BCApr 28, 2021
B.C. offers Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine to people age 30 and up
People age 30 and older may now receive the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine in British Columbia, starting with hot spots for transmission. Health Minister Adrian Dix and provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry say in a statement on Tuesday the vaccine will be made available across the province as B.C. receives enough doses to add more pharmacy appointments. Canada's National Advisory Committee on Immunization recommended last week that the vaccine may be offered to people 30 and up who don't want to wait for an approved mRNA vaccine, and if certain other conditions are met. Those condi
CanadaApr 27, 2021
Quebec reports blood clot death after AstraZeneca vaccine
A Quebec woman in her 50s has died of a blood clot that occurred after she received the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine. The province's public health director says officials always knew that rare complications were possible with vaccines. Dr. Horacio Arruda says the benefits of the COVID-19 vaccine still far outweigh the risks. Arruda notes there have been four reports of complications out of 400,000 people who have received the vaccines. He says Quebec will continue to offer the vaccine to residents between the ages of 45 and 79. Health Minister Christian Dube a told a news conference that any de
BCApr 27, 2021
Trustees vote to end program assigning uniformed police officers to Vancouver schools
Uniformed police officers will no longer be assigned to Vancouver public schools after trustees voted to end its school liaison officer program.The program has been under review for almost a year due to concerns that uniformed officers make some students anxious or upset, including many identifying as Black, Indigenous or people of colour.Trustees voted eight to one Monday in favour of a motion to halt the program at the end of June.The decision is supported by several groups, including the Vancouver District Parent Advisory Council and associations representingelementary and secondary school
BCApr 27, 2021
B.C. reports 17 deaths and nearly 2,500 new cases of COVID-19 over three days
British Columbia's top doctor says the province has confirmed that COVID-19 was a factor in the death of an infant from the Interior Health region. Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry says the baby was being treated in hospital in January and the B.C. Coroners' Service has since determined COVID-19 was a factor in the baby's death. Dr. Henry reported the death while addressing concerns raised in Ontario that people are dying at home of COVID-19, saying the coroners' service in B.C. has a process in place to investigate whether the illness was a factor in any unexpected deaths. She says
BCApr 26, 2021
Eby tells inquiry about money laundering information gaps between B.C. organizations
The cabinet minister who helped set in motion British Columbia's money laundering inquiry says he was getting very different versions about suspicious cash at casinos from officials when he became the minister responsible for gaming in 2017. Attorney General David Eby told the Cullen Commission that there were significant information gaps about suspicious cash at casinos during separate briefings with him from officials at the BC Lottery Corporation and the Gaming Policy Enforcement Branch. Eby testified officials at the lottery corporation told him anti-money laundering efforts were working
BCApr 26, 2021
Charges laid in targeted killing in busy Vancouver neighbourhood: police
A first-degree murder charge has been laid in what Vancouver police say was a "shocking and unnerving" shooting in a busy city neighbourhood last week.The victim, 31-year-old Harpreet Singh Dhaliwal of Abbotsford, B.C., was shot and killed outside a popular restaurant last Saturday.On top of the murder charge, 51-year-old Francois Gauthier is also accused of possession of a loaded prohibited weapon.Gauthier remains in custody until his next court appearance.Police say no one else was hurt in the targeted shooting, but safety was at risk for others in the public location.There have been three
CanadaApr 23, 2021
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says restricting travel from India, Pakistan necessary
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says suspending incoming passenger flights from India and Pakistan for the next month must be done to keep Canadians safe. Trudeau says it's necessary because there has been a concerning surge of COVID-19 cases and the emergence of more variants of concern in certain parts of the world.Also, the federal health minister has said half of the people who have tested positive for the novel coronavirus after arriving in Canada by plane have come from India.The new travel measures were announced yesterday following pressure from provincial leaders, who said not enough w
CanadaApr 23, 2021
Key measure suggests Canada's COVID-19 surge could be slowing down, says Tam
Canada's top public health doctor says there's been an increase of more than 200,000 COVID-19 cases since last month, but there are signs the epidemic is easing.Dr. Theresa Tam says average case counts have more than doubled over the past month, with upwards of 8,400 infections reported daily over the last week.But Tam says there's reason for hope due to Canada's declining reproduction rate, which represents how many people are infected by each new case.She says this measure has fallen below the key threshold of one for the first time in weeks, meaning the rate of transmission is trending dow
BCApr 23, 2021
Hundreds of scheduled surgeries in B.C. postponed; More than 1,000 COVID-19 cases reported in the province
Hundreds of scheduled surgeries in British Columbia have been postponed as the number of COVID-19 patients in hospitals reaches a new peak. Health Minister Adrian Dix says 1,750 surgeries at nine affected hospitals in the Fraser and Vancouver Coastal health regions have been delayed. There are 502 people in hospital and more than 160 of those are in intensive care units. Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry says pressure on B.C.'s health-care system is ``immense'' right now. The government is also asking specially trained health workers who are now in community settings to return to int
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