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Aaron Derfel Profile picture
@Aaron_Derfel
Feb 4, 2022 • 8 tweets • 5 min read • Read on X
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1) Nearly two weeks after posting the highest rate of #COVID deaths per million population among industrialized nations, Quebec has ceded the top spot back to the United States, as U.S. booster vaccination has stagnated. But this is beginning to happen in Quebec, too. Image
2) Quebec’s booster vaccination program was problematic from the start, as authorities were slow to give a 3rd dose to elderly Quebecers living in their homes. The chart below shows that this tardy decision is likely responsible for the second highest death wave in the #pandemic. Image
3) But as flawed as Quebec’s booster campaign has been, the situation in the United States has proved even worse. At the same time, more and more U.S. states have been lifting #pandemic restrictions, resulting in #COVID deaths creeping up. Please take a look at the chart below. Image
4) For the past two days, Quebec’s booster vaccination rate has stalled at 46%, amid reports of near-empty vaccination halls in the evenings. Please see the chart below. This is a worrisome development given the likely proliferation of the BA.2 “stealth” strain here in Quebec. Image
5) On Wednesday, Quebec’s public health institute released projections warning that #COVID hospitalizations could either tick up in an optimistic scenario or spike in February under the pessimistic forecast. montrealgazette.com/news/local-new…
6) And on Thursday night, the truckers’ convoy in Ottawa metastasized with big rigs pulling into Quebec City. One of the trucks was plastered with a sticker that had choice words not only for PM Justin Trudeau but Premier François Legault. Will the Premier cede to their demands? Image
7) Meanwhile, the number of Quebec students absent due to #COVID19 has jumped from 50,000 to 65,000. More than 43,000 of those students attend elementary schools, with just 63% of them having received their first vaccine dose. Image
8) Thus, all these factors combined — a stealth #COVID strain on the loose, stalled boosters, rising infections among students amid easing restrictions and political pressure by truckers on a Premier in an election year — do not augur well. End of thread. Please go get your shot.

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More from @Aaron_Derfel

Aaron Derfel Profile picture
Nov 30
1) Author @GadSaad, who has taken an unpaid leave from Concordia University, has just written this commentary in the New York Post, headlined: "How Montreal became the antisemitism capital of North America." Here are my thoughts on this topic.

nypost.com/2024/11/30/opi…
2) Obviously, it's debatable as to whether Montreal is indeed the antisemitism capital of the continent. As many Jews are painfully aware, antisemitism sadly exists everywhere. But recent events in Montreal have caused many Jews here to feel unsafe.
montrealgazette.com/news/local-new…
3) A friend just sent this text: "Recently, several of my Jewish friends - lifelong Montrealers - have made the difficult decision to leave the city. They’re not leaving for better opportunities or a change of scenery, but because they and their children no longer feel safe...+"
Read 6 tweets
Aaron Derfel Profile picture
Aug 16
1) BREAKING: The lengthy #COVID19 summer wave is continuing unabated in Quebec, along with other parts of North America and even around the world. Here in Quebec, it has been associated directly and indirectly with 1,100 hospitalizations for the past 12 days in a row. Image
2) As you can glimpse from the chart below, the #COVID testing positivity rate in Quebec was 20.9 per cent as of Aug. 11, the most recent date available. The trend line suggests the positivity rate has yet to peak. Image
3) Although nowhere near as fatal as it was back in 2020 (when vaccination was unavailable), #COVID this year has nonetheless been linked to 675 deaths, 38.7 per cent of which have occurred in octogenarians. But 30 Quebecers in their 50s have also died from #COVID in 2023-2024. Image
Read 8 tweets
Aaron Derfel Profile picture
Mar 13
1) On Tuesday, the Quebec government unveiled its 2024-2025 budget, with the biggest expenditure to be made on health and social services. In this Twitter thread, I assess whether this "Health/Education Priorities" budget lives up to its hype, especially when it comes to seniors.
2) As you can see from the chart below, the lion's share of spending in the budget is for health and social services, pegged at $61.9 billion — up by 4.17% from the year before. In contrast, spending on education — so vital to Quebec's future — will rise 9.35% to $22.3 billion. Image
3) But as far as health and social services is concerned, Tuesday's budget may be indulging in a bit of spin. The chart below states that Quebec will spend an extra $3.7 billion over the next five years to "support a humane and effective organization of health care." Image
Read 9 tweets
Aaron Derfel Profile picture
Jan 5
1) "The pandemic is far from over," one of the preeminent experts on #COVID19, Dr. Eric Topol, declared today, Jan. 4, 2024 — three years after the world first learned of a novel virus that was killing people in China. In this thread, I take stock of what's going on in Quebec.
2) "The pandemic is far from over, as evidenced by the rapid rise to global dominance of the JN.1 variant of SARS-CoV-2," Topol noted in a Los Angeles Times op-ed. In Quebec, nearly one in two genetic samples collected was from JN.1 as of two weeks ago. It's likely higher now. Image
3) "Clearly this virus variant, with its plethora of new mutations, has continued its evolution ... for infecting or reinfecting us," Topol added. Although the updated booster is considered 60% protective against hospitalization, only 17% of the Quebec population has taken it.
Read 10 tweets
Aaron Derfel Profile picture
Dec 17, 2023
1) BREAKING: By every major indicator, Quebec's health-care system is now arguably the worst it's ever been. Please click on my story below on Quebec wait lists for cancer and other surgery setting record highs — again. via @mtlgazettemontrealgazette.com/news/local-new…
2) Although Quebec has made it a priority to tackle wait lists for cancer surgery, more than 4,400 oncology patients are still waiting for their operations. More than 600 are waiting longer than the medically acceptable delay of 57 days, potentially putting their health at risk. Image
3) Even the wait list for so-called non-urgent surgery has now swelled to nearly 164,000 people. Almost 14,000 Quebecers today have been waiting more than a year for their surgery. At a year's wait, a non-urgent surgery starts to become urgent. Image
Read 14 tweets
Aaron Derfel Profile picture
Dec 6, 2023
1) BREAKING: Quebec, like other jurisdictions across North America, is now in the midst of a new #COVID19 resurgence — nearly 4 years into the #pandemic. In this thread, I will assess the implications of this latest wave of infections, likely driven by a new SARS-CoV-2 variant. Image
2) On Dec. 5, Quebec declared a total of 2,214 hospitalizations with and for #COVID. Please note this increase also reflects a change in the way Quebec's public health institute has been compiling such hospitalizations. But make no mistake: Quebec is still facing a resurgence. Image
3) The United States is also facing a #COVID hospitalizations resurgence, with 20,000 new admissions per week, according to preeminent expert @EricTopol. In the U.S., the JN.1 variant is becoming dominant, with wastewater levels surging with SARS-CoV-2. See Topol's tweet below. Image
Read 10 tweets

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