RFK Jr.‘s reasons for cutting mRNA vaccine not supported by evidence
The longtime vaccine critic said in an X video posted Tuesday evening that mRNA vaccines do not adequately prevent upper respiratory infections such as COVID-19 and the flu, advocating instead for the development vaccines that use other processes.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Montreal Gazette
an hour ago
- Montreal Gazette
Opinion: ‘Climate change has infiltrated my medical practice. I have no choice but to respond'
As a physician, I'm alarmed that there has been little in the way of substantive input from senior authorities in Canada, and particularly in Quebec, about climate-related health risks. Since the start of summer, I've given more than 20 interviews about the health risks caused by extreme heat and wildfire smoke, both symptoms of the climate crisis. During the weekend of July 26-27, Environment Canada issued dual heat and air-quality warnings for the Montreal area and a large part of Quebec, and I was once again asked to speak to the media. I found myself wondering, where are our government leaders? I regularly address the media about these topics. I believe it's essential to clearly identify and raise awareness about the health impacts of the climate change crisis, which are still far too often overlooked in public discourse. I also wrote a book on the subject. Why do I do this? Because of duty. Climate change has infiltrated my medical practice. I have no choice but to respond. Late last month, while I was on call at a Montreal hospital, two elderly patients were admitted with heat-related complications. Paramedics had rescued them from apartments where the indoor temperature hovered around 30 Celsius — true ovens. I've long been used to reviewing treatment plans for patients with lung disease during cold and flu season. But now, I also have to do it during the summer because of wildfire smoke. I hesitate to draw comparisons with the COVID-19 pandemic because these are very different crises. However, one thing stands out. Beginning in spring 2020 and for weeks, there were daily official media briefings, often featuring Quebec's premier, health minister and director of public health. Yet, when extreme weather rolls through our summers, the response is nothing like that. Where are government officials while our lungs are choking on wildfire smoke? Why aren't they addressing the estimated 470 people who die from heat each summer in Quebec? Radio silence. During the height of the pandemic, they showed up every day to explain what was happening, what steps to take and what services were available. We got more than a social media infographic. Yet, the silence surrounding climate-related health risks sends a message that these issues aren't important, that they don't count and that they're inevitable. Nothing could be further from the truth. In politics, accountability can take many forms, but leadership, public presence and clear recognition of the problem are good places to start. Addressing the media and, through them, the public is part of the job. When it comes to climate-driven health challenges, it's time for more robust ministerial responsibility. Even during the summer vacation period. The science is crystal clear: Environment Canada's increasingly frequent warnings are a direct result of our collective failure to take meaningful climate action, of our continued dependence on fossil fuels, and of premiers who still support the building of pipelines. In the face of all this, we must break the silence. Every level of government must connect the dots between climate and health in public statements and in policy. We need political recognition that meets the scale of the crisis, just as the International Court of Justice recently affirmed. Only then can we make better collective choices to protect everyone's health.
Toronto Star
2 hours ago
- Toronto Star
RFK Jr.‘s vow to overhaul vaccine injury program echoes grievances of anti-vaccine movement
WASHINGTON (AP) — Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is vowing to 'fix' the federal program for compensating Americans injured by vaccines, opening the door to sweeping changes for a system long targeted by anti-vaccine activists. Health experts and lawyers say updates are needed to help clear a backlog of cases in the Vaccine Injury Compensation Program, created by Congress in 1986 as a no-fault payment system for presumed vaccine injuries.
Winnipeg Free Press
5 hours ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Child and youth care specialists can make schools safer, association says
The Child and Youth Care Workers' Association of Manitoba is calling on public schools to hire more of its members to prevent student outbursts and related staff injuries. Not unlike social workers, the professionals — many of whom have a certificate or diploma from Red River College Polytechnic — are trained in child development, relationship-building and crisis intervention. Chelsea Champagne said she and her colleagues' skill sets are well-suited for 21st-century schools, but they have long been overlooked by the education sector. MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS Child and Youth Care Workers' Association of Manitoba president Chelsea Champagne says her association's members could help 'create more safe space' in Manitoba schools. 'I see so much positive potential for change,' said Champagne, president of the association that advocates for roughly 2,000 child and youth care workers and support staff in Winnipeg. 'We could create more safe space in schools and we're ready to be there.' The workforce is primarily spread out across community health-care settings, group homes and juvenile corrections facilities. Champagne said practitioners build 'therapeutic relationships' with youths and their families. In doing so, they learn about what triggers behavioural challenges and build individualized plans accordingly, she said. School staff made 844 more time-loss injury claims — a 332 per cent spike — to the Workers Compensation Board of Manitoba last year compared to a decade ago. An April survey of local educational assistants found seven in 10 had experienced violence on the job. Half of those respondents indicated they were subjected to it weekly, if not daily, as per the findings released by the Canadian Union of Public Employees Manitoba. Also during the spring, a Brandon-based resource teacher was conducting a similar study for her PhD; Julie Braaksma's early findings suggest student-on-teacher violence is taking place across the province and it often goes under-reported. Alan Campbell, president of the Manitoba School Boards Association, said trustees are both well aware of these safety concerns and realistic that they are unlikely to disappear anytime soon. Student mental-health struggles, stressful household dynamics and unmet educational needs are all 'manifesting in the form of violence,' Campbell said, noting the COVID-19 pandemic worsened matters although such issues predate 2020. 'There is a heightened need and expectation on the part of communities that schools are better equipped to support students, no matter how they, themselves, are equipped to come to school and to learn,' he said. The veteran trustee said school boards are paying closer attention to the size and makeup of their clinician teams. While some boards have added child and youth care workers to their staffing complements, budget constraints continue to prove challenging, he said. Winnipeg's River East Transcona School Division was an outlier in 2007 when it began hiring the specialists. Jón Olafson, assistant superintendent of student services, said they've since become 'an integral part' of RETSD, visiting early, middle and senior years schools to help implement student-specific plans. Nearby Louis Riel School Division established the first of its now-seven child and youth care worker positions in 2021. Administrators in the Pembina Trails School Division followed suit this year. Their roster of the staffers is slated to double, to two, in 2025-26. Champagne applauded the leaders who've embraced the professionals as the experts they are in how childhood trauma and unmet needs impact behaviours. Weekday Mornings A quick glance at the news for the upcoming day. What makes these practitioners different from their school social worker and psychologist colleagues is their training in real-time crisis support, she said. Champagne noted that child and youth care practitioners regularly work with the same students so they can get to know them on a personal level, help them build positive habits and prevent outbursts. 'We're not there to be EAs or TAs (teaching assistants). We're not there to teach kids. We're there to help them manage their social, emotional, behavioural needs,' she added. RRC Polytech has issued 380 diplomas since launching its two-year child and youth care program — which began as a certificate program in 1995 — about 18 years ago. Maggie MacintoshEducation reporter Maggie Macintosh reports on education for the Free Press. Originally from Hamilton, Ont., she first reported for the Free Press in 2017. Read more about Maggie. Funding for the Free Press education reporter comes from the Government of Canada through the Local Journalism Initiative. Every piece of reporting Maggie produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press's tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press's history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates. Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber. Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.
