COVID-19

At its Aug. 18 meeting, the Columbia Shuswap Regional District board suspended the regional district’s COVID-19 vaccine policy for CSRSD firefighters. (File photo)

Columbia Shuswap Regional District suspends COVID-19 vaccine policy for firefighters

Regional district lost 45 firefighters after policy went into effect

 

In November 2021 the Columbia Shuswap Regional District board approved a COVID-19 Proof of Vaccination Policy requiring staff, contractors, paid on-call firefighters and emergency management volunteers to be vaccinated. (CSRD photo)

Columbia Shuswap Regional District to discuss suspending vaccine policy for firefighters

Staff proposing removal of vaccine requirement for contractors, elected officials

 

Kelowna RCMP investigated 24 police-reported hate files in 2021, compared to six in 2020. (File photo)

Jump in reported hate crimes last year COVID-related: Kelowna RCMP

Kelowna was third in B.C. for police-reported hate crimes in 2021

 

Riley Oldford, 16-years-old and who suffers from cerebral palsy, is the first N.W.T. youth to get the Pfizer vaccine, receives the needle from Nurse practitioner Janie Neudorf in Yellowknife on Thursday May 6, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Bill Braden

Once months ahead, N.W.T. behind in COVID-19 vaccine rollout for 4th doses

The National Advisory Committee stressed the importance of a fall booster program

Riley Oldford, 16-years-old and who suffers from cerebral palsy, is the first N.W.T. youth to get the Pfizer vaccine, receives the needle from Nurse practitioner Janie Neudorf in Yellowknife on Thursday May 6, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Bill Braden
Residents are shown at Idola Saint-Jean long-term care home in Laval, Que., on February 25, 2022. A think tank that’s been compiling data on COVID-19 in Canadian long-term care homes says it has to stop its work because provinces are no longer making enough information public about the spread of the virus in the sector. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes

Project tracking COVID-19 in Canadian long-term care paused due to lack of data

The website for the Long-Term Care COVID-19 Tracker Project will remain available online

Residents are shown at Idola Saint-Jean long-term care home in Laval, Que., on February 25, 2022. A think tank that’s been compiling data on COVID-19 in Canadian long-term care homes says it has to stop its work because provinces are no longer making enough information public about the spread of the virus in the sector. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes
Dr. Nordine, a Kelowna-based physician is no longer able to work at a local detox centre because of his failure to comply with the provincial vaccination mandate (Joshua Nordine/Facebook)

‘Hire back our Heroes’ campaign wants to get unvaxxed workers back in B.C. hospitals

The campaign believes that an entire career should not be tainted by one decision

Dr. Nordine, a Kelowna-based physician is no longer able to work at a local detox centre because of his failure to comply with the provincial vaccination mandate (Joshua Nordine/Facebook)
A notice of civil claim has been filed against the City of Quesnel, the city’s manager, and the provincial government by non-vaccinated employees who were terminated earlier this year. (Photo courtesy of City of Quesnel)

Former employees launch lawsuit against City of Quesnel around vaccine mandates

A notice of civil claim was recently filed in B.C. Supreme Court

A notice of civil claim has been filed against the City of Quesnel, the city’s manager, and the provincial government by non-vaccinated employees who were terminated earlier this year. (Photo courtesy of City of Quesnel)
In this March 2021 file photo provided by Pfizer, vials of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine are prepared for packaging at the company’s facility in Puurs, Belgium. (Pfizer via AP)

COVID vaccines saved 20M lives in 1st year, scientists say

Researchers used data from 185 countries

In this March 2021 file photo provided by Pfizer, vials of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine are prepared for packaging at the company’s facility in Puurs, Belgium. (Pfizer via AP)
Dr. Bonnie Henry. (Submitted Photo)

PODCAST: Dr. Bonnie Henry discusses COVID-19 and what’s next for B.C.

