Category Archives: Health
Democrats try to stamp out school closures as omicron surges
When Chicago teachers voted to work remotely last week to protest COVID-19 safety protections in the nation’s third-largest school district, Democratic Party officials leapt into action.
Alberta unions call for circuit-breaker COVID-19 lockdown but Premier Kenney says no
EDMONTON — The leaders of Alberta's largest public and private sector unions are calling for drastic lockdown measures immediately to fight the spiralling COVID-19 Omicron variant. The leaders are calling for no in-person service at restaurants and bar...
Two B.C. schools move to ‘functional closure’ after holiday break, says ministry
VICTORIA — Two schools have stopped in-person classes in British Columbia, just two days after most students returned to classrooms following an extended holiday break due to the surging COVID-19 Omicron variant. The Education Ministry said Tuesday sch...
Top doctor says B.C.’s latest wave of COVID-19 to drag on for weeks
VICTORIA — British Columbia's provincial health officer says the current wave of COVID-19 infections is expected to continue for several more weeks based on the experience of other jurisdictions, though she expects more treatment options to be approved...
Canada has contracts for up to 100 million Pfizer, Moderna doses in 2022
OTTAWA — Federal COVID-19 vaccine contracts mean Canada should get enough doses to give two or three more mRNA shots to every Canadian, every year until at least 2024. But even as the National Advisory Committee on Immunization is now suggesting
Quebec’s tax on the unvaccinated could worsen inequity, advocates say
OTTAWA — Advocates working with Black and Indigenous communities say a proposal to make unvaccinated adults pay a financial penalty risks further entrenching inequities in Canada's pandemic response, and adding another burden to those who are marginali...
Medicare limits coverage of $28,000-a-year Alzheimer’s drug
WASHINGTON (AP) — Medicare said Tuesday it will limit coverage of a $28,000-a-year Alzheimer’s drug whose benefits have been widely questioned, a major development in the nation’s tug-of-war over the fair value of new medicines that offer tantalizing p...
New Brunswick officials project up to 5,500 COVID-19 cases a day in coming weeks
FREDERICTON — If current trends continue, New Brunswick could report 5,500 people testing positive each day for COVID-19 by the end of the month, the province's chief epidemiologist said Tuesday. "If these trends hold, we expect to reach our peak towar...
Staffing shortages cause admissions halt at 25 Nova Scotia nursing homes
HALIFAX — More than two dozen Nova Scotia nursing homes have halted admissions because of ongoing staffing shortages complicated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Katelyn Randell, director of long-term care, told the legislature's health committee Tuesday that...
Nunavut schools to reopen later this month as COVID-19 case counts decline
IQALUIT, Nunavut — Nunavut's education minister says students are to return to school remotely next week and start going back to classes on Jan. 24. Pamela Gross said Tuesday that chief public health officer, Dr. Michael Patterson, will make a final
