Canada's vaccine advisory body strongly recommends boosters for all adults as virus resurges
CBC
Canada's National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI) is now strongly recommending that all adults and immunocompromised children aged 12 to 17 get a first COVID-19 booster shot as Canada experiences a resurgence of the virus.
NACI previously said that boosters for those two groups should be considered discretionary. Chief Public Health Officer of Canada Dr. Theresa Tam said Tuesday that booster shots will offer stronger protection as caseloads increase.
"It doesn't matter where you are in Canada right now. I would advise getting that booster shot," Tam told a press conference.
WATCH: Tam encourages Canadians to get a COVID-19 booster dose
NACI is also now recommending that all children aged 12 to 17 be offered a booster dose.
Dr. Tam said the recent surge across Canada has been driven by the Omicron variant and its BA.2 subvariant.
"We are seeing that resurgence, whether you call it the sixth wave or however many waves there is in your local jurisdiction, it is a resurgence," she said. "And that is why it's important to get that booster now."
Despite the fact that a number of provinces have lifted their mask mandates, Dr. Tam said Canadians should carry on masking in indoor settings — although she stopped short of saying mandates should be reinstated.
"Wear a mask anyways, whether the province ... [or] local jurisdiction is recommending it or not."
WATCH: Tam encourages mask-wearing as COVID-19 pandemic surges
Ontario's Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Kieran Moore told reporters Monday that while the province is in a sixth wave, the provincial government is not reinstating mask mandates.
Instead, the province is expanding access to COVID-19 antiviral treatments for high-risk people and officials are "strongly" recommending mask-wearing in all indoor settings.
Saskatchewan's largest city has seen a massive increase in the viral load detected in its wastewater.
On Monday, researchers from the University of Saskatchewan released their latest report showing a 742 per cent increase in viral load taken from sewage samples in Saskatoon.
A building that sits at the corner of Sussex Street and Brunswick Avenue has had many lives over the last century — being a church, a school and offices. Now it's set to become housing, at a time when the city sorely needs it.
A Waterloo, Ont., elementary school principal will be sentenced in the new year after pleading guilty to child sexual exploitation charges following a joint investigation that involved the London, Toronto and Waterloo police services.
Students at UPEI have let their student union know what they want from the province this fiscal year, and those priorities are reflected in a 2024-2025 advocacy document brought to the legislature on Wednesday.
Larger communities in the N.W.T. will soon see a boost in their territorial funding to maintain infrastructure and deliver services — like water and waste management — but the increase still falls short of what communities need.
The toxic drug crisis has taken more than 47,000 lives in Canada since 2016 and the synthetic opioid fentanyl has become a household name. But now, what's believed to be an even more potent class of synthetic drugs is showing up in drug busts across the country: nitazenes.
The Liberal government and the NDP have agreed to introduce a two-month GST vacation on certain items before the holiday season, Radio-Canada has learned.
Veterinarians are warning Londoners to make sure their dogs are vaccinated and keeping clean after a deadly virus outbreak was declared in London this week.
Registered nurses rallied in St. John's Wednesday as part of a week-long convention, again calling on the Newfoundland and Labrador government to create permanent solutions to staff shortages and workplace violence.
New poll results released by Narrative Research suggest the Progressive Conservatives are heading into Tuesday's provincial election with a commanding lead over their political rivals.
A measles outbreak in New Brunswick is set to push Canada's annual case count to the highest it's been in five years, highlighting how infectious the disease is and how low vaccination rates have allowed it to take hold, says an immunologist.
In her final budget as mayor, Valérie Plante tried to limit property tax increases even as Montreal's expenses climbed to more than $7 billion.