Latest news with #OnTheIsland
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Health
- Yahoo
Lots of COVID booster appointments available, says pharmacy manager, with 3 weeks left in spring campaign
It's been slow going for some Victoria-area pharmacies offering COVID boosters these past few months, as the Ministry of Health is reporting a steady increase in the latest variant of the virus. Linda Gutenberg, who is in charge of pharmacy operations for Heart Pharmacy Group, which operates seven locations in the Greater Victoria Area, said the current vaccine campaign has been particularly slow since it started on April 8. "We were kind of like all ramped up and ready to go and nobody really showed up," she said during an interview on CBC's On The Island. She said last week, pharmacists administered about half the booster shots they did compared to one year ago. However, as of June 1, the province said 287,294 people in B.C. have been vaccinated for COVID-19, up slightly from 282,911 at a similar time last year. Gutenberg isn't entirely sure why there's a dip in interest, but she has a hunch. "I think there's a little bit of vaccine fatigue, where people are just kind of tired of just coming in and getting vaccines all the time." With only a few weeks left in the campaign, which ends June 30, she said there are lots of appointments available. The latest variant of COVID-19, called NB.1.8.1, may be more transmissible than previous mutations, according to the World Health Organization. The organization's latest risk assessment, which covered July to December of last year, found the health risk from COVID-19 is still high, but suggests the impact is decreasing. The Ministry of Health said COVID-19 has been increasing globally since February. PCR and wastewater testing have shown low levels of the virus in B.C., but it has been rising since March. It said the best way to prevent severe illness from the virus is to stay up to date on vaccines. The ministry recommends anyone over 65, Indigenous adults aged 55 and older, long-term care home and assisted living residents and anyone over six months who has been diagnosed as extremely vulnerable, get a COVID-19 booster this spring. Anyone who doesn't fall into one of those categories but would still like to be immunized is asked to speak to a health-care provider.
CBC
05-04-2025
- Health
- CBC
Vancouver Island community looks to ban sale of some sunscreens
A small lake community on southern Vancouver Island is considering banning the sale of some types of sunscreen, out of concern that the residue it leaves in the water when people swim is harmful to the marine environment. Lake Cowichan Town Coun. Aaron Frisby said, in particular, council wants to prevent the sale and use of sunscreens that are not non-nano mineral sunscreen. According to the B.C. Conservation Foundation, chemicals often found in regular sunscreen that could be harmful to marine ecosystems include oxybenzone, avobenzone, octocrylene, octinoxate, octisalate, enzacamene and nanoparticles. Non-nano mineral sunscreens are free of nanoparticles and use zinc oxide or titanium dioxide to reflect the sun, the foundation said. "We're taking baby steps," Frisby told CBC's On The Island host Gregor Craigie. "We realize that people can bring in sunscreens from other areas and use those, but this is the first step to a bigger picture." A 2023 study by the B.C. Conservation Foundation, which examined river and lake water, sediment, benthic macroinvertebrates, mussels and fish from the Cowichan watershed from 2019 to 2022, found higher concentrations of oxybenzone in areas that are frequented more often for recreation. A recent review of several studies on the effects sunscreen has on marine life found UV filters in sunscreen can have a "significant" impact on organisms, including inhibiting growth and DNA mutations. However, the review suggests more research needs to be done to understand the impact of other chemicals, and the effects on more organisms, at different stages of life and in different areas. "As of now, we don't really know the full extent of what damage it could have on the environment, but it's good to get ahead of it," Frisby said. Lake Cowichan is not the first jurisdiction to take this type of action: on Jan. 1, 2021, Hawaii banned the sale of sunscreen containing chemicals — like those listed above — that are harmful to its coral reefs. Frisby, who owns a tube rental company in Lake Cowichan, said his business provides river- and lake-safe sunscreen free for customers. He said the B.C. Conservation Foundation and some other organizations have done the same, as a way to acknowledge that non-nano mineral sunscreens generally cost more. However, he said, a little goes a long way. "You don't want to use a lot, otherwise you'll end up looking like a ghost for most of the day." Frisby doesn't expect a ban would come into effect until 2026, but in the meantime, said council is taking the opportunity to educate businesses and the public about preferred sunscreen products for the river and lake. He said, so far, he's heard positive feedback from the community. "The public seems to be on board and also the businesses seem to be on board. So we're moving in the right direction."
