Oasis Discussions

News Bites from CDA Knowledge Networks – 2021/02/24

Coronavirus: What's happening in Canada and around the world on Wednesday. cbc.ca, Feb 24: Single dose of Johnson & Johnson vaccine is 66% effective, say U.S. regulators. 'Too early' to say when Johnson & Johnson shots will arrive, minister says. B.C. expanding vaccine workforce as province records 559 new COVID-19 cases. Nunavut community of Arviat declares state of emergency amid rising number of COVID-19 cases. ANALYSIS | What a 3rd wave of COVID-19 could look like in Canada — and how we can avoid it. Read more

Canada warned Trump administration of repercussions when shipments of masks and ventilators cut. nationalpost.com, Feb 24: Trump’s initial refusal to ship the masks was just one of many fires Canadians officials had to put out to keep PPE flowing into Canada in April and March. Read more

Mass vaccinations not only factor in Canada's reopening timeline: Tam. ctvnews.ca, Feb 23: Weighing in on U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s statements that England will move to lift all COVID-19 restrictions by June 21, Dr. Theresa Tam said Canada’s reopening timelines rely on a variety of factors. She said while vaccinations generally play a "key role," other indicators include "the actual epidemic curve in terms of where it’s moving, the rates of serious outcomes including ICU admissions, hospitalizations and deaths...and you also want the public health capacity for testing, tracing, contact tracing all to be in place." Read more

Lockdown sends calls to Community Food Helpline soaring. cbc.ca, Feb 24: With the shift back to pandemic lockdown, Newfoundland and Labrador's Community Food Helpline is experiencing a surge in call from people in need of emergency food aid but face barriers to getting it. ... Before the lockdown, a big day for the line was 10 calls, said Bennett, but in recent weeks there have been days when the line has received 100 calls from a range of people needing help. Read more

Low turnout for vaccine in northern Alberta hamlet blamed on social media disinformation. cbc.ca, Feb 23: While Fort Chipewyan, Alta., has seen half of its population vaccinated for COVID-19 with the first dose, the remainder is growing reluctant as misinformation spreads on social media, community leaders say. ... Community leaders have been hosting Facebook lives and townhalls with medical professionals for two weeks, trying to convince the remainder to get vaccinated, Powder said. Read more

Tale of two vaccine roll-outs: COVID-19 numbers plummet in Toronto’s long-term-care homes, while Ontario’s remain ‘stubbornly high.’ thestar.com, Feb 23: After being at the centre of COVID-19 deaths and mass outbreaks, the city’s long-term-care homes have new, hopeful data that could be a sign of encouraging things to come. Read more

Loss of taste and smell due to COVID-19 could last up to five months, new study suggests. ctvnews.ca, Feb 22: A preliminary study involving 813 Quebec health-care workers who tested positive for COVID-19 has shown that people with the coronavirus could lose their sense of smell and taste for up to five months. Read more

Manitoba brings in aggressive new rules to curb COVID-19 cases and contacts. cbc.ca, Feb 22: All close contacts of cases must self-isolate for at least 14 days, Dr. Brent Roussin says. In Manitoba, a close contact is now a person who is within a metre of a confirmed COVID-19 case for 10 minutes or more. All close contacts need to self-isolate for a minimum of 14 days, regardless of their COVID-19 test results. Read more

Canada missed chance to help homegrown vaccines move quickly last spring: developers. ctvnews.ca, Feb 22: Two vaccine developers in Canada say a lack of federal funding early in the pandemic kept homegrown COVID-19 vaccines from moving as quickly as international versions. Read more

Should all seniors get the COVID-19 vaccine before essential workers? globalnews.ca, Feb 23: With access to COVID-19 vaccines slowly expanding across Canada, some experts are emphasizing that age should be the main priority, even over some essential workers. Read more

Province's 34 public health units must design, carry out their own COVID-19 vaccination plan, Ford says. cp24.com, Feb 22: The provincial government has already provided guidance on which priority groups to inoculate in each phase of the vaccination program but details on how and when to vaccinate those groups will be left up to the individual public health units. Read more

Canada to receive record 640K vaccine doses this week with Pfizer, Moderna deliveries. nationalnewswatch.com, Feb 22: Canada is poised to receive a record number of COVID-19 vaccine doses this week thanks to scheduled deliveries from Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna, as the country looks to speed up its vaccination efforts. Read more

Data shows first COVID-19 vaccine dose prevents 80 percent of cases: BCCDC. citynews1130.com, Feb 21: According to the BC Centre for Disease Control the first dose of the COVID vaccine is proven to be 80 percent successful. Doctor Danuta Skowronski is the lead on the latest research, and says the vaccine immediately tackles the influenza and respiratory symptoms of COVID-19. Read more

