Tamara Dus, director of University Health Network Safety Services, administers a Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine in Toronto.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Frank Gunn
The arrival of COVID-19 vaccines has raised hope for an end to the pandemic. Hopefully that’s true, but there are variables. Here are some factors that could affect the success of the vaccine rollout.
Patients with overweight or obesity issues make up more than 70% of the U.S. population.
Peter Dazeley via Getty Images
Americans with excess weight and obesity have been hit hard by COVID-19. Now there is reason to believe they may not get the same protection from the vaccines.
Believe it or not, this little guy has inspired new scientific thought about the COVID-19 vaccine.
Peter Dazeley via Getty Images
Vaccine hesitancy will not go away fast. In fact, there are parallels in the physical world to how quickly or slowly an object returns to its normal state.
A recommendation from a German vaccine advisory body not to give the AstraZeneca vaccine to people aged over 65 has caused concern. But we should interpret this advice with caution.
Perhaps you’ve heard mRNA vaccines cause autoimmune disease, or connect you to the internet. Now the Pfizer vaccine has been approved in Australia, it’s important we iron out these misconceptions.
Establishing public trust is now central to any decisions regarding the inoculation of our child population.
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Historically, we immunized children against diseases like polio that were a clear danger to them, but COVID-19 is usually mild in children. However, herd immunity is unlikely without vaccinating kids.
We have limited information about the reported deaths of 30 elderly people in Norway who had received the Pfizer COVID vaccine. Here’s what we do know.
Health-care workers wait in line at a COVID-19 vaccine clinic in Toronto on Jan. 7, 2021.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette
Rollout of COVID-19 vaccines has begun. But getting the jab doesn’t mean abandoning masks, distancing and handwashing. Here’s why the current preventive measures must continue post-vaccine.
A woman reacts after receiving the vaccine outside the Ashton Gate stadium in Bristol, which has become a COVID-19 vaccination centre.
EPA-EFE
In our first weekly update on COVID vaccines, we consider how roll-out plans are being tweaked and when it’s likely we’ll start to see vaccines having an impact.
If too many Americans refuse to take the COVID-19 vaccine, achieving population immunity will be difficult.
Paul Hennessy/NurPhoto via Getty Images
The best approach for protecting everyone’s health will require us to provide different vaccines to different people according to need and availability.
With vaccine shortages looming, experts are debating whether it is important to receive two doses or whether it’s better to give one dose to more people and give a second when the supply is better.
Seniors in Fort Myers, Fla. wait for their COVID-19 vaccinations. At this site, 800 doses of vaccine were available.
Octavio Jones via Getty Images
The shipment of goods to suppliers has become technologically sophisticated. Delays in getting out the COVID-19 vaccine to people show that the breakdowns come down to something more basic.