News from Canada

Even modest post-infection complications can make expanded vaccine coverage cost effective: New modelling
science.ubc.ca

Even modest post-infection complications can make expanded vaccine coverage cost effective: New modelling

New modelling led by scientists at UBC could help public health officials better factor in the long-term impacts of infectious disease.
science.ubc.ca science.ubc.ca

“Our models indicate even small post-infection costs can tip the scales and make the case for vaccine-driven elimination,” said Dr. Chadi Saad-Roy, an assistant professor in UBC’s Department of Mathematics and Department of Microbiology and Immunology and senior author of the new study, published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
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I tried looking for the paper but could not find it, so only posting this here. Vaccination is not available in much of Canada, certainly not in Quebec, for either flu or COVID, only for 65+. And we basically have no continuity of care anymore, so it's all up to individuals to figure it out and arrange everything. Canada pretty much discourages vaccination outside of special circumstances, although all health care issues are provincial.

What's annoying is that there's been several studies showing general benefits to vaccination that go beyond the pathogen itself. They seem to stimulate the immune system in ways that grant protection from common infections. But for most of the population, they are not available. I'm not even sure if out-of-pocket exists.

It's endlessly remarkable how dysfunctional this industry is. We seem to go out of our ways to make all the mistakes all the time when it comes to health.
 
nationalpost.com

Liberals announce bill to prohibit MAID for mental illness alone

'While there is not a perfect consensus on this issue, we believe this is the correct approach at this particular time,' Justice Minister Sean Fraser said
nationalpost.com nationalpost.com

"On the separate issue of advance requests, Fraser said the legislation will grant access to MAID “to people who have provided consent at a time when they still have capacity but know that they have been diagnosed with an illness that will take that capacity from them subsequently."

“These are not easy decisions. But we believe they are the correct ones,” Fraser said"
 
Long COVID patients 'devastated' by impending changes to virtual care access in B.C.

"The clinic, which provides virtual care to people across the province, has more than 8,500 patients. The clinic's co-founder estimates more than 300,000 British Columbians are living with long COVID.

But managers there have warned that impending changes to the province's Medical Services Plan are going to make it harder for patients to access care"
 
Mij said:
Long COVID patients 'devastated' by impending changes to virtual care access in B.C.

"The clinic, which provides virtual care to people across the province, has more than 8,500 patients. The clinic's co-founder estimates more than 300,000 British Columbians are living with long COVID.

But managers there have warned that impending changes to the province's Medical Services Plan are going to make it harder for patients to access care"
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Oh that’s not good. And I assume given recent election results the prospects for this being improved upon aren’t exactly high?
 
B.C program for kids with long Covid scales back services after changes to MSP

"Clinic co-founder Dr. Jane McKay said its pediatric program would continue to offer one-on-one consultations and physician-led groups for follow-ups and medication.

But drop-in sessions with specialized allied health-care workers like physiotherapists, dieticians and psychologists have been discontinued.

"In the last two weeks, we've had to inform all of the allied support that has worked with us that we no longer have work for them," McKay said."

"It means Geo no longer gets free weekly sessions with the physiotherapist who helped them navigate the challenges of being bed-bound, and with whom they credit their "massive" improvement in recent months.

"Up until about a week ago I wasn't able to have a shower. I was only able to have a bath and I was not able to wash myself at all," they said.

"The reason why I'm able to do that now is because of the help that they've given me."
 
Dolphin said:
Chronic illness clinic in B.C. ‘a shadow of what it used to be’ after fee changes | Keremeos Review

https://keremeosreview.com/2026/11/...adow-of-what-it-used-to-be-after-fee-changes/
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This article has the same title but I haven’t compared the text:

Chronic illness clinic in B.C. ‘a shadow of what it used to be’ after fee changes​

houston-today.com

Chronic illness clinic in B.C. 'a shadow of what it used to be' after fee changes - Houston Today

The Health Ministry has capped patients, changed fees for virtual groups
houston-today.com houston-today.com
 
Dolphin said:
This article has the same title but I haven’t compared the text:

Chronic illness clinic in B.C. ‘a shadow of what it used to be’ after fee changes​

houston-today.com

Chronic illness clinic in B.C. 'a shadow of what it used to be' after fee changes - Houston Today

The Health Ministry has capped patients, changed fees for virtual groups
houston-today.com houston-today.com
Click to expand...
I normally try to not talk about this clinic because I don’t want to focus on it, but I do need to get something off of my chest.

It’s honestly quite sad that the clinic has had to get rid of all of the more supportive programs, like the social and psychological support groups and the webinars offered by the OT and PT. The article says it was a financial decision on their part. I’m really bothered that they have kept the neuroplasticity stuff (brain retraining with more biological terms essentially). It seems that because it’s offered by their doctors they made the financial decision to keep that. It’s also probably because that’s what they sell as the way to recovery. It just makes me mad, but I have disengaged with the clinic as much as possible because everything about it makes me mad.

Also, on the patient side, it’s probably better to have the group visits kept to 30 people. Everything is a group visit, except for the one on one diagnosis consultation, which lasts for either 30 minutes or one hour, can’t remember. Generally, the visits for the general questions are kept to 10 people, but the medication group visits can have a lot of people. I think that the LDN one had 50 people in it, maybe even more because that’s what it felt like. It’s such an inefficient way to prescribe medications because people were asking about their individual contraindications and not even everyone got to ask their questions. I think that the only other clinic in BC, at the BC Women’s Hospital, is set up in a similar way, but has less people and maybe in-person group visits. The waitlist for that clinic is god knows how long. It’s really such a sorry state for ME/CFS and fibromyalgia care.
 
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