Canadian COVID-19 News

[Mike OReilly]

Originally Posted by Copacabana

Mike, I've been following the situation in Chile with interest as they are using the same vaccine as Brazil- CoronaVac. It is a bit alarming that even with their very high vaccination rate the virus continues to spread, unlike what is occurring in countries using Pfizer/Moderna vaccines, like the US.

I'm not familiar with CoronaVac, but the Chinese Sinopharm seems to be coming under some scrutiny as to its efficacy. Clearly, not all vaccines are going to be equal, and some are going to be less effective at addressing the various variants of SARS-CoV-2 that seem to be driving this current wave of infections.

Clearly SARS-CoV-2 is going to be with us for a long time, and we'll all be lining up for regular boosters for many years to come.

Originally Posted by Copacabana

I will get my jab in July and I'm hoping it's the Pfizer or AstraZeneca vaccine, which Brazil is also using, but still in far smaller numbers compared to CoronaVac.

Good luck . Getting any (approved) vaccine is better than none.

[deblen]

Canada appears to be officially on the mend.
IMHO-I can see the possibility of Atlantic Canada being mostly open by July 1 IMHO


https://subscriptions.cbc.ca/newslet...ef/2021-05-28/


https://globalnews.ca/video/7899464/...tarting-june-7

[Montanan]

Today's news. Perhaps some light at the end of a long tunnel.

Nova Scotia says latest COVID-19 wave crushed, announces cautious reopening plan

https://www.nsnews.com/coronavirus-c...g-plan-3820737

As Nova Scotia emerges from the biggest COVID-19 outbreak to hit the Atlantic region since the pandemic began, the province released Friday a cautious plan to reopen the economy and lift lockdown restrictions.

Unlike other provinces, Nova Scotia's plan doesn't include any dates. Instead, Premier Iain Rankin unveiled a complex, five-phase strategy that won't progress until the province meets certain vaccination rates and hospitalization numbers.
"It's based on data, not dates," Rankin told a news conference.
The province's chief medical officer of health, Dr. Robert Strang, said each phase could take as little as two weeks to complete. But if the province fails to reach its targets or infections spike, each phase could take up to four weeks.

It could be as early as July 1 that conditions would allow Nova Scotia to rejoin the Atlantic Bubble, an arrangement that allows residents to travel within the region without having to self-isolate.

And the province's top doctor hinted that travellers from outside the region may be allowed to travel to Nova Scotia for non-essential reasons as early as August. Strang, however, made it clear that the province's "slow, steady and cautious" approach could take much longer to complete if the four-week cycles are needed.

The P.E.I. government hopes to welcome select travellers from across the country as early as Aug. 8, and then open to everyone as of Sept. 12. In New Brunswick, the government plans to drop all pandemic-related restrictions by Aug. 2 — assuming the province can meet its vaccine targets and there are no outbreaks.

[Montanan]

So what are Canada's or the Canadian provinces plans for issuing or requiring vaccine passports for travel, international or domestic?

Meanwhile we Yanks are stuck with this nonsensicalness. Hard to reconcile the recognition that foreign entry requirements will or may need certifiable vaccination documentation but that no USA government [Federal or State] is capable of providing such to our citizens. So SNAFU.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/othe...?ocid=msedgntp

"There will be no federal vaccination database or a federal requirement for Americans to prove they’ve been vaccinated", said a spokesperson for the US Department of Homeland Security.

The White House has regularly dismissed any suggestion that the government would create a federal document certifying vaccination status. “We are not instituting vaccine passports from a federal level,” White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said Monday.

Deputy Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Friday the administration hasn’t changed its position but that “the U.S. government recognizes that other countries have or may have foreign entry requirements.”

“We will be monitoring these and helping all U.S. travelers meet those but we will not be – there will be no federal mandate requiring anyone to obtain a single vaccination credential,” she told reporters aboard Air Force One.

U.S. health officials have lifted virtually all restrictions, including most mask mandates, for vaccinated people. That move has left businesses, states and cities with a problem: There’s no way to verify who is vaccinated.

