OTTAWA —
The federal government has released an updated COVID-19 vaccination timeline, showing that at least 14.5 million Canadians will be able to be immunized by the end of June with the approved Pfizer-BioNtech and Moderna shots.
Both of these currently approved vaccines require a two-dose regimen and the Public Health Agency of Canada’s timeline indicates that these figures are based on each person receiving both their first and second shots.
The number of Canadians able to be vaccinated in that timeframe will increase considerably, should additional vaccine candidates be given the green light by Health Canada.
The timeline shows that up to 24.5 million Canadians could be fully vaccinated by the end of June, if shots from the other vaccine companies Canada has deals with are granted regulatory approval, such as the AstraZeneca or Johnson & Johnson vaccines.
These figures are based on how much vaccine supply Canada will have, and it will be on the provinces and territories to execute a timely administration of these doses.
The new timeline issued on Thursday shows how many Canadians are projected to be immunized each quarter between now and the end of September. It’s an update from the initial estimates issued at the start of Canada’s vaccine rollout in December 2020.
That modelling showed the federal government was aiming to have between 15 and 19 million Canadians vaccinated by the end of June.
Under the current timeline, between 38 and 64 per cent of the population will be immunized by the end of June.
During an update on Canada’s mass vaccination efforts, Maj.-Gen. Dany Fortin said that the change in the figures is due to a few factors, including the federal government securing additional access to more shots earlier in the spring, and that Health Canada has sanctioned vaccine administrators to extract six instead of five doses from Pfizer vials.
The timeline still shows that millions of Canadians will be waiting until sometime between July and September to receive their vaccines, with enough doses of Moderna and Pfizer alone to complete Canada’s mass vaccination effort.
With those two vaccines alone, 42 million Canadians will be vaccinated by the end of September.
If additional vaccines are able to be used, the country will have enough doses to vaccinate all 38 million Canadians more than twice over, with expected access to enough shots to immunize 79 million people.
However, as things stand these vaccines have yet to be approved for use in children, and the federal government is anticipating a degree of vaccine hesitancy in which eligible adults opt not to get a COVID-19 vaccine.
The projections continue to indicate that by the end of March three million Canadians will have been immunized, which represents eight per cent of the population.
Here is PHAC’s update vaccine timeline, showing that if additional vaccine candidates are given the green light by Health Canada, up to 24.5M Canadians could be fully vaccinated by end of June, though with just and Moderna shots the number of immunized Canadians will be 14.5M. pic.twitter.com/KqXPyuiz64
MONTREAL – Quebec’s ombudsperson is warning that public services are becoming “dehumanized” in the province amid a rise in demand for them.
Marc-André Dowd released his annual report today, which highlights several examples of people receiving inadequate care across the health network in the 12 months leading to March 31.
One dying man who lived alone was denied help cleaning his cat’s litter box by his local health clinic, a service Dowd says should have been given for “humanitarian reasons.”
Dowd also describes staff at a long-term care home feeding residents “mechanically” and talking among each other — despite health ministry guidelines directing staff to maintain eye contact with residents.
The ombudsperson says his office received a record number of problems to investigate across the province’s public services — 24,867 compared with 22,053 last year.
He says his office investigated 13,358 cases between April 2023 and March of this year.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2024.
OTTAWA – French President Emmanuel Macron will visit Canada next week after a planned trip in July was cancelled amid political turmoil in France.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced in a statement today that Macron will be in Canada Wednesday and Thursday after the leaders attend the United Nations General Assembly in New York City.
Trudeau will welcome Macron in Ottawa on Wednesday, where they are expected to discuss collaboration on geopolitical issues including their ongoing support for Ukraine.
They are also expected to discuss ways to strengthen the response to emerging threats, such as disinformation.
In Montreal, Trudeau intends to show off the city’s artificial intelligence sector, while both countries reaffirm their commitment to work with counterparts on responsible use of AI.
The leaders will also discuss promoting the French language ahead of the Francophonie summit being held in France next month.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2024.
Health Canada has authorized Novavax’s updated COVID-19 vaccine that protects against currently circulating variants of the virus.
The protein-based vaccine, called Nuvaxovid, has been reformulated to target the JN.1 subvariant of Omicron.
It will replace the previous version of the vaccine, which targeted the XBB.1.5 subvariant of Omicron.
Health Canada recently asked provinces and territories to get rid of their older COVID-19 vaccines to ensure the most current vaccine will be used during this fall’s respiratory virus season.
Earlier this week, Health Canada approved Moderna’s updated mRNA COVID vaccine.
It is still reviewing Pfizer’s updated mRNA vaccine, with a decision expected soon.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2024.
Canadian Press health coverage receives support through a partnership with the Canadian Medical Association. CP is solely responsible for this content.
Note to readers: This is a corrected story. A previous version erroneously described the Novavax vaccine as an mRNA shot.