CBC
09-03-2025
- General
- CBC
Indigenous language now included on Ucluelet bus stop signs — a first for B.C. Transit
Jeneva Touchie has been learning her traditional language, nuučaan̓uł (Nuu-chah-nulth), for seven years — something she's carried on from her grandmother, who taught the language in her community on the west coast of Vancouver Island. Now, as the manager of language services for the Ucluelet First Nation's Yuułuʔiłʔatḥ Government, Touchie has helped bring the language to the local transportation system. Bus stop signs at all 36 B.C. Transit stops in Tofino, Ucluelet, Long Beach, hitaću, Esowista and Ty-histanis now include both English and Nuu-chah-nulth wording. "As a language learner and as a language teacher, it means the world to me because it's a really great connection to our land and our home," Touchie told CBC's On The Island host Gregor Craigie. B.C. Transit says this is the first time an Indigenous language has been included on its signs anywhere within its system, but it does plan to work with other communities to include local languages elsewhere. Government relations manager Seth Wright said B.C. Transit was inspired to include the Nuu-chah-nulth language on signs after seeing Parks Canada do the same. "We thought that including Nuu-chah-nulth on all bus stop signs was the right thing to do and supported our respective work towards reconciliation," Wright said. So, they reached out to the Yuułuʔiłʔatḥ Government and Tla-o-qui-aht First Nation for expertise, to try to figure out what words would be appropriate to use. The names on the signs were created with both Yuułuʔiłʔatḥ and Tla-o-qui-aht dialects in mind, Touchie said. "It's a working collaboration with our neighbouring nations." The Nuu-chah-nulth on local signs isn't new to the community; the District of Ucluelet started putting both Nuu-chah-nulth and English on its signs in 2022. "Ucluelet is very ahead of the times, I would say, because they're trying to incorporate language within the community, and we've been incorporating signs here within our small community of Ittatsoo," Touchie said. "It's been really great to see language kind of blossom and flourish." She said keeping the local language alive in the community helps both Indigenous and non-Indigenous people understand the history of the Nuu-chah-nulth people. "Each nation, they've all been there since time immemorial," Touchie said. "But there's, I think, a lack of understanding of what that means for particularly nations that have been there a long time. It's just a really great opportunity to raise those questions and to better understand the nations that surround the communities."
CBC
18-02-2025
- Health
- CBC
B.C. physicians' group calls on province to create space in hospitals for overdose prevention
An independent group of physicians on Vancouver Island is renewing calls for B.C.s Ministry of Health to make good on a promise to create space for overdose prevention at acute care facilities. An unsanctioned overdose prevention site has been set up near the Royal Jubilee Hospital in Victoria, where volunteers with experience in recognizing and responding to drug overdoses will be on hand. Among those at the site will be B.C.'s former chief coroner, Lisa Lapointe, who has long advocated for more harm reduction for people who use substances. "We are still losing five or six people every single day of every week of every month. Anything we can do to address the harms, to reduce the deaths, I am wholeheartedly in support of, and that includes this pop-up overdose prevention site," LaPointe told CBC's On The Island host Gregor Craigie. "If [our team] saves one life today, that would be absolutely fantastic." In November, the group tried to set up overdose prevention sites at hospitals in Victoria and Nanaimo but were met by security and forced to move their sites off the properties. Data from the B.C. Coroners Service shows 2,253 people were killed by unregulated drugs in 2024. Since a public health emergency was declared in 2016 in relation to increasing drug-related deaths, more than 16,000 British Columbians have been killed by toxic drugs. Dr. Ryan Herriot, founder of Doctors for Safer Drug Policy and a local family and addictions physician, said overdose prevention sites reduce drug debris such as needles and pipes and improve workplace safety for nurses. "These services are absolutely necessary," he said. LaPointe said people who use substances need to be hospitalized for reasons unrelated to their substance use, and it's important for them to have access to those substances so they don't leave the hospital and end treatment. That's where overdose prevention sites on hospital property come in, she said. "We've seen what happens to people who don't finish a course of treatment," she said. "Those are some of the