{"id":21244909,"date":"2023-01-19T12:33:00","date_gmt":"2023-01-19T17:33:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/immunitycanada.org\/?p=21244909"},"modified":"2023-01-20T21:35:10","modified_gmt":"2023-01-21T02:35:10","slug":"covid-19-update-jan-2023","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/immunitycanada.org\/2023\/01\/19\/covid-19-update-jan-2023\/","title":{"rendered":"ImmUnity Canada COVID-19 Update &#8211; January 19, 2023"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>ImmUnity Canada has received many inquiries about COVID-19, most of which relate to patient medical care, provincial guidelines, or vaccine access. For specific medical inquiries, please contact your healthcare provider or treating specialist.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>COVID-19 Events:<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>UPCOMING<\/strong>: <a href=\"\/event\/immunity-canada-national-conference\/\">National Conference<\/a> &#8211; Ottawa, April 14-16 (virtual option available)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201c<em>COVID-19: the Patient Experience, part 2<\/em>\u201d and \u201c<em>Long COVID<\/em>\u201d <a href=\"\/event\/immunity-canada-national-conference\/\">learn more and register today<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you attended our Virtual Conference in September 2022, you will have access to two special COVID-19 sessions: \u201cThe Patient Experience\u201d and \u201cResearch in Canada; what have we learned.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Immunity Canada has hosted several webinars about PI &amp; COVID-19, our \u201cAsk the Experts\u201d sessions and \u201cCOVID Vaccines and PI\u201d. You can watch them all on our <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UC_P__damoKDMMFkHqzMGu3A\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">YouTube channel<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>COVID-19 Vaccine:<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>There are many companies that are producing vaccines for COVID-19. At the moment, there are four different vaccines available in Canada. To learn more about the different vaccines, please watch our <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=HFR7B1j60Pw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">COVID-19 Vaccine Webinar<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Treatments:<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>There are a few treatment options available in Canada for primary immunodeficiency patients.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Tixagevimab and Cilgavimab (Evusheld)<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><em>What is it?<\/em> Two neutralizing monoclonal antibodies that attach to distinct sites on the spike protein receptor binding domain of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, preventing viral entry into cells. They are administered as two intramuscular injections that together may help prevent COVID-19 infection and illness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>When is it used?<\/em> Depending on the province, Evusheld is being prescribed for PI patients for either prophylaxis or treatment of acute mild to moderate COVID in patients who do not have a history of cardiac events\/disease.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Ritonavir and Nirmatrelvir (Paxlovid)<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><em>What is it? <\/em>Two antivirals co packaged together that stops the virus from multiplying. This can help your body to overcome the virus infection and may help you get better faster.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>When is it used? <\/em>is used in adults to treat mild to moderate coronavirus disease who are at risk for severe disease. Paxlovid needs to be taken within the first 5 days of onset of symptoms in order to be effective.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>COVID-19 in Canada:<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Cases of COVID-19 in provinces and across Canada vary by province, with some provinces beginning re-opening phases and other provinces re-opening in certain areas only. Please continue to check your regional public health for area-specific information.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>With current variants having the highest infectious rate and building resistance to Evusheld, ImmUnity Canada\u2019s medical advisors are currently recommending:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li>Mask-wearing when possible<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Encourage social distancing and raise awareness of PI &#8211; explain to others why you are self-isolating<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Encourage your family, friends and networks to donate blood and plasma if they can<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Help minimize workload at the hospital by arriving for your appointments on time<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Wash your hands and avoid touching your face<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Testing:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>If you feel ill or think you may have the virus:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li>Do NOT go to the hospital or walk-in clinic (unless instructed to by your doctor OR you cannot manage your symptoms at home)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Self-isolate and call your doctor&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Use inhalers (if prescribed) and medications to manage symptoms<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Plasma Supply:<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Currently, there are no plasma or plasma product shortages in Canada. However, some plasma collection companies have notified CIPO of a drop in plasma collections due to COVID-19. We do not know at this point if this will have an impact on plasma products in 10-18 months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Antibodies:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Recent data shows that SARS-COV2 antibodies are now appearing in plasma protein products, like immunoglobulin replacement therapy (IG). People using IG products can expect some passive immunity through the use of their products.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To learn more about antibodies and PI patients, listen to our \u201cAsk the Experts 2\u201d podcast (insert link)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Updates:<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>ImmUnity Canada will continue to update on this virus as necessary.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For more information, please see the following:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>COVID-19 map &#8211; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.arcgis.com\/apps\/opsdashboard\/index.html#\/bda7594740fd40299423467b48e9ecf6\">https:\/\/www.arcgis.com\/apps\/opsdashboard\/index.html#\/bda7594740fd40299423467b48e9ecf6<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Canadian Blood Services&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>WHO <a href=\"https:\/\/www.who.int\/emergencies\/diseases\/novel-coronavirus-2019\">https:\/\/www.who.int\/emergencies\/diseases\/novel-coronavirus-2019<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Public Health Agency of Canada <a href=\"https:\/\/www.canada.ca\/en\/public-health\/services\/diseases\/2019-novel-coronavirus-infection.html\">https:\/\/www.canada.ca\/en\/public-health\/services\/diseases\/2019-novel-coronavirus-infection.html<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Government of Canada: <a href=\"http:\/\/www.canada.ca\/coronavirus\">www.canada.ca\/coronavirus<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>ImmUnity Canada has received many inquiries about COVID-19, most of which relate to patient medical care, provincial guidelines, or vaccine access. For specific medical inquiries, please contact your healthcare provider [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"dipi_cpt_category":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/immunitycanada.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21244909"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/immunitycanada.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/immunitycanada.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/immunitycanada.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/immunitycanada.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21244909"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/immunitycanada.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21244909\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21244910,"href":"https:\/\/immunitycanada.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21244909\/revisions\/21244910"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/immunitycanada.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21244909"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/immunitycanada.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21244909"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/immunitycanada.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21244909"},{"taxonomy":"dipi_cpt_category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/immunitycanada.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/dipi_cpt_category?post=21244909"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}