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Biden: We'll have news soon on sharing U.S. vaccines with other countries – CBC.ca

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This story is part of Watching Washington, a regular dispatch from CBC News correspondents reporting on U.S. politics and developments that affect Canadians. 

What’s new

U.S. President Joe Biden says he’ll provide news soon on one of the most coveted bits of public health information at this stage of the pandemic: What happens to excess doses of COVID-19 vaccines in the U.S.?

With the United States hoping to have enough vaccines for every adult by May 31, there’s already speculation about where its millions of extra doses might end up.

Asked whether he intended for neighbours or allies to get access first, Biden said conversations have already begun with other countries.

“I’ve been talking with several countries already,” Biden said Tuesday. 

“I’ll let you know that very shortly.”

WATCH | Canada talking to U.S. about surplus doses, says minister:

U.S. President Joe Biden says the White House is talking to several countries about sending them surplus vaccine doses once Americans have been immunized. Minister Dominic LeBlanc tells Power and Politics that Canada wants to be one of those countries. 2:37

Why this matters to Canada

Canada is among the countries pressing for access to that U.S. supply, though Washington has blocked exports of doses, including some close to Canadian soil, produced by Pfizer in Michigan.

Asked about Biden’s remarks, Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Dominic LeBlanc told CBC News Network’s Power & Politics that Canada is among the countries talking to the U.S. about obtaining vaccines.

“We’re certainly a country … that’s been having ongoing discussions with the Americans around a supply of vaccines for Canadians,” LeBlanc told host Vassy Kapelos.

“Obviously at a time when their government decides that they’re going to allow the export of vaccines made in the U.S., Canada would be one of the countries that would be having those conversations with the Americans.”

But LeBlanc said he’s not one of the Canadian officials talking to the U.S., and would not comment further because it was too early to be publicly discussing those conversations.

As the U.S. continues to vaccinate its citizens with supplies of vaccines produced in the U.S., Canada is hoping it will be the first to get surplus vaccine supplies. (Damian Dovarganes/The Associated Press)

What happens next

Some American politicians have also suggested the U.S. should next send vaccines to its immediate neighbours, as part of reopening the borders between countries.

They include Vicente Gonzalez, a member of the House of Representatives from Texas who suggested excess U.S. supplies should be steered to Mexico and Canada, given the region’s economic integration and human connections disrupted by the pandemic. 

In addition, Brian Higgins, a House member from a border area in Buffalo, N.Y., told CBC News in an interview last week that he’s urging the Biden administration to use all its leverage to help Canada get additional vaccines.

The U.S. is currently vaccinating citizens at a rate multiple times higher than Canada — and Higgins said evening out that disparity could help reopen the border.

He said he hopes to see the Canada-U.S. border restrictions wind down in phases between May and July and acknowledged that the gap in vaccination rates threatens to slow down that reintegration.

“We have to get to equilibrium, if you will, about the percentage of our populations that are vaccinated,” Higgins said.

Rep. Brian Higgins has been pressuring the Biden administration to help Canada with vaccines. (House Television via AP)

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A linebacker at West Virginia State is fatally shot on the eve of a game against his old school

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CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — A linebacker at Division II West Virginia State was fatally shot during what the university said Thursday is being investigated by police as a home invasion.

The body of Jyilek Zyiare Harrington, 21, of Charlotte, North Carolina, was found inside an apartment Wednesday night in Charleston, police Lt. Tony Hazelett said in a statement.

Hazelett said several gunshots were fired during a disturbance in a hallway and inside the apartment. The statement said Harrington had multiple gunshot wounds and was pronounced dead at the scene. Police said they had no information on a possible suspect.

West Virginia State said counselors were available to students and faculty on campus.

“Our thoughts and prayers are with Jyilek’s family as they mourn the loss of this incredible young man,” West Virginia State President Ericke S. Cage said in a letter to students and faculty.

Harrington, a senior, had eight total tackles, including a sack, in a 27-24 win at Barton College last week.

“Jyilek truly embodied what it means to be a student-athlete and was a leader not only on campus but in the community,” West Virginia State Vice President of Intercollegiate Athletics Nate Burton said. “Jyilek was a young man that, during Christmas, would create a GoFundMe to help less fortunate families.”

Burton said donations to a fund established by the athletic department in Harrington’s memory will be distributed to an organization in Charlotte to continue his charity work.