TODAY IN B.C.: One-on-one chat with provincial health officer

Dr. Bonnie Henry. (Submitted Photo)
(Photo - Okanagan College/Facebook)

Okanagan College holds first in-person convocation since 2019

In-person graduation was limited the last two years due to the COVID-19 pandemic

(Photo - Okanagan College/Facebook)
Ross Wightman has been approved for compensation after falling ill due to the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine (Ross Wightman/Facebook)

Lake Country man one of 1st in Canada to be approved for COVID vaccine injury compensation

The program will pay up to $284,000 for pain and suffering

Ross Wightman has been approved for compensation after falling ill due to the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine (Ross Wightman/Facebook)
Kelowna General Hospital. (Michael Rodriguez/Capital News)

COVID outbreak declared at Kelowna General Hospital

Interior Health has not yet confirmed how many people have been infected

Kelowna General Hospital. (Michael Rodriguez/Capital News)
Director General of the World Health Organization (WHO) Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus addresses delegates during the first day of the 75th World Health Assembly at the European headquarters of the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, Sunday, May 22, 2022. (Salvatore Di Nolfi/Keystone via AP)

WHO chief: COVID pandemic is ‘most certainly not over’

‘We lower our guard at our peril’

Director General of the World Health Organization (WHO) Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus addresses delegates during the first day of the 75th World Health Assembly at the European headquarters of the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, Sunday, May 22, 2022. (Salvatore Di Nolfi/Keystone via AP)
Dozens display signs at the BC Health Care Matters rally on May 19, 2022, at the legislature for World Family Doctor Day. (Evert Lindquist/News Staff)

B.C. family doctor shortage sparks hundreds to rally in Victoria

Advocates say 1 in 5 people in B.C. lack a general practitioner

Dozens display signs at the BC Health Care Matters rally on May 19, 2022, at the legislature for World Family Doctor Day. (Evert Lindquist/News Staff)
Kids aged 5 to 11 are getting COVID-19 vaccines at community clinics around B.C., like this one in Victoria, Nov. 29, 2021. (B.C. government photo)

Vaccine clinic open for kids in Kelowna today

Parents can book an appointment online

Kids aged 5 to 11 are getting COVID-19 vaccines at community clinics around B.C., like this one in Victoria, Nov. 29, 2021. (B.C. government photo)
Kelowna General Hospital. (File photo)

COVID-19 outbreak declared at Kelowna General Hospital

Cases confirmed in surgical unit

Kelowna General Hospital. (File photo)
(Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedom graphic)

Fraser Valley woman has $5,750 COVID violation ticket dropped by Crown

Alberta’s Justice Centre defended ‘Ms. C’ who refused PCR test at U.S. border crossing

(Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedom graphic)
In this photo provided by Pfizer, a lab technician visually inspects COVID-19 Paxlovid tablet samples in Freiburg, Germany in December 2021. As more doctors prescribe Pfizer’s powerful COVID-19 pill, new questions are emerging about its performance, including why a small number of patients appear to relapse after taking the drug. (Pfizer via AP, File)

Rare cases of COVID returning pose questions for Pfizer pill

U.S. government has spent more than $10 billion to purchase pills

In this photo provided by Pfizer, a lab technician visually inspects COVID-19 Paxlovid tablet samples in Freiburg, Germany in December 2021. As more doctors prescribe Pfizer’s powerful COVID-19 pill, new questions are emerging about its performance, including why a small number of patients appear to relapse after taking the drug. (Pfizer via AP, File)
A rat crosses a Times Square subway platform in New York on Jan. 27, 2015. So far this year, people have called in some 7,100 rat sightings — that’s up from about 5,800 during the same period last year, and up by more than 60% from roughly the first four months of 2019, the last pre-pandemic year. (AP Photo/Richard Drew, File)

Oh, rats! As New Yorkers emerge from pandemic, so do rodents

Through April, people have called in some 7,400 rat sightings

A rat crosses a Times Square subway platform in New York on Jan. 27, 2015. So far this year, people have called in some 7,100 rat sightings — that’s up from about 5,800 during the same period last year, and up by more than 60% from roughly the first four months of 2019, the last pre-pandemic year. (AP Photo/Richard Drew, File)
Parents in Kelowna lack confidence in the vaccination (Metro Creative Graphics Photo)

Kelowna parents are vaccinated but most kids are not

Children in Kelowna have a 36 per cent vaccination rate

Parents in Kelowna lack confidence in the vaccination (Metro Creative Graphics Photo)