Senior Health & Medical Reporter at @CBCNews | “As journalists, we need both a soul and a spine.” —Marty Baron | ✉ lauren.pelley@cbc.ca
Aug 22, 2022 • 4 tweets • 2 min read
NEW: A regulatory decision on Moderna's submission for its BA.1-based bivalent vaccine is expected "within the next two weeks," @GovCanHealth tells me. Health Canada has also reached out to both Pfizer, Moderna to file submissions for BA.4/BA.5-based shots "as soon as possible."
Those updates follow Moderna announcing it would be supplying 12 million doses of its BA.1-based bivalent booster to Canada, while Pfizer just applied for U.S. emergency use authorization of its BA.4/BA.5-based bivalent shot.
Apr 28, 2022 • 11 tweets • 2 min read
NEW: @WHO holding live Q&A on severe acute child hepatitis cases with Dr. Philippa Easterbrook from the global HIV, Hepatitis and STI program and Dr. Richard Pebody, lead for the WHO/Europe High-threat Pathogens team. Experts calling cases "unusual," "unexpected."
Easterbrook: What is particularly unusual is the majority of children were previously healthy, proportion of cases with liver failure/transplanation, none of usual causes explained the cases.
Jan 7, 2022 • 5 tweets • 2 min read
When I had Covid in December, the questions I got were often along the lines of, "You were so careful, you're a health reporter, how could this happen to *you* of all people?"
I get wanting to know, but there's a tinge of that moralizing at play. A few quick thoughts on this. 🧵
Unfortunately, Covid can hit anyone. More so now than ever (thanks, Omi). Many folks often can't avoid it; they have essential jobs, they take transit, they're in hospitals for work or treatment. Others take calculated risks to maintain their sanity during a years-long pandemic.
Dec 17, 2021 • 15 tweets • 5 min read
Some personal news: After almost two years of avoiding this whole #COVID19 thing, I finally got it. Almost certainly omicron. I'm double-vaccinated, yet I've had symptoms for nearly a week. 🧵
My partner @adamsmiller, who many of you also know from his work covering the pandemic for @CBCHealth, ordered us rapid tests for the holidays. We tried them out one day recently. Both negative.
Dec 15, 2021 • 5 tweets • 2 min read
New lab study, not yet peer-reviewed, found omicron multiplies 70x faster than delta in the tubes carrying air into your lungs — yet replicates 10x less in human lung tissue. Possibly hints at ⬆️ transmissibility & ⬇️ severity.
Source: med.hku.hk/en/news/press/…
But hope of lower disease severity aside, omicron is still not welcome news. Here’s how the researcher puts it: “a very infectious virus may cause more severe disease and death even though the virus itself may be less pathogenic.”
Jul 28, 2021 • 7 tweets • 4 min read
We've seen how the delta variant tore through other countries. What about Canada? Where are we at? Quick #COVID19 thread. 🧵
Delta is now the bulk of Canada's cases, according to genetic sequencing data. Federal public health officials report those figures, and the rise is striking: Delta shot up from under 10% of samples in early May to 70% by early July.
(Also, farewell B117, we hardly knew ye.)
Mar 29, 2021 • 9 tweets • 6 min read
BREAKING: @COVIDSciOntario briefing note set to show #COVID19 hospitalizations now 21% higher than at start of last province-wide lockdown, while ICU occupancy is 28% higher — and we've reached same new daily cases observed near height of 2nd wave. cbc.ca/news/canada/to…
I've obtained a full copy of the briefing note I first reported on last week (previous story below) and the analysis goes well beyond the staggering health impacts from variants to paint a picture of a province facing a health system crisis, yet again. cbc.ca/news/canada/to…
Jul 11, 2020 • 4 tweets • 2 min read
NEW: Early in the pandemic, there was big concern that the stuff we touch could help transmit #COVID19. Now, many experts say those fears may be overblown.
@adamsmiller and I on what that means for how we handle surfaces, from packages to playgrounds: cbc.ca/news/health/co…
Why does this shift regarding surface transmission matter? For one thing, it should help focus your approach.
Sure, there’s no harm in sanitizing groceries, but it’s likely fine to skip. The bigger risk is the time you’re spending in a grocery store. Mask up, make it quick.
Mar 23, 2020 • 10 tweets • 4 min read
BREAKING: Amid #COVID19 outbreak, Mayor John Tory expected to declare an emergency in Toronto at 3 p.m. based on advice from city's emergency leadership team, multiple sources have confirmed to CBC.
This would allow decisions to happen *without* going to a council vote.
Mayor Tory's update at 3 p.m., which we now expect will announce the declaration of an emergency in Toronto, will be made via video conference as he remains in self-isolation following recent travel abroad.
We're just wrapping up a teleconference with provincial officials on the Ford government's housing supply plan. Both @CBCQueensPark and I were on the call. Lots to report on, and of interest to Toronto, but it's embargoed until the official announcement at 10:30 a.m. Stay tuned.
The province’s announcement about its housing supply plan starts at 10:30, and will be livestreamed here: m.youtube.com/c/Governmentof…
That’s also when the embargo lifts — so I’ll be able to share details from this morning’s technical briefing.
Apr 24, 2019 • 44 tweets • 22 min read
At 10am, @joe_cressy and @epdevilla are holding a press conference to talk about the province's cuts to @TOPublicHealth. Background: cbc.ca/news/canada/to…
Tension is heating up between the city and the province, with @celliottability releasing a statement accusing Cressy of "misleading" accusations, saying the public health changes were first communicated to the city as early as Monday, April 15.
