Ottawa and Toronto will each receive 3,000 doses of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine in the first distribution of shots in Ontario next week, according to the head of the province’s vaccination task force.
Ret. Gen. Rick Hillier, who leads Ontario’s vaccine distribution efforts, said Thursday afternoon that the province is expecting to receive 6,000 doses as part of the initial delivery, which will be split evenly between Ottawa and Toronto.
Those doses will be administered Tuesday at the University Health Network in Toronto and the Ottawa Hospital, according to an earlier statement from Premier Doug Ford’s office.
1:47 COVID-19 vaccine takes 2 shots, 21 days apart
The first shots will go to health-care workers in long-term care homes and other high-risk settings. Hillier said some of the hospital workers at the Ottawa and Toronto sites could also receive the shot to ensure the early doses are used as “efficiently” as possible.
The Pfizer vaccine requires two doses, which means 1,500 people will be vaccinated in each city at first. Hillier said until the supply chain stabilizes, the second dose, which is to be administered 21 days after the first, will be kept at the hospital site in a deep freezer.
Pfizer has advised officials not to move the vaccine once it has been delivered, so the province will be setting up as many as 23 centralized sites in hospitals over the coming weeks to administer the vaccine with the Ottawa Hospital and University Health Network as the first two hubs.
Hillier said he expects Ontario to receive 90,000 total doses of the Pfizer vaccine in December. He also said Ontario could receive up to 85,000 doses of the Moderna vaccine before the end of the year, pending Health Canada approval.
Ontario health officials have been told the Moderna vaccine is “easier to handle,” Hillier said Thursday, which could open the door to setting up vaccination sites in long-term care homes to inoculate vulnerable