This story is part of CBC Health's Second Opinion, a weekly analysis of health and medical science news emailed to subscribers on Saturday mornings. If you haven't subscribed yet, you can do that by clicking here.
In Canada, measles was once a disease of the past. But it's increasingly becoming a health threat of the present, after backsliding vaccination rates allowed the virus to creep back into circulation.
Canada officially eliminated measles nearly three decades ago, but for years, medical experts warned it was poised to make a comeback — and disruptions to routine childhood immunization efforts throughout the COVID-19 pandemic may have sped that up.
Now, after tens of thousands of cases in Europe, and close to 100 recent infections across Canada and the U.S., health officials are on high alert.
There are warnings about travel abroad, calls for people to ensure their families are up-to-date on the measles vaccine, and fresh reminders that the virus is highly contagious and capable of causing pneumonia, brain inflammation, and even death. [...]
If you have had the current covid vaccine, what was it like? I had/have long covid and I am absolutely enraged every time I catch it AGAIN despite my best efforts. How bad are the side effects? How long do they last? I will totally get the new vaccine anyway, I just want to know how many Days of Being Useless I need to pencil in on my calendar.
Hey Americans, it’s fall 2023 and the adult Covid vaccines are STILL FREE at certain pharmacies. Even if you have no health insurance. Even if you have health insurance but the insurance company likes to whine about CVS being “out of network” for vaccinations.
Find out more FAQ stuff from the CDC here:
And find your local locations with free vaccines below. Once you’ve put in your zip code and hit “go”, on the next page, make sure to click the checkbox that says “BRIDGE Access Participant” so you know these locations have the free shots.
Hey, it is the holiday time of year which is a time that comes with lots of large gatherings to celebrate. With this time also comes Covid and flu outbreaks. Get vaccinated
The trial of a Carievale, Sask., man charged with abducting his daughter ended Friday with a jury finding him guilty.
Court heard Michael Gordon Jackson failed to return his seven-year-old daughter to the care of her mother, who had primary custody, after a long-weekend visit in November 2021.
Jackson, who represented himself at the trial in Regina Court of King's Bench, had told the jury his only intention was to prevent his daughter from getting the COVID-19 vaccine. Jackson said he believed the vaccine would harm his daughter and claimed the mother did not let him know her views on the vaccine for months.
The Crown argued that Jackson's goal of keeping his daughter unvaccinated meant that he purposely kept the girl away from her mother. The prosecutor also said there is no doubt Jackson made his concerns about the COVID-19 vaccine clear, but the girl's mother had the final say according to the custody agreement.
After the mother told Jackson that she planned to get their daughter vaccinated, he decided to "take the law into his own hands" and keep her, the Crown said. [...]
Maria Gotinha, one of Brazil's vaccination campaign mascots affiliated with SUS (Brazil's public healthcare system). She is the female counterpart of Zé Gotinha, the main mascot. They are supposed to represent a drop of the vaccine against polio that's given orally to babies and children ("gotinha" literally means "small drop" in brazilian portuguese). However, nowadays Maria Gotinha and Zé Gotinha are present in basically every vaccination campaign in Brazil.