May 4, 2021 Health Policy Agree with @YoniFreedhoff & @dgardner on the latest NACI statement about the risk of AZ vaccine: “So many facepalms” & “If I were writing a chapter on risk communication, I would use what NACI has done to illustrate every possible mistake”, respectively.
April 30, 2021 Clinical Research Preprint study evaluated entire Scottish population and calls into question delaying second Covid vaccine dose up to 12 weeks. After first dose it noted a drop in preventing hospitalization from 84% at 5 weeks to 58% after the 7th. And after 16 weeks?
April 29, 2021 Health Policy Clear public health guidelines are needed for people to know what restricted activities and actions will ease after receiving their Covid vaccine. Many erroneously assume that these changes can apply after the first dose.
April 28, 2021 Clinical Research Hope? Sure, but tone down the touting of experimental Pfizer drug to treat early Covid that hasn’t completed its 60-person phase 1 trial. And Miami private school ban on Covid-19-vaccinated teachers enters the pantheon of the Bizarro World.
April 27, 2021 General information Confidence in AZ vaccine growing in Canada according to poll. Many possible reasons including fear of disease, trusted advice, individual stories and experiences, and seeing friends and family being vaccinated without incident among other factors.
April 20, 2021 Epidemiology Ottawa Medical Officer of Health enacts special order that children, with some exceptions, wear masks if they are within 5 metres of slides, swings and sandboxes. Is there evidence that this will reduce transmission? (no sarcasm, truly would like to know)
April 19, 2021 Health Policy AZ vaccine to be made available for everyone over 40 years of age. Fear understandable with media reporting on extremely rare blood clots but not mentioning lives saved from vaccine. Risk of harm from Covid infection causing clots is far greater.
April 16, 2021 Health Headlines Pfizer CEO states that a booster of present vaccine “likely” needed with six to 12 months after second dose. And just as we have yearly flu vaccine boosters, we may have similar protocols for Covid vaccine to deal with the variants.
April 15, 2021 Epidemiology Ottawa’s Associate Medical Office of Health reports that the COVID situation in the city is dire. Health care system at “significant risk” of breaking down as hospital admissions are doubling every 12 days.