SnowbirdAlert SpringtimeSnowbirdChecklist Go to the doctor Get those pre-existing medical conditions under control and work with your doctor to make any necessary adjustments to your medication as soon as possible. Get followup tests and procedures scheduled, so that you have a clear 90-day stability period before you head south in the fall. File your 8840 Form When you fulfil the requirements of the substantial presence test, you can be treated as a resident of the United States and be taxed by the IRS on your worldwide income. Declare your closer connection to Canada by completing the IRS 8840 Form and send it in. Update your Personal Health Record When you or your spouse are dealing with a medical emergency either away or at home, you don’t want to run around looking for prescription medication bottles or be concerned with an accurate recollection of what year or instance in which either of you received medical treatment. Write it down now, while you have time and presence of mind, and keep it in a handy spot – such as on your fridge – for quick and easy access, should the time ever come at which you need to answer medical questions quickly. Renew your CSAMembership Support the only organization that actively lobbies governments in Canada and the United States to protect and defend the snowbird lifestyle. Get Vaccinated Get your COVID-19 vaccination as soon as possible! Note: 8840 Form, Personal Health Records and CSA Membership renewal can all be easily accessed at www.snowbirds.org 1. How vaccines work Vaccines work with the body’s natural defences to develop protection against a disease. COVID19 vaccines provide instructions to your body’s immune system to recognize and fight off the virus that causes COVID-19. 2. Available vaccines Currently, Health Canada has authorized two types of vaccines to help prevent COVID-19: mRNA and viral vector vaccines. mRNA vaccines provide instructions to your cells regarding how tomake a coronavirus protein.This protein will trigger an immune response that will help to protect you against COVID-19. Viral vector vaccines use a virus (not the virus that causes COVID-19) that’s been made harmless to produce coronavirus proteins in your body without causing disease.This protein will trigger an immune response that will help protect you against COVID-19. 3. Vaccine safety Canada has one of the most rigorous scientific review systems in the world and only approves a vaccine if it meets stringent safety, efficacy and quality standards. The review process for COVID-19 vaccines is rigorous and there are systems in place to continue monitoring their safety and efficacy after they are approved. The vaccines cannot give you COVID-19, because they don’t contain the virus that causes it. The vaccines also cannot change your DNA. 4. Benefits of COVID-19 vaccination COVID-19 vaccines are important tools to respond to this pandemic. Scientific andmedical evidence are showing that vaccinated people may have less severe illness if they do become ill from COVID-19. Even while the vaccines roll out, we still need to follow public health measures to reduce the spread of COVID-19 and save lives. 5. Vaccine rollout Vaccines will be available – free of charge – over the course of 2021 to everyone who lives in Canada. Provinces and territories have developed detailed vaccination rollout plans for their residents. More information about the COVID-19 vaccines can be found at canada.ca/covid-vaccine. Source: www.newscanada.com Can you trust online product reviews? Online shopping is convenient in so many ways and, when you can’t see the product in person, online reviews often seem like the best way to get a sense of the item. However, it’s important to stay skeptical when reading online reviews. Many are paid endorsements in which the reviewer has no knowledge of the product and simply got paid to say something positive. Also, be wary of endorsements by social media influencers – their reviews may not be genuine. As for celebrity endorsements: images of famous people are often used without their consent to encourage you to buy. To make the best use of online reviews, consult multiple sources for the bigger picture. Look for reviews that cover a wide range of time and ignore both the highest and lowest ratings, since these can be misleading. If a product has received lots of great reviews all of a sudden, a new profile has been actively writing positive reviews of several products in a short period of time or the positivity level seems way too high, then you might want to keep scrolling. Overall, even though online reviews can be helpful, make sure to take them with a grain of salt. Find more information and report fake online reviews at competitionbureau.gc.ca. Quick facts about COVID-19 vaccines You’ve probably heard from a family member or friend on social media regarding some dubious “facts” about COVID-19 vaccines. But getting your information from people who aren’t health experts isn’t a wise idea, especially when it comes to health topics. A trusted source such as a health-care provider or public health authority is a good place to get information. Here, the experts at Health Canada and the Public Health Agency of Canada share information that everyone needs to have about the vaccines: 6 | www.snowbirds.org
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