Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry, who is delaying second doses of COVID-19 vaccine to 16 weeks from six to free up vaccine and give every British Columbian a first jab by July, said she is confident in the face of criticism.
Dr. Mona Nemer, Canada’s chief science adviser, has compared B.C.’s delay of second doses with a “population level experiment,” saying that while it’s plausible to do it, we should not tinker with the data provided by Pfizer and Moderna to leave three to four weeks between first and second doses.
article continues below
Trending Stories
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the top infectious disease official in the U.S., said that country will stick to its two-dose regimen, resisting calls to use a single dose to give more people immediate protection, the Washington Post reported.
Henry is standing behind her decision. Studies show that the first dose of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccine is upwards of 90 per cent effective after three weeks and it lasts for several months, preventing serious illness, hospitalizations and deaths, Henry said on Tuesday.
The National Advisory Committee on Immunization has reviewed the data in detail and its statement is “imminent,” she said. “That is why I am so confident that the decision we made over this past weekend to extend that interval is the best one, based on all of the scientific and the data that we have to maximize the benefit to everybody in our community, so that we can both stop people from getting seriously ill, prevent people from needing hospitalization, and prevent people from dying.”
The freeing up of doses to vaccinate more people quickly will allow the province to ease pandemic restrictions much sooner, she said.
The province will be able to increase visits to long-term care facilities “and have families be together with their loved one in care homes before the end of this month,” she said. “We now know from the real-world data that we don’t need to rely on second doses before we can lift some of these restrictions, if we have enough people protected, and we can stop that transmission in our communities.”
Come June or July when everyone in B.C. is protected with a first dose of vaccine, “we will know more about when is the optimal timing for booster dose,” said Henry.
Fauci did not recommend the delaying of doses in the U.S. because he felt they had sufficient vaccine “which is fine,” Henry said. The United Kingdom is also delaying the second dose, and Fauci went on to say “each of those approaches is correct and is right,” she said.
Henry said that Nemer, the chief science adviser, “who obviously was not involved in some of these discussions and decision making … perhaps didn’t understand the context that this decision was made in.”
Infectious diseases specialist Dr. Isaac Bogoch in Toronto said that in December and even January there was hesitancy over delaying the second dose, “but there’s been a growing global experience delaying the second dose and there’s also accruing evidence suggesting that delaying that second dose is a reasonable thing to do.”
If one were to line up 100 scientists, epidemiologists, public health providers and infectious diseases physicians there probably wouldn’t be an argument over delaying the second dose. “I think the argument you’d get is how long can you delay that second,” Bogoch said.
Canada’s chief science adviser has valid concerns, but there’s growing evidence suggesting it’s OK to delay, he said.
“It’s going be just like everything else we have seen in the pandemic,” Bogoch said. “You can have multiple people look at the exact same data and come to different conclusions. And that’s OK, as long as we’re open and honest and transparent about how we’re making our decisions, and we understand what the benefits are and what the potential risks are.”
B.C. Health Minister Adrian Dix said 283,182 doses of COVID vaccine have been administered — 186,654 people have received first doses, 86,537 have received second doses. That includes 95 per cent of long-term care and assisted living residents who have received their first doses of COVID-19 vaccine.
Everyone needs to focus on maintaining all levels of protection including physical distancing, wearing masks, and not gathering outside one’s household, and getting tested if symptomatic, Henry said.
On Tuesday, the province reported 438 new cases of COVID-19, including 19 new cases in Island Health. Of 4,679 active cases, there are 243 people in hospital, including 63 in intensive or critical care. Another 8,445 people who are contacts of an infected person are under public health monitoring.
Two more deaths have been reported, for a total of 1,365 COVID-related deaths since the pandemic began.
Twenty-two new variants of concern have been detected — 159 of the U.K. variant and 23 of the South African variant — of which eight are still active.
The province made a data correction on Tuesday, announcing another 254 cases of COVID-19 over the past week that went unreported.
TORONTO – Canada Goose Holdings Inc. says it has signed a deal that will result in the creation of its first eyewear collection.
The deal announced on Thursday by the Toronto-based luxury apparel company comes in the form of an exclusive, long-term global licensing agreement with Marchon Eyewear Inc.