people that we see ill on our streets. We want people to feel safe to remain in hospital. "It is safe. It will save lives." Province developing 'minimum service standards' According to a news release from the province in October, more than 50 overdose prevention sites are located throughout B.C. In the statement, the province said it would be "improving access to overdose prevention services that offer observed inhalation services in communities hardest hit by the drug-poisoning crisis." During a media scrum on Tuesday, Health Minister Josie Osborne said the province wants people who use drugs to be safe but also wants to consider the safety of those working in hospital settings. She said the province is developing "minimum service standards" for overdose prevention sites. "I think everybody wants to do the right thing here," Osborne said. B.C.'s auditor general released a report one year ago detailing the deficiencies in the province's overdose prevention programs. The audit found the ministries' guidance didn't include minimum service standards that ensured consistent quality and access to services. But Herriot says service standards are being met. "The Minister of Health, Josie Osborne, continues to insist in her public comments that the work has been held up due to the need for 'minimum service standards,' as if the work previously done by Island Health was not done to a high standard, a notion that we reject," he said. "A similar site has been operating highly effectively at a Vancouver hospital since 2018, and that when one is dealing with a public health emergency, there is an urgent need to act that transcends usual bureaucratic processes." CBC News has also reached out to Island Health for comment but has not received a response. Herriot said his group will continue to push for life-saving services.
CBC
31-01-2025
- General
- CBC
Sea otter off Vancouver Island prime suspect in river otter deaths. Researchers say that's not unusual
A sea otter off the coast of Vancouver Island is the prime suspect in a string of river otter deaths, according to a local wildlife enthusiast and researcher. Mollie Cameron, who is both a captain with a local whale watching outfit and the president of the Wild Wise Society, which educates the public about human-wildlife interactions, says that while she's never seen the otter — dubbed Ollie — kill any river otters, she has seen it carry their lifeless bodies around for "multiple days." "This behaviour is not necessarily uncommon, but it has been observed consistently by the whale-watching community over the years," Cameron told CBC News in an email. Cameron added that all the animals she's seen Ollie carrying have shown signs of sexual trauma. "He's the only sea otter in the immediate area, so the assumption is that he does this, kills the river otters, and then sort of has his way with them for multiple days to release that sexual tension," Cameron told CHEK News. Sea otters are native to B.C.'s coast, but they were eradicated as a result of the fur trade. Populations were reintroduced in the early 70s, and in 2020, a federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans report estimated that there were about 8,000 sea otters in B.C. waters. Though more otters have been observed off the north end of Vancouver Island, Cameron said, there are a handful — including Ollie — in the south. Vancouver Island University biologist and long-time sea otter researcher Jane Watson agreed that this type of behaviour Cameron is sharing is not entirely unusual. Male sea otters that are not sexually or socially mature "don't get access to females," she told CBC's On The Island host Gregor Craigie. "He's what is sometimes referred to as a satellite male. He's sitting there just hoping he's made a territory that's going to have females in it, and it doesn't," she said. That, in turn, frustrates the otter, she said, and it attacks and tries to copulate with other animals. Sea otters in Ollie's situation have been known to accost birds, river otters and seal pups, Watson said. Cameron said she's even aware of a sea otter attacking a dog in this way. The way sea otters mate can appear quite violent, Watson said. "The male actually grabs the female by the nose during copulation, during mating. So the females quite often end up with bloody noses and nasty-looking scars." However, she noted that females choose males, and cautions against comparing otter mating habits to humans. "It's just the mating system that sea otters have." To add to the situation, sea otters are big — males can be the size of a German shepherd, she said. "They're mating with animals that are much smaller than them, so it doesn't bode well for the smaller animal." Cameron reminds people that though sea otters appear cute, they are wild animals and can be aggressive.
