{"id":1533,"date":"2021-12-04T00:33:29","date_gmt":"2021-12-04T00:33:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cusjc.ca\/theragingtwenties\/?p=1533"},"modified":"2021-12-04T00:33:31","modified_gmt":"2021-12-04T00:33:31","slug":"booster-shots","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cusjc.ca\/theragingtwenties\/2021\/12\/04\/booster-shots\/","title":{"rendered":"Federal government updates advice on booster shots, confirms purchase of antiviral COVID pills"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Canada\u2019s Minister of Public Services and Procurement, Filomena Tassi, announces Canada’s purchase of 1.5 million courses of antiviral pills at a press conference on Friday. Screenshot is taken from Global News broadcast.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Hafsatou Balde & Sam Konnert<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a week that saw several provinces expand eligibility for booster shots to combat COVID-19, the National Advisory Committee on Immunization on Friday recommended the use of booster shots for people over the age of 18, but emphasized that adults over 50 should be prioritized.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The announcement came among concerns about the new Omicron variant, which was first reported last week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt’s still too early to understand what the effect of this variant is going to look like,\u201d said Puja Bagri, a project analyst at the Canadian Institutes of Health Research.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOur best information is coming from South Africa, but their population is very different in terms of vaccination rates compared to Canada.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, Filomena Tassi, the Minister of Public Services and Procurement, announced Friday the federal government has signed an agreement with Pfizer and Merck for the purchase of 1.5 million courses of COVID-19 oral antiviral pills, both in stage three of Health Canada authorization.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAccess to effective and easy-to-use treatments is critical to reducing the severity of COVID infections and will help save lives,\u201d the minister said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sarthak Sinha, an MD PhD candidate at the University of Calgary who specializes in tissue scarring and cell regeneration, said he sees the antiviral medication as an essential step in attacking the virus at the right time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He explained there are two stages to the body\u2019s response to COVID-19, and the pills are most effective in the first stage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe antiviral pills the government announced are best administered acutely after symptom onset,\u201d Sinha said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the second stage of the body\u2019s response to the virus, according to Sinha, the pill is not as effective. \u201cThe late stage of response is when people become hypoxic, they get really sick and have to go to the hospital,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The second stage of fighting COVID-19 is not driven by the virus, he said, and is instead driven by the body\u2019s hyperinflammatory response.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While steroids like Dexamethasone are good for later stages of infection, he added a combination of the two therapies will have the greatest benefit for patients. \u201cEarly intervention mitigates risk for severe disease,\u201d Sinha said. \u201cThat\u2019s the overarching concept.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With the Dec. 1 announcement that Alberta is opening up boosters to those 18 and up and Ontario outlining plans to offer a third dose for people over 50 as of Dec. 13, Bagri said she thinks other provinces may eventually follow suit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe should be taking care of key populations that may be more vulnerable first,\u201d Bagri said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTesting and sequencing hand-in-hand \u2013 that\u2019s how we\u2019re going to really capture the spread of this variant,\u201d Bagri said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On Friday, the province of Ontario reported 1,031 new cases of COVID-19. It\u2019s the first time since May 30 the number has surpassed 1,000 new cases.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Numbers like this make the possibility of a booster appealing to people like Nitika Sharma, a 26-year-old student at Carleton University who received her second dose back in June.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOnce they ask us to get the shot, I\u2019ll be the first person in line,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In a week that saw several provinces expand eligibility for booster shots to combat COVID-19, the National Advisory Committee on Immunization on Friday recommended the use of booster shots for people over the age of 18, but emphasized that adults over 50 should be prioritized.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":27,"featured_media":1536,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pgc_meta":"","_et_pb_use_builder":"off","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"1080","_FSMCFIC_featured_image_caption":"","_FSMCFIC_featured_image_nocaption":"","_FSMCFIC_featured_image_hide":"","_vp_format_video_url":"","_vp_image_focal_point":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[68,8,123],"tags":[179,106,177,136,13,178],"class_list":["post-1533","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-issue-3","category-news","category-politics","tag-booster","tag-canada","tag-covid","tag-issue-3-2","tag-ottawa","tag-vaccine"],"yoast_head":"\nFederal government updates advice on booster shots, confirms purchase of antiviral COVID pills - 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