The pros and cons of online booking portals for COVID-19 vaccines once mass immunization begins. cbc.ca, Feb 21: Experts say there's a risk that vaccine booking systems might shut out some vulnerable people who need access. Read more

COVID-19 activity declining, but variants at 'critical juncture,' Tam says. ctvnews.ca, Feb 21: Canada's chief public health officer said Sunday that the collective efforts to fight COVID-19 are paying off, even as the country sits at a 'critical juncture' in the fight against fast-spreading variants. Dr. Theresa Tam said on Twitter that COVID‑19 disease activity continues to decline and vaccination is heading in the right direction. Read more

Medical schools across North America seeing unprecedented number of applications amid COVID-19 pandemic. edmontonjournal.com, Feb 22: While it’s not a stretch to imagine the pandemic scaring away those pondering a career in the health sectors, there are signs it is having the opposite effect. After a year of living with COVID‑19, Postmedia is taking an in-depth look at the significant social, institutional and economic issues the pandemic has brought to light in Canada — and more importantly, how we can finally begin to solve them. Read more

‘People are crying on the phone’: Indigenous communities grapple with PPE shortages. globalnews.ca, Feb 21: A grass-roots organization based out of Ottawa has shipped more than 1.5 million pieces of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) to Indigenous communities in provinces across Canada, highlighting the need for additional supports in remote parts of the country. Read more

IKEA Israel to offer COVID-19 vaccines at stores. Should Canada follow suit? globalnews.ca, Feb 21: As the rollout of COVID-19 vaccines continues across the world, some countries have turned to repurposing large, open locations into more easily accessible vaccination sites. Read more

Johnson & Johnson's one-shot COVID-19 vaccine effective and safe - FDA staff. financialpost.com, Feb 24: Johnson & Johnson’s one-shot COVID-19 vaccine appeared safe and effective in trials, U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) staff said in documents published on Wednesday, paving the way for its approval for emergency use. Read more

COVID-19 antibodies may protect against reinfection later, study suggests. ctvnews.ca Feb 24: There's new evidence that connects testing positive for COVID-19 antibodies from a prior infection with a significantly lower risk of becoming infected again in the future. A study, published in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine on Wednesday, found that people who tested positive for COVID-19 antibodies were at a decreased risk of coronavirus infection compared with those who tested negative for antibodies. Read more

Transplant recipient dies after getting lungs infected with COVID-19. thehill.com, Feb 23: A Michigan transplant patient died after receiving a pair of lungs from someone who was infected with COVID-19. Read more

Pfizer and Moderna expect to double vaccine shipments by spring. axios.com, Feb 23: Moderna and Pfizer plan to significantly boost vaccine shipments to the U.S. government by this spring, according to written testimony from company executives released Tuesday ahead of a House committee hearing on vaccines. Read more

Live updates: Coronavirus deaths fell by 20% last week, WHO says. washingtonpost.com, Feb 24: Global deaths from the coronavirus fell by 20 percent last week compared with the week before, the World Health Organization said — part of a wider trend that also includes a decline in cases worldwide. The downturn in cases and deaths follows a winter surge in infections but also has coincided with an increase in vaccinations, particularly in the United States and Europe. Read more

Pharmacists say 'pooling' Covid vaccines could save thousands of doses. nbcnews.com, Feb 22: The FDA says leftover Covid-19 vaccine cannot be combined because neither Moderna's nor Pfizer's products contain preservatives to prevent contamination. Read more

Lengthy clinical trials to test vaccines modified for variants won't be necessary, FDA says. livescience.com, Feb 22: The testing process for modified vaccines will likely be similar to that of the annual flu shot, FDA says. Read more

Facebook political ad ban blocks pro-vaccine messages. politico.com, Feb 21: That’s led some public health experts to question if Facebook can be a viable forum for information on the pandemic. Facebook’s efforts to police online ads for vaccine misinformation are unintentionally blocking messages from cities, health care providers and community and faith-based groups promoting Covid shots. Read more

Overnight Health Care. thehill.com, Feb 23: US surpasses half a million COVID deaths | House panel advances Biden's $1.9T COVID-19 aid bill | Johnson & Johnson ready to provide doses for 20M Americans by end of March. Read more

Coronavirus live news. theguardian.com, Feb 23: Greek health workers strike over ‘suffocating’ conditions at hospitals. Fauci says political divide added to US deaths and death toll ‘should not have happened.’ Italy ‘misled WHO on pandemic readiness’ weeks before Covid outbreak. US coronavirus death toll passes 500,000 after devastating winter surge. Thousands of US healthcare workers have died fighting Covid-19. Read more

Boris Johnson unveils roadmap to fully reopen England's economy by June 21. axios.com, Feb 22: U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson unveiled a four-step roadmap on Monday to "remove all legal limits on social contacts" in England by no earlier than June 21, assuming certain tests are met. The U.K. has the worst coronavirus death toll in Europe and saw its economy contract by 9.9% in 2020 — the biggest drop in output in more than 300 years. Read more

