Posted: Mar 10, 2021 4:00 AM ET | Last Updated: March 11
As Quebec looks to accelerate its vaccination campaign, there are calls for the government to better communicate with people in smaller language or cultural groups. (Paul Chiasson/The Canadian Press)
Quebecers have rarely gone a week without hearing from their premier at least twice during this pandemic. What s allowed, what isn t, the exceptions to the rules instructions from the province have changed at a dizzying pace, even for experts and journalists whose job it is to keep up.
But many of those who do not understand François Legault s predominantly French-language news conferences, or other material put out by the province, turn to community groups to get the latest information in their own language.
MONTREAL Quebec’s vaccine priority list is based, above all, on age. But a growing number of voices are pushing for that to change especially cancer doctors. They’d like to see cancer patients who are actively in treatment bumped up in the priority lineup, not just soon, but now, to get their shots alongside the elderly. “The issue for cancer patients… is that they cannot wait,” said Dr. Thierry Alcindor, chief of medical oncology at the McGill University Health Centre. Right now, people under 60 with pre-existing conditions are second to last on Quebec’s vaccine priority list, coming in above only the young and healthy.
Dubai: The landscape of single-dose vaccines against COVID-19 just got more interesting. On Sunday, US health authorities approved the Janssen vaccine as a single-shot against COVID, with 78% efficacy. This is seen as a “game changer” in the global counter-coronavirus drive.
Data from the clinical trials and massive vaccination rollouts lead some experts to make a case for single shots from Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, too. The latter two are messenger RNA vaccines currently being rolled out in North America, Europe and the Middle East as a double dose.
With millions of doses per day being administered, there’s a decent amount of information for data scientists to crunch. Some experts argue this delayed or “fractional” dosing, could help the world achieve herd immunity sooner. Other scientists oppose the strategy. Here’s the lowdown on single-dose COVID shots:
Kontulainen’s study, which focuses on bone and muscle health, is part of a 17-month national project funded by CIHR to understand the health impacts of inactivity. Eight university teams across Canada have each been awarded $200,000 to study the effects of a 14-day bed rest period on the brains and cardiovascular and other physiological systems in a total of 24 volunteers 12 men and 12 women. “This project is unique because, for the first time, participants are in the 55-to-65 age group while previous bed rest studies involved only young people,” said Kontulainen. “With one-quarter of Canada’s population expected to be seniors by 2035, it’s important to understand mechanisms that cause bone deterioration through aging and inactivity.”
Kontulainen’s study, which focuses on bone and muscle health, is part of a 17-month national project funded by CIHR to understand the health impacts of inactivity. Eight university teams across Canada have each been awarded $200,000 to study the effects of a 14-day bed rest period on the brains and cardiovascular and other physiological systems in a total of 24 volunteers 12 men and 12 women. “This project is unique because, for the first time, participants are in the 55 to 65 age group while previous bed rest studies involved only young people,” said Kontulainen. “With one-quarter of Canada’s population expected to be seniors by 2035, it’s important to understand mechanisms that cause bone deterioration through aging and inactivity.”