West Virginia State’s home opener against Carson-Newman, originally scheduled for Thursday night, has been rescheduled to Friday, and a private vigil involving both teams was set for Thursday night. Harrington previously attended Carson-Newman, where he made seven tackles in six games last season. He began his college career at Division II Erskine College.

“Carson-Newman joins West Virginia State in mourning the untimely passing of former student-athlete Jyilek Harrington,” Carson-Newman Vice President of Athletics Matt Pope said in a statement. “The Harrington family and the Yellow Jackets’ campus community is in our prayers. News like this is sad to hear anytime, but today it feels worse with two teams who knew him coming together to play.”

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Hall of Famer Joe Schmidt, who helped Detroit Lions win 2 NFL titles, dies at 92

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DETROIT (AP) — Joe Schmidt, the Hall of Fame linebacker who helped the Detroit Lions win NFL championships in 1953 and 1957 and later coached the team, has died. He was 92.

The Lions said family informed the team Schmidt died Wednesday. A cause of death was not provided.

One of pro football’s first great middle linebackers, Schmidt played his entire NFL career with the Lions from 1953-65. An eight-time All-Pro, he was enshrined into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1973 and the college football version in 2000.

“Joe likes to say that at one point in his career, he was 6-3, but he had tackled so many fullbacks that it drove his neck into his shoulders and now he is 6-foot,” said the late Lions owner William Clay Ford, Schmidt’s presenter at his Hall of Fame induction in 1973. “At any rate, he was listed at 6-feet and as I say was marginal for that position. There are, however, qualities that certainly scouts or anybody who is drafting a ballplayer cannot measure.”

Born in Pittsburgh, Schmidt played college football in his hometown at Pitt, beginning his stint there as a fullback and guard before coach Len Casanova switched him to linebacker.

“Pitt provided me with the opportunity to do what I’ve wanted to do, and further myself through my athletic abilities,” Schmidt said. “Everything I have stemmed from that opportunity.”

Schmidt dealt with injuries throughout his college career and was drafted by the Lions in the seventh round in 1953. As defenses evolved in that era, Schmidt’s speed, savvy and tackling ability made him a valuable part of some of the franchise’s greatest teams.

Schmidt was elected to the Pro Bowl 10 straight years from 1955-64, and after his arrival, the Lions won the last two of their three NFL titles in the 1950s.

In a 1957 playoff game at San Francisco, the Lions trailed 27-7 in the third quarter before rallying to win 31-27. That was the NFL’s largest comeback in postseason history until Buffalo rallied from a 32-point deficit to beat Houston in 1993.

“We just decided to go after them, blitz them almost every down,” Schmidt recalled. “We had nothing to lose. When you’re up against it, you let both barrels fly.”

Schmidt became an assistant coach after wrapping up his career as a player. He was Detroit’s head coach from 1967-72, going 43-35-7.

Schmidt was part of the NFL’s All-Time Team revealed in 2019 to celebrate the league’s centennial season. Of course, he’d gone into the Hall of Fame 46 years earlier.

Not bad for an undersized seventh-round draft pick.

“It was a dream of mine to play football,” Schmidt told the Detroit Free Press in 2017. “I had so many people tell me that I was too small. That I couldn’t play. I had so many negative people say negative things about me … that it makes you feel good inside. I said, ‘OK, I’ll prove it to you.’”

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Coastal GasLink fined $590K by B.C. environment office over pipeline build

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VICTORIA – British Columbia‘s Environment Assessment Office has fined Coastal GasLink Pipeline Ltd. $590,000 for “deficiencies” in the construction of its pipeline crossing the province.

The office says in a statement that 10 administrative penalties have been levied against the company for non-compliance with requirements of its environmental assessment certificate.

It says the fines come after problems with erosion and sediment control measures were identified by enforcement officers along the pipeline route across northern B.C. in April and May 2023.

The office says that the latest financial penalties reflect its escalation of enforcement due to repeated non-compliance of its requirements.

Four previous penalties have been issued for failing to control erosion and sediment valued at almost $800,000, while a fifth fine of $6,000 was handed out for providing false or misleading information.

The office says it prioritized its inspections along the 670-kilometre route by air and ground as a result of the continued concerns, leading to 59 warnings and 13 stop-work orders along the pipeline that has now been completed.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.

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