New optimism that COVID-19 is finally dwindling as L.A. gains some herd immunity. latimes.com, Feb 20: As coronavirus cases plummet nationwide and vaccinations total 1.7 million Americans a day and rising, health experts are increasingly striking a new tone in their pandemic assessments: optimism. ... Many epidemiologists and other scientists, while still cautious, say they feel increasingly hopeful that the rest of 2021 will not replay the nightmare of last year. Read more

Live updates: New case numbers drop to levels not seen since the fall as U.S. death toll nears 500,000. washingtonpost.com, Feb 22: Social media misinformation is driving vaccine safety doubts among women of childbearing age. Health officials worry their hesitation may affect efforts to reach immunization targets. President Biden and Vice President Harris will observe a moment of silence on Monday evening to honor the victims of the pandemic. Read more

Anxious and frightened: Without vaccines, health-care workers in Africa dying of COVID-19. ctvnews.ca, Feb 19: COVID-19 is sweeping through Mozambique, with hospitals reaching capacity as the population grapples with a surge in cases. The city of Chimoio announced plans to expand its morgue to accommodate the rising number of COVID-19 deaths. Read more

Canada’s other epidemic: As overdose deaths escalate, majority favour decriminalization of drugs. angusreid.com, Feb 23: Public opinion reflects empirical data: half say opioid crisis worsening in their own communities. Read more

‘I’m just like your neighbour’: Jay Unsworth launches bid for Ward 13 seat. livewirecalgary.com, Feb 22: ...Unsworth is in 100 per cent agreement with adding fluoride back into Calgary’s water. He said if you look at the actual science and then talk with Calgary dentists, you quickly see what’s needed. “Who’s this impacting? It’s going to impact the people that maybe can’t afford to go to the dentist,” he said. Read more

The importance of a national pharmacare program. winnipegfreepress.com, Feb 22: Living in a pandemic for the last year has highlighted our health system and the incredible work our health-care providers and administrators do every day in our hospitals, long-term care homes, clinics and more. For myself, it has further highlighted what our province could be doing to better support those in our health-care fields as well as Manitobans who struggle to afford prescribed medications. This is why it is critical that as a province we start pushing for a national pharmacare program. Read more

Trudeau and Big Pharma: Not a love story. macleans.ca, Feb 22: Paul Wells: Why doesn't Canada have a robust pharmaceutical industry? Until the COVID crisis hit, Ottawa spent years putting up 'don't bother' signs. Read more

Canada is facing a nursing shortage. Here's why it's hard to fill the gap. cbc.ca [The Current], Feb 22: Some provinces hiring more nurses, but workers are also leaving the profession. Read more

A sin tax on sugary drinks unfairly targets Indigenous communities instead of improving health. theconversation.com, Feb 22 {OPINION]: ... Imposing a sugary beverage tax on Indigenous consumers would be unethical, contravene tax law and undermine Indigenous rights to self-determination. Even the production of sugar in Canada has exploited Indigenous people, who were used essentially as forced labour. Read more

Decade's worth of Ontario health data finds more severe disease, younger patients. ctvnews.ca, Feb 22: A new study based on a decade's worth of Ontario health data found more people are facing severe disease, and at a younger age. Lead author Mitch Steffler, a data scientist with the Ontario Medical Association, said the pre-pandemic findings point to future risks for adolescent patients and greater demand for health-care resources. Read more

Ontario doctors set to turn over a new leaf with program that lets them prescribe ‘nature’ to ailing patients. The Toronto Star, Feb 22: A walk in the park. A stroll on the beach. A breath of fresh air. These could soon be some of the treatments the doctor orders to cure what ails you. Starting today, Ontario health-care providers can offer prescriptions for nature. Read more

How Federal Policymakers Can Advance Racial Equity in Oral Health. communitycatalyst.com, Feb 23: The Biden-Harris administration has made clear that racial justice is a top priority, signaling renewed efforts to address disparities in housing, incarceration rates and access to health care. February, being both Black History Month and Children’s Dental Health Month, presents an opportunity to ensure that oral health is not forgotten among the many glaring inequities facing Black, indigenous and other communities of color in our country. Read more

Fluoride to be added to City of Wilmington water this week. wnewsj.com, Feb 23: The City of Wilmington will begin adding fluoride to its drinking water on Thursday, Feb. 25. It will take about three days for fluoridated water to reach all customers. Fluoride has been added to drinking water across the country for decades as an aid in preventing tooth decay. Only about 20 communities in Ohio don’t fluoridate drinking water, the city stated in a news release Tuesday. ... Discussion about adding fluoride to Wilmington’s water began in 2015. Read more