The European Union plans to open up quarantine-free travel for tourists vaccinated with EU-approved drugs, including those used in the U.S., but the U.S. has yet to reciprocate.

[deblen]

Originally Posted by Montanan

So what are Canada's or the Canadian provinces plans for issuing or requiring vaccine passports for travel, international or domestic?

Meanwhile we Yanks are stuck with this nonsensicalness. Hard to reconcile the recognition that foreign entry requirements will or may need certifiable vaccination documentation but that no USA government [Federal or State] is capable of providing such to our citizens. So SNAFU.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/othe...?ocid=msedgntp

"There will be no federal vaccination database or a federal requirement for Americans to prove they’ve been vaccinated", said a spokesperson for the US Department of Homeland Security.

The White House has regularly dismissed any suggestion that the government would create a federal document certifying vaccination status. “We are not instituting vaccine passports from a federal level,” White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said Monday.

Deputy Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Friday the administration hasn’t changed its position but that “the U.S. government recognizes that other countries have or may have foreign entry requirements.”

“We will be monitoring these and helping all U.S. travelers meet those but we will not be – there will be no federal mandate requiring anyone to obtain a single vaccination credential,” she told reporters aboard Air Force One.

U.S. health officials have lifted virtually all restrictions, including most mask mandates, for vaccinated people. That move has left businesses, states and cities with a problem: There’s no way to verify who is vaccinated.

The European Union plans to open up quarantine-free travel for tourists vaccinated with EU-approved drugs, including those used in the U.S., but the U.S. has yet to reciprocate.

There would be no need for any country to force it's own citizens to get vaccinated in order to travel outside their own country.
That decision will be made by the foreign country as is done now.
However,one may run into a problem on the way home?
Len


https://www.who.int/ith/2016-ith-county-list.pdf

[Scorpius]

Originally Posted by Midnight Son

A friend's father worked in the mine that was there, years ago.

There's still a big mine there - but for limestone to feed the big LaFarge cement plant in Richmond. I'm not sure why they stopped mining the iron.

Metro Vancouver floated a proposal a few years ago to dump their garbage in the old iron mine but irate locals shot it down. Instead Cache Creek continues to be the beneficiary of the Big Smoke's largesse.

[Scorpius]

Originally Posted by deblen

Canada appears to be officially on the mend.
IMHO-I can see the possibility of Atlantic Canada being mostly open by July 1 IMHO


https://subscriptions.cbc.ca/newslet...ef/2021-05-28/


https://globalnews.ca/video/7899464/...tarting-june-7

BC too. I'm not so sure about Manitoba and Alberta. Alberta has announced an ambitious reopening plan that may well trigger a fourth wave. Manitoba is still deep in third wave crisis.

[Scorpius]

Originally Posted by Mike OReilly

I'm not familiar with CoronaVac, but the Chinese Sinopharm seems to be coming under some scrutiny as to its efficacy. Clearly, not all vaccines are going to be equal, and some are going to be less effective at addressing the various variants of SARS-CoV-2 that seem to be driving this current wave of infections.

Clearly SARS-CoV-2 is going to be with us for a long time, and we'll all be lining up for regular boosters for many years to come.



Good luck . Getting any (approved) vaccine is better than none.

Would someone please explain the difference between efficacy and effectiveness. Why must such unusual words be used when speaking to lay people? It brings to mind medieval High Priests.

[Mike OReilly]

Originally Posted by Scorpius

BC too. I'm not so sure about Manitoba and Alberta. Alberta has announced an ambitious reopening plan that may well trigger a fourth wave. Manitoba is still deep in third wave crisis.

Yes, Alberta's plan seems more ambitious than other provinces. It seems more focused on making sure they are open for the Stampede, than on sound public health science. But maybe the gamble will pay off (this time).

Manitoba is still very bad, but starting to trend in the right direction. Let's hope...

Originally Posted by Scorpius

Would someone please explain the difference between efficacy and effectiveness. Why must such unusual words be used when speaking to lay people? It brings to mind medieval High Priests.

What an odd criticism, or are you just having a fun go at me ?

Efficacy and effectiveness are synonyms at the general level. Efficacy can have a more precise meaning, especially in the scientific context. But the two can be used interchangeably at the general level when discussing how well certain vaccines work (there, is that better?).

I do not think "efficacy and effectiveness" are unusual words, even in the lay person context. An analysis of my quote doesn't suggest it is beyond most readers:

https://datayze.com/readability-analyzer

[Lake-Effect]

Originally Posted by Scorpius

Would someone please explain the difference between efficacy and effectiveness. Why must such unusual words be used when speaking to lay people? It brings to mind medieval High Priests.

Have you read Orwell's "1984"? Take away words and you take away people's power to discuss or even think new and challenging ideas. I try to look up at least two new-to-me words every day.

Boating is full of wierd, antique and uncommon words. An early indicator of senior cognitive decline is a reduced vocabulary and difficulty in expressing complex narrative.

[Macblaze]

Originally Posted by Lake-Effect

An early indicator of senior cognitive decline is a reduced vocabulary and difficulty in expressing complex narrative.

Huh?

[sv_pelagia]

Vaccine efficacy and effectiveness (from the BCCDC):

Vaccine efficacy and vaccine effectiveness are both measures of protection against a disease. They tell us how less likely a vaccinated person is to get a particular disease compared to a non-vaccinated person.

Vaccine efficacy is calculated using data from vaccine clinical trials, whereas vaccine effectiveness is calculated using real-world data once a vaccine is approved and in use.

Effectiveness data takes into account more real-world complexities and is more representative of all people and situations.

http://www.bccdc.ca/health-info/dise...mpact-coverage

[Mike OReilly]

Originally Posted by Lake-Effect

Have you read Orwell's "1984"? Take away words and you take away people's power to discuss or even think new and challenging ideas. I try to look up at least two new-to-me words every day.

Try? I have no choice .

Originally Posted by Lake-Effect

Boating is full of wierd, antique and uncommon words.

No kidding... which is why I suspect Scorpius is really just having me on. You'd be hard-pressed, outside some advanced scientific areas, to find a field as thick with incomprehensible terms and lingo than sailing. To the lay person it must sound like we speak a foreign language.

Originally Posted by Lake-Effect

An early indicator of senior cognitive decline is a reduced vocabulary and difficulty in expressing complex narrative.

Now this sentence requires an advanced degree to comprehend ... truly:

[Scorpius]

Originally Posted by Mike OReilly

Try? I have no choice .



No kidding... which is why I suspect Scorpius is really just having me on. You'd be hard-pressed, outside some advanced scientific areas, to find a field as thick with incomprehensible terms and lingo than sailing. To the lay person it must sound like we speak a foreign language.



Now this sentence requires an advanced degree to comprehend ... truly:

No, I'm not just having you on - and I too, like so many of you, revel in the richness of the English language. However, I think when two words are synonyms it's best to use the most common one so that the "average" person (if there is any such thing) does not have to struggle to understand.

And yes, as sailors, like in so many professions and avocations (like medicine) we have a vocabulary, (not a language), all of our own. But the words we have added to the language are valuable in our pursuit - providing specific definitions where needed for distinguishment. Being able to say, and understand, words or phrases like "main halyard" rather than "that rope over there" is vital when things must be done sprightingly - although why we use "handsomely" for "slowly" (if we do) escapes me.

I spent 40 years in IT - latterly as a senior project manager on some pretty big projects - and was often accused of speaking in the "high priestly" language of my profession. It was a handicap - especially when making pitches to non-IT senior executives (usually pretty intelligent people) for funding.

We have laws, which I completely agree with, to have agreements and contracts written in "plain language", rather than high legalese, in order to be understandable to ordinary people.

I simply prefer simplicity to complexity in language in order to promote harmony and understanding - rather than obfuscation.

[hpeer]

Some context:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pandemic_severity_index