Connect with us
[the_ad id="89560"]

COVID-19

Public Health Agency of Canada “not recommending an additional bivalent booster for the general population this spring”

Published

2 years ago

5 minute read

The federal and provincial governments will have to figure out what to do with millions of COVID-19 vaccine boosters now that it appears they’ll go unused.  On Friday, the Public Health Agency of Canada announced through it’s twitter feed that booster shots should now only be considered for Canadians “at high risk of severe illness”.
Those considered at high risk are those over 80 years old, people between 65 and 79 who haven’t contracted COVID-19 yet, residents living in long-term care homes or with other seniors with complex medical needs, and adults 18 and over who are moderately or severely immunocompromised.
The vast majority of Canadians have already been avoiding the booster shots.  Almost 80% of Canadians haven’t taken a booster in the last 6 months.
It’s also been about 6 months since the Public Health Agency of Canada has reported on the likelihood of becoming ill with COVID-19, being hospitalized or dying while vaccinated and boosted. The last report was made public back at the end of September.

 

Below is the statement on the Public Health Agency of Canada website from Friday, March 3:

OVERVIEW

  • On March 3, 2023, the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) released guidance from the National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI) on an additional COVID-19 booster dose in the spring of 2023 for individuals at high risk of severe illness due to COVID-19. This guidance is based on current evidence, vaccine principles and NACI expert opinion.
  • NACI now recommends that: Starting in the spring of 2023, an additional booster dose may be offered 6 or more months from the last COVID-19 vaccine dose or infection to the following individuals who are at increased risk of severe illness from COVID-19: (Discretionary NACI recommendation)
    • Adults 80 years of age and older
    • Adults 65 to 79 years of age, particularly if they do not have a known history of SARS-CoV-2 infection
    • Adult residents of long-term care homes and other congregate living settings for seniors or those with complex medical care needs
    • Adults 18 years of age and older who are moderately to severely immunocompromised due to an underlying condition or treatment
  • Bivalent Omicron-targeting mRNA COVID-19 vaccines continue to be the preferred booster products.
  • Individuals who have not received previously recommended doses, including a primary series or fall 2022 booster dose, are recommended to receive them now. For more information, please refer to Guidance on COVID-19 vaccine booster doses: Initial considerations for 2023.

QUOTES

“Bivalent booster dose uptake is still relatively low among the populations at risk of severe disease, and we hope to see this improve. Older adults, particularly those over 80 years, consistently have the highest risk of severe disease, especially if they are unvaccinated. We have historically seen patterns of waning protection against severe disease by 6 months after the last dose, particularly in older adults without prior infection. Because of this, as a precautionary measure, NACI is recommending this spring that an additional bivalent booster dose may be offered after 6 months for those at highest risk of severe disease, including older adults and persons who are moderately to severely immunocompromised. There may be a broader program in fall of 2023, depending on COVID-19 epidemiology.”

– Dr. Shelley Deeks, NACI Chair

“It remains important to stay up to date with your COVID-19 vaccines, including recommended booster doses, given the continued circulation of SARS-CoV-2 virus variants in Canada and elsewhere. Booster doses help to build back protection against severe disease that wanes over time after COVID-19 vaccination or infections. Given the current COVID-19 epidemiology, including the relatively stable disease activity we have observed in recent months, and generally high levels of antibodies against COVID-19 from vaccines and/or infection among Canadians, NACI is currently not recommending an additional bivalent booster for the general population this spring. However, individuals at highest risk of getting severely ill from COVID-19, including older adults and individuals considered immunocompromised, may be offered a spring bivalent booster dose. Regardless of risk factors, I encourage anyone who has not yet received their primary series or their fall 2022 bivalent booster to get these vaccinations now to reduce their risk of severe outcomes of COVID-19, including hospitalization.”

– Dr. Theresa Tam, Chief Public Health Officer

 

Related Topics:

After 15 years as a TV reporter with Global and CBC and as news director of RDTV in Red Deer, Duane set out on his own 2008 as a visual storyteller. During this period, he became fascinated with a burgeoning online world and how it could better serve local communities. This fascination led to Todayville, launched in 2016.

Follow Author

More from this author
2025 Federal Election / 2 days ago

Polls say Canadians will give Trump what he wants, a Carney victory.

2025 Federal Election / 2 weeks ago

Housing starts unchanged since 1970s, while Canadian population growth has more than tripled

2025 Federal Election / 2 weeks ago

Two Canadian police unions endorse Pierre Poilievre for PM

2025 Federal Election

Conservatives promise to ban firing of Canadian federal workers based on COVID jab status

Published on April 24, 2025

By

From LifeSiteNews

By Anthony Murdoch

The Conservative platform also vows that the party will oppose mandatory digital ID systems and a central bank digital currency if elected.

