June 1, 2021 Health Policy B.1.617 variant adds new wrinkle into decision about whether to reopen schools in Ontario.
May 31, 2021 Health Policy With all that has happened with miscommunication and damage to confidence, if you want to make people suspicious of your decision Health Canada, this is the way to do it.
May 28, 2021 Epidemiology B.1.617 variant grew nearly six-fold in Ontario last week. Although small numbers, we have seen this movie before. Data suggests single vaccine dose doesn’t provide adequate protection. Be proactive; speed up second dose now where indicated.
May 26, 2021 Health Policy Concerns in the UK that the spread of the new variant from India within certain regions in the country poses a threat to those who have had only the first vaccine dose.
May 25, 2021 Health Policy Second dose of Pfizer and AstraZeneca vaccine needed to reach maximum efficacy against variant from India.
May 14, 2021 Clinical Research Give research the time to answer the question about the need for yearly Covid-19 vaccine boosters given that variants, present and future, will continue to be an issue for a while. Speculation is a mug’s game. Evidence is better.
May 13, 2021 Clinical Research Short-lived common side effects including fever, chills, pain, and headache after mixing AZ with Pfizer vaccine reported in @TheLancet. Immunogenicity results to be reported in June and if mixing is a viable option (likely but assumption needs evidence).
May 12, 2021 Epidemiology Risk calculus and interpretation changing in Ontario. Public Health recommends suspending first dose of AZ vaccine pending further data analysis. Outcome even if in favour of resumption will not change the erosion of public confidence.
May 6, 2021 Allergy/Immunology Jury still out on mixing and matching vaccines. Picture to become much clearer very soon with studies to come but assumption is that it should work given existing vaccines stimulate production of the spike protein with similar endpoint efficacy.
May 5, 2021 Clinical Research U.K. planning to give third Covid booster dose alongside the flu vaccine to people over 50 in the Fall. Studies looking at new variant-adjusted vaccine versus existing one to be used in this process.