Ottawa, Oct 6 (IANS) Canada has confirmed 1,406 cases of monkeypox, including 38 hospitalisations, the Public Health Agency of Canada said.
Of the confirmed cases, 674 are from Ontario, 521 from Quebec, 162 from British Columbia, 41 from Alberta, three from Saskatchewan, two from the Yukon and one each from Nova Scotia, Manitoba and New Brunswick, the health agency added on Wednesday.
The National Advisory Committee on Immunisation (NACI) recommended in an updated guidance document that those at highest risk should receive the two doses "when vaccine supply is adequate".
The rollout of second doses in Canada is starting this week. The second dose, only for people who do not have symptoms, can be administered 28 days after the first, Xinhua news agency reported.
Monkeypox is a viral disease that can spread from person to person through close contact with an infected person, including through hugs, kisses, massages or sexual intercourse, according to experts.
Canada's chief public health officer Theresa Tam says circulating Omicron subvariants BA.4 and BA.5 are even more transmissible and able to evade immunity than previous versions, making a rise in cases likely in coming weeks.
The policy, more than five years in the making, will clearly label products with the so-called "nutrients of public health concern" that have been linked to conditions such as cardiovascular disease and Type 2 diabetes.
Chief public health officer Theresa Tam says there are "continuing discussions and contract negotiations" to obtain doses from Bavarian Nordic, the Danish manufacturer of a smallpox vaccine approved for use against monkeypox.
Mike Farnworth says that would give displaced residents returning home a sense of their future after 90 per cent of their village burned to the ground last June 30 during a record-setting heat wave.
An impact analysis of the Clean Fuel Regulations published Wednesday estimates they will cut about 18 million tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions in 2030, or five to six per cent of what Canada needs to eliminate to meet its current targets for that year.
In a release Wednesday, the Public Health Agency of Canada also said it will continue the pause of mandatory random testing for fully vaccinated travellers at all airports until mid-July.