The terms and value of the agreement were not disclosed, but Marchon produces eyewear for brands including Lacoste, Nike, Calvin Klein, Ferragamo, Longchamp and Zeiss.
Marchon plans to roll out both sunglasses and optical wear under the Canada Goose name next spring, starting in North America.
Canada Goose says the eyewear will be sold through optical retailers, department stores, Canada Goose shops and its website.
Canada Goose CEO Dani Reiss told The Canadian Press in August that he envisioned his company eventually expanding into eyewear and luggage.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2024.
Almost seven years since news broke of an alleged conspiracy to fix the price of packaged bread across Canada, the saga isn’t over: the Competition Bureau continues to investigate the companies that may have been involved, and two class-action lawsuits continue to work their way through the courts.
Here’s a timeline of key events in the bread price-fixing case.
Oct. 31, 2017: The Competition Bureau says it’s investigating allegations of bread price-fixing and that it was granted search warrants in the case. Several grocers confirm they are co-operating in the probe.
Dec. 19, 2017: Loblaw and George Weston say they participated in an “industry-wide price-fixing arrangement” to raise the price of packaged bread. The companies say they have been co-operating in the Competition Bureau’s investigation since March 2015, when they self-reported to the bureau upon discovering anti-competitive behaviour, and are receiving immunity from prosecution. They announce they are offering $25 gift cards to customers amid the ongoing investigation into alleged bread price-fixing.
Jan. 31, 2018: In court documents, the Competition Bureau says at least $1.50 was added to the price of a loaf of bread between about 2001 and 2016.
Dec. 20, 2019: A class-action lawsuit in a Quebec court against multiple grocers and food companies is certified against a number of companies allegedly involved in bread price-fixing, including Loblaw, George Weston, Metro, Sobeys, Walmart Canada, Canada Bread and Giant Tiger (which have all denied involvement, except for Loblaw and George Weston, which later settled with the plaintiffs).
Dec. 31, 2021: A class-action lawsuit in an Ontario court covering all Canadian residents except those in Quebec who bought packaged bread from a company named in the suit is certified against roughly the same group of companies.
June 21, 2023: Bakery giant Canada Bread Co. is fined $50 million after pleading guilty to four counts of price-fixing under the Competition Act as part of the Competition Bureau’s ongoing investigation.
Oct. 25 2023: Canada Bread files a statement of defence in the Ontario class action denying participating in the alleged conspiracy and saying any anti-competitive behaviour it participated in was at the direction and to the benefit of its then-majority owner Maple Leaf Foods, which is not a defendant in the case (neither is its current owner Grupo Bimbo). Maple Leaf calls Canada Bread’s accusations “baseless.”
Dec. 20, 2023: Metro files new documents in the Ontario class action accusing Loblaw and its parent company George Weston of conspiring to implicate it in the alleged scheme, denying involvement. Sobeys has made a similar claim. The two companies deny the allegations.
July 25, 2024: Loblaw and George Weston say they agreed to pay a combined $500 million to settle both the Ontario and Quebec class-action lawsuits. Loblaw’s share of the settlement includes a $96-million credit for the gift cards it gave out years earlier.
Sept. 12, 2024: Canada Bread files new documents in Ontario court as part of the class action, claiming Maple Leaf used it as a “shield” to avoid liability in the alleged scheme. Maple Leaf was a majority shareholder of Canada Bread until 2014, and the company claims it’s liable for any price-fixing activity. Maple Leaf refutes the claims.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2024.
Companies in this story: (TSX:L, TSX:MFI, TSX:MRU, TSX:EMP.A, TSX:WN)
TORONTO – TD Bank Group, which is mired in a money laundering scandal in the U.S., says chief executive Bharat Masrani will retire next year.
Masrani, who will retire officially on April 10, 2025, says the bank’s, “anti-money laundering challenges,” took place on his watch and he takes full responsibility.
The bank named Raymond Chun, TD’s group head, Canadian personal banking, as his successor.
As part of a transition plan, Chun will become chief operating officer on Nov. 1 before taking over the top job when Masrani steps down at the bank’s annual meeting next year.
TD also announced that Riaz Ahmed, group head, wholesale banking and president and CEO of TD Securities, will retire at the end of January 2025.
TD has taken billions in charges related to ongoing U.S. investigations into the failure of its anti-money laundering program.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2024.