Diets high in fructose could damage the immune system, U.K. study finds. ctvnews.ca, Feb 24: A new study out of the United Kingdom suggests that consuming a diet high in the sugar fructose may prevent proper functioning of the immune system. According to the study conducted by researchers out of Swansea University, the University of Bristol, and the Francis Crick institute in London, the impact of diets high in fructose has been "largely unknown" until now. Read more

Teens are finding it harder to quit vaping, a state health department survey shows. twincities.com, Feb 23: Tobacco smoking is down but vaping is still a problem among Minnesota teens, according to a statewide survey — and more are finding it harder to quit. The 2020 Minnesota Youth Tobacco Survey, which polls 100 public schools at random, found that one in five high school students is using e-cigarettes. Read more

FDA issues safety notice for pulse oximeter: 'May be less accurate in people with dark skin pigmentation'. thehill.com, Feb 23: “The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is informing patients and health care providers that although pulse oximetry is useful for estimating blood oxygen levels, pulse oximeters have limitations and a risk of inaccuracy under certain circumstances that should be considered,” the FDA said in its notice. Read more

One in five adults suffers from dental anxiety or phobia in Sweden. News-medical.net, Feb 22: In Sweden, approximately one in five adults suffers from dental anxiety or phobia. The number has decreased over time, but still an important part of the population have major problems, according to a recent doctoral thesis from the University of Gothenburg. Read more

SmileDirectClub Expands Oral Care Line with Launch of New Pro Whitening System, the Latest Innovation in Teeth Whitening. globenewswire.com, Feb 23: Latest Advancement in Oral Care Available at more than 3,600 Walmart Stores Across U.S. Read more

More chairs, new presence expand dental care access. penntoday.upenn.edu, Feb 22: A growing presence in community care centers has given Penn Dental Medicine more opportunities to serve Philadelphians and to train its students. Read more

Barron: Denturists trying new tack to legality. trib.com, Feb 21: Supporters of denturists are hoping they can legitimize their practice through House Bill 100 this session. Previous attempts to authorize denturists to operate independently have failed in the Wyoming courts and the Legislature. This time the sponsors are trying a new approach. Their bill would license a qualified denturist to work but only under the oversight of a licensed dentist. Read more

After a dentist left patients stranded with glued implants, Maryland senator wants reform oversight. State panel says not so fast. capitalgazette.com, Feb 22: The bill would require the Maryland State Board of Dental Examiners to move faster to address complaints and make its process open to greater public scrutiny. Read more

Floe Oral Care: the dental subscription service targeting millennials’ tooth decay. inews.co.uk, Feb 21: The problem with millennials specifically is that they seem to care much more about the way their teeth look than how healthy they are.’ This week’s 30 Second Interview is with Will Welton, co-founder of postal tooth care firm Floe Oral Care. Read more

Dental experts slam Port Macquarie-Hastings Council's decision on fluoride community poll as "baseless". portnews.com, au, Feb 22: The Australian Dental Association of NSW (ADA NSW) has called on Port Macquarie-Hastings Council to scrap a community poll on water fluoridation saying it is "baseless" and goes against expert health advice. ... ADA NSW says council is continuing to put the oral health of thousands of local residents at risk by proceeding with possible plans to remove fluoride from local water supplies. Read more

Dental scheme for medical card patients in ‘complete chaos’. irishtimes.com, Feb 21: The Irish Dental Association said “unprecedented numbers of dentists” were withdrawing from the State’s dental treatment service scheme, with serious repercussions for patients. Read more

Dental treatment for medical card holders in Ireland ‘in complete chaos.’ belfasttelegraph.co.uk, Feb 21: Between 2017 and 2020, State spending on dental care for medical card patients nationwide decreased by 30%, from 5.5 million euros to 3.8 million euro. Read more

Dalhousie University – Current course offerings

McGill University – Continuing dental education

Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry University – Continuing professional development

Université Laval – Formation continue

University of Manitoba – Continuing professional development

Université de Montréal – Formation dentaire continue

University of Alberta – Program and courses

University of British Columbia – Calendar of courses

University of Saskatchewan – Continuing professional dental education

University of Toronto – Continuing dental education

 

2021

March 4-6: Pacific Dental Conference – 2021 Virtual Experience. Read more and register

March 13-16: “WE” 2021 ADEA Annual Session & Exhibition (Virtual). Read more

May 6-8: 2021 Ontario Dental Association Annual Spring Meeting (ASM21)  Read more

April 12-17: The New World of Dentistry 2021. Manitoba Dental Association co-hosts the new national 2021 Virtual Dental Convention with the Canadian Dental Association. Read more

 

Please let us know about upcoming continuing education meetings that could be of interest to Canadian dentists by emailing us at oasisdiscussions@cda-adc.ca

We invite you to send us leads to news stories worth sharing oasisdiscussions@cda-adc.ca.

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *