Vaccination against COVID-19 among pregnant individuals sharply lowers the risk of hospitalization, admission to intensive care and premature births, the largest Canadian study of its kind shows.

The report analyzed outcomes from nearly 20,000 COVID-impacted pregnancies between April, 2021, and December, 2022, capturing both the Delta and Omicron waves of the virus. Data was included from eight provinces and one territory. The study was led by University of British Columbia researchers and released on Monday in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

The Alberta government rejected expert advice to expand public reporting of measles to include probable cases, despite the measure being supported by local and provincial public health officials, documents obtained by The Globe and Mail show.

Since the outbreak began in Alberta last spring, only confirmed cases of measles have been publicly reported. New data provided through a Freedom of Information request show at least 450 probable cases of measles have also been identified in the province, bringing the total to nearly 2,500.

An Ottawa hospital has seen an eightfold increase in the number of children testing positive for influenza, as doctors and health care workers across the country brace for what is expected to be one of the worst flu seasons in years.

Ottawa’s Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario on Wednesday said 145 patients tested positive for the flu in November compared with just 17 positive tests during the same month last year. Hospitalizations have doubled to 12.

An Ontario doctor who has been ordered to pay back more than $600,000 to the province for improperly billing for COVID-19 vaccinations argued in court on Tuesday that the decision should be reversed.

Elaine Ma, a Kingston-based family physician, helped thousands of people get shots during the height of the COVID pandemic by organizing drive-through vaccination clinics. She has been called a “hero” for her work and was recognized in 2021 by the Ontario College of Family Physicians with an Award of Excellence.

Hospitals across Canada are bracing for an intense influenza season, driven by worries of lower vaccine uptake and concerns that this year’s shot is a mismatch for circulating strains.

Canada’s flu season has officially begun, according to new data released on Friday from the Public Health Agency of Canada. It shows that the percentage of positive tests for the virus surpassed the 5-per-cent seasonal threshold in the week ending Nov. 15.

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith says surgeons will be the focus of the government’s plan to introduce a health care model where physicians can toggle between the public and private system.

In a seven-minute video posted on social media Wednesday, Ms. Smith, alongside Matt Jones, Alberta’s Minister of Hospital and Surgical Health Services, said her government is calling it the “dual practice surgery model.”

The Alberta government defended its plan to introduce a public-private model for physicians on Tuesday, a proposal that health care experts say could contravene the Canada Health Act.

Alberta intends to introduce a hybrid model in health care where doctors could work in both systems simultaneously, The Globe and Mail revealed on Tuesday, according to confidential draft legislation. No other Canadian province allows physicians to toggle between the two systems.

Matt Jones, Minister of Hospital and Surgical Health Services, during Question Period, said the model has worked in other jurisdictions, listing countries such as Denmark and France. He also pointed to Quebec and New Brunswick, despite neither province operating a hybrid system similar to what Alberta is proposing.

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith has invoked the notwithstanding clause for three sweeping bills affecting transgender and gender-diverse youth that were passed last year in a bid to prevent courts from derailing the legislation.

The trio of bills, respectively, limit gender-affirming treatment for transgender youth, ban transgender participation in women’s’ and girls’ sports divisions and require parental consent for name and pronoun changes in school while also requiring parents to opt their child into sexual education.

Alberta’s United Conservative Party has filed a lawsuit against two of its former MLAs, alleging they have conspired to damage the party’s reputation by using the Progressive Conservative name.

Peter Guthrie and Scott Sinclair, both named as defendants, have been trying to start a provincial party under the PC banner since being expelled from the UCP caucus earlier this year. The PC Party governed Alberta for 43 consecutive years before merging with the Wildrose Party to form the UCP in 2017.

In a classroom at Western University on Thursday, 58 masters of public health students were being trained as measles outbreak detectives.

This was not just a theoretical scenario.

Respiratory viruses are once again beginning their seasonal circulation, with cases of COVID-19 having already spiked while influenza and respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV, infections slowly creep up.

RSV is a leading cause of infant hospitalization in Canada, more so than its viral counterparts. This season, however, most newborns and infants will have access to nirsevimab, sold under the brand name Beyfortus.