Pierre Poilievre’s Conservative Party’s 2025 election platform includes a promise to “ban” the firing of any federal worker based “solely” on whether or not they chose to get the COVID shots.

On page 23 of the “Canada First – For A Change” plan, which was released on Tuesday, the promise to protect un-jabbed federal workers is mentioned under “Protect Personal Autonomy, Privacy, and Data Security.”

It promises that a Conservative government will “Ban the dismissal of federal workers based solely on COVID vaccine status.”

The Conservative Party also promises to “Oppose any move toward mandatory digital ID systems” as well as “Prohibit the Bank of Canada from developing or implementing a central bank digital currency.”

In October 2021, the Liberal government of former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced unprecedented COVID-19 jab mandates for all federal workers and those in the transportation sector. The government also announced that the unjabbed would no longer be able to travel by air, boat, or train, both domestically and internationally.

This policy resulted in thousands losing their jobs or being placed on leave for non-compliance. It also trapped “unvaccinated” Canadians in the country.

COVID jab mandates, which also came from provincial governments with the support of the federal government, split Canadian society. The shots have been linked to a multitude of negative and often severe side effects, such as death, including in children.

Many recent rulings have gone in favor of those who chose not to get the shots and were fired as a result, such as an arbitrator ruling that one of the nation’s leading hospitals in Ontario must compensate 82 healthcare workers terminated after refusing to get the jabs.

Beyond health concerns, many Canadians, especially Catholics, opposed the injections on moral grounds because of their link to fetal cell lines derived from the tissue of aborted babies.

Continue Reading

COVID-19

RFK Jr. Launches Long-Awaited Offensive Against COVID-19 mRNA Shots

Published on April 23, 2025

By

Nicolas Hulscher, MPH's avatar Nicolas Hulscher, MPH

As millions of Americans anxiously await action from the new HHS leadership against the COVID-19 mRNA injections—injected into over 9 million children this year—Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has finally gone publicly on the offensive:

Let’s go over each key point made by RFK Jr.:

The recommendation for children was always dubious. It was dubious because kids had almost no risk for COVID-19. Certain kids that had very profound morbidities may have a slight risk. Most kids don’t.

In the largest review to date on myocarditis following SARS-CoV-2 infection vs. COVID-19 vaccination, Mead et al found that vaccine-induced myocarditis is not only significantly more common but also more severe—particularly in children and young males. Our findings make clear that the risks of the shots overwhelmingly outweigh any theoretical benefit:

The OpenSAFELY study included more than 1 million adolescents and children and found that myocarditis was documented ONLY in COVID-19 vaccinated groups and NOT after COVID-19 infection. There were NO COVID-19-related deaths in any group. A&E attendance and unplanned hospitalization were higher after first vaccination compared to unvaccinated groups:

So why are we giving this to tens of millions of kids when the vaccine itself does have profound risk? We’ve seen huge associations of myocarditis and pericarditis with strokes, with other injuries, with neurological injuries.

The two largest COVID-19 vaccine safety studies ever conducted, involving 99 million (Faksova et al) and 85 million people (Raheleh et al), confirm RFK Jr.’s concerns, documenting significantly increased risks of serious adverse events following vaccination, including:

  1. Myocarditis (+510% after second dose)
  2. Acute Disseminated Encephalomyelitis (+278% after first dose)
  3. Cerebral Venous Sinus Thrombosis (+223% after first dose)
  4. Guillain-Barré Syndrome (+149% after first dose)
  5. Heart Attack (+286% after second dose)
  6. Stroke (+240% after first dose)
  7. Coronary Artery Disease (+244% after second dose)
  8. Cardiac Arrhythmia (+199% after first dose)

And this was clear even in the clinical data that came out of Pfizer. There were actually more deaths. There were about 23% more deaths in the vaccine group than the placebo group. We need to ask questions and we need to consult with parents.

Actually, according to the Pfizer’s clinical trial data, there were 43% more deaths in the vaccine group compared to the placebo group when post-unblinding deaths are included:

We need to give people informed consent, and we shouldn’t be making recommendations that are not good for the population.

Public acknowledgment of the grave harms of COVID-19 vaccines signals that real action is right around the corner. However, we must hope that action is taken for ALL age groups, as no one is spared from their life-reducing effects:

Alessandria et al (n=290,727, age > 10 years): People vaccinated with 2 doses lost 37% of life expectancy compared to the unvaccinated population during follow-up.

Nicolas Hulscher, MPH

Epidemiologist and Foundation Administrator, McCullough Foundation

www.mcculloughfnd.org

Please consider following both the McCullough Foundation and my personal account on X (formerly Twitter) for further content.

For the full experience, upgrade your subscription.
Continue Reading

Trending

X