Vaccines

Five things to know about AstraZeneca

Here are five important things we all need to understand about the AstraZeneca vaccine.

Patient Navigator: Hospital program aims to boost vaccination rate among health-care workers

Paul Taylor responds to people asking why hospitals aren't requiring health-care workers to get vaccinated – or get placed on unpaid leave.

April 8: Still waiting for a plan

Ontario announced that people over 18 in high-risk areas will be eligible to get vaccinated. I worry that because no clear plan has been outlined, that means there isn’t one.

Vaccine hesitancy? Follow Krispy Kreme’s lead and give people a reward

How should we address vaccine hesitancy? One way is to reward people for getting vaccinated; Krispy Kreme, for example, is giving free donuts to those who show proof of vaccination.

Vaccine rollout ignoring needs of women

Will we use COVID-19 as an opportunity to take off the blindfold and tailor our vaccine strategies to the unique needs of each gender or will we continue to ignore the needs of women?

April 7: “We are failing to protect our most vulnerable”

Is this Ticketmaster-like system where you have to constantly refresh 15 browsers for a vaccine appointment really the best we can do?

Leading by example: Nurses launch vaccination campaign

Canada’s largest nurses’ organization is launching a national campaign to encourage vaccination against COVID-19 and dispel mistrust and misinformation about vaccines.

‘Hope is the biggest side effect’: Vaccinations spur emotional reactions from health-care providers

Health-care providers vaccinated against COVID-19 describe not just the physical side effects, mostly mild and short-lived, but also the emotional side effects: relief, excitement, and hope.

High-risk areas urgently need improved access to vaccines

If high-risk people in high-risk areas are eagerly waiting to be vaccinated and there are empty slots at vaccine sites across the province, what are we waiting for?

For our children’s sake, teachers must be a priority in vaccination rollout

Teacher vaccination must be a priority if in-person schooling is to continue uninterrupted. If teachers feel unsafe, how can they take on the huge responsibility of educating our kids?

The next wave of COVID-19 vaccines: In through the nose

Currently, COVID-19 vaccines are injected into the muscles but many immunologists think a nasal vaccine may also be needed to end the pandemic.

Canada must show global leadership on vaccine patents

Canada’s refusal to help more than 100 developing countries mass-produce vaccines is un-Canadian—and hypocritical. This pandemic requires a global solution.

Health Care in Hues: Navigating Changing Tides

Our latest installment of Health Care in Hues, a monthly feature that uses art to comment on the state of health care in Canada.

Comparing vaccines: efficacy, safety and side effects

Do you have questions about vaccines in Canada? Epidemiologist Catharine Chambers compares the four vaccines now approved in Canada.

Patient Navigator: Will we need annual COVID-19 shots?

Will we need annual COVID-19 shots the way we need yearly flu shots? Paul Taylor explains what we do and don't know about how variants will affect vaccination efforts in the long term.

To catch up on vaccinations, we must include family doctors, pharmacists in rollout plans

It is only through primary and community care that we will be able to vaccinate populations that are neglected and/or mistrustful of the health-care system.

Canada must double-down on mRNA production to overcome vaccine nationalism

What is our Plan B if future disruptions arise this year? Are we going to continue to wait, allowing community spread, more variants and more deaths?

Vaccines, prices and a pandemic

If the government is serious about ensuring access to prescription drugs and vaccines to all, it must stand up to pressure from Big Pharma on pricing reforms.

Health Care in Hues: The Vaccine Waiting Game

Our latest installment of Health Care in Hues, a monthly feature that uses art to comment on the state of healthcare in Canada.

Snowbirds complicate vaccine rollout

Snowbirds receiving the COVID-19 vaccine in the US could cause practical and ethical problems for the vaccine rollout in Canada that we need to prepare for now.