have been made with or without the presence of the Omicron variant.
One of the key factors behind this recommendation is the prevalence of Delta cases in Canada, said Tam. For months now, this variant has continued to account for the majority of daily new cases across the country. According to the World Health Organization, Delta is also the dominant COVID-19 variant worldwide.
“At this current moment, the Delta variant is the most dominant variant; it [accounts for] 99.8 per cent of what we have in Canada,” Tam said. “We have to mitigate the risk of this present threat.
“Right now, we have the potential for a Delta surge.”
OMICRON 'UNLIKELY' TO MAKE CURRENT VACCINES OBSOLETE
Dr. Susy Hota, medical director for infection prevention and control at the Toronto-based University Health Network, echoes this message, encouraging eligible residents to get their third dose.
“When you become eligible for a booster shot, you should go ahead and get it,” she told CTVNews.ca in a phone interview. “It's definitely worth getting whatever protection is conferred by those vaccines.”
The Omicron COVID-19 variant has more than 30 mutations of the spike protein, the part of the virus that attaches to human cells in order to infect them, Hota explained. While not yet confirmed, there are concerns that these mutations might increase transmission or make Omicron more infectious. Vaccine manufacturers themselves continue to wait for data on the effectiveness of their formulas in protecting against Omicron.
While there is a good chance current vaccines may not be as effective against the Omicron variant, Hota said they are still likely to offer some level of protection given their role in helping the body develop antibodies and T-cells to fight off the virus.
“It's very unlikely that it's going to completely make our current vaccines obsolete,” she said. “They may be reduced in effectiveness, but there's still a very broad immune response that these vaccines elicit.
“If we can increase the overall protection, it just puts us in a better place with all the variants that we're dealing with.”
VACCINE DEVELOPMENT & BOOSTER ELIGIBILITY
Another important thing to consider, said Hota, is the amount of time it could take to create a new vaccine that specifically targets the Omicron variant. If an entirely new formula is necessary, Hota said it could take months before the world sees a new vaccine, factoring in its development, experiments, regulatory approvals and manufacturing.
Pfizer and BioNTech, for example, have said that it would take about 100 days to develop a new vaccine and ship it out.
“My assumption is that's going to be months down the road and in the meantime, we could be facing a real threat,” Hota said. “I do think it's important to get the boosters if we're thinking about Omicron alone, sooner rather than later in case it…takes off rapidly, like what we've seen in other jurisdictions like South Africa.”
Alberta is one of the latest provinces to expand its booster eligibility, announcing third doses would be made available to all adults in stages. As of today, residents aged 60 and older are eligible for their third dose.
"The current evidence supports expanding booster doses to add an additional layer of protection," said Dr. Deena Hinshaw, Alberta’s chief medical officer of health, last week.
The Ontario government also announced that residents aged 50 and older will be eligible for a third dose starting in mid-December.
Additionally, Hota points to a period of about seven to 14 days before booster shots offer optimal protection. With this in mind, staying protected is key, she said, and the best ways to do this are by wearing a mask, avoiding large gatherings, getting vaccinated and if eligible, getting a booster shot.
“We can't really think about these things in isolation, we're still in a pandemic,” she said. “Regardless of what variant it is, these vaccines can be beneficial.”
COVID-19 booster shots contain the same formula as regular vaccines; the only difference is in the dosage of the Moderna booster vaccine. Both initial shots of Moderna contain 100 micrograms each. When given as a booster, adults age 70 and older, as well as those living in long-term care homes for seniors and other congregate living settings, will receive another dose of 100 micrograms. Anyone younger than 70 will be given a half-dose, or 50 micrograms, as a booster.
Meanwhile, the two initial shots of Pfizer-BioNTech contain just 30 micrograms of vaccine, the same amount included in a Pfizer-BioNTech booster shot. Guidance from NACI suggests that mRNA vaccines, such as Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna, are preferred for booster shots. They’re also the only vaccines approved for use as a booster in Canada so far.
Do you have questions about the Omicron COVID-19 variant? We want to hear from you.
Canada Post is increasing stamp prices for the third time since 2019, a move the Crown corporation says is a "reality" of its sales-based revenue structure.
Defence lawyers of Jeremy Skibicki have admitted in court the accused killed four Indigenous women in Winnipeg, but argues he is not criminally responsible for the deaths by way of mental disorder – this latest development has triggered a judge-alone trial rather than a jury trial.
Democratic Institutions Minister Dominic LeBlanc will be tabling legislation on Monday aimed at countering foreign interference in Canada. Federal officials have scheduled a technical briefing on the incoming bill for Monday afternoon.
H5N1 or avian flu is decimating wildlife around the world and is now spreading among cattle in the United States, sparking concerns about 'pandemic potential' for humans. Now a health expert is urging Canada to scale up surveillance north of the border.
Polish prosecutors have discontinued an investigation into human skeletons found at a site where German dictator Adolf Hitler and other Nazi leaders spent time during the Second World War because the advanced state of decay made it impossible to determine the cause of death, a spokesman said Monday.
Italy's mafia rarely dirties its hands with blood these days. Extortion rackets have gone out of fashion and murders are largely frowned upon by the godfathers.
An Ontario MPP was asked again to leave the Ontario legislature on Monday for wearing a keffiyeh, a garment that was banned by the Speaker last month due to its political symbolism.
After his adopted parents died, Dave Rogers set out to learn more about his birth mother. DNA results and a little help from friendly strangers would put him on a path to a small town in England.
The judge presiding over Donald Trump's hush money trial fined him US$1,000 on Monday for violating his gag order once again and sternly warned the former president that additional violations could result in jail time.
Eighty-two-year-old Susan Neufeldt and 90-year-old Ulrich Richter are no spring chickens, but their love blossomed over the weekend with their wedding at Pine View Manor just outside of Rosthern.
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 mother goose and her goslings caused a bit of a traffic jam on a busy stretch of the Trans-Canada Highway near Vancouver Saturday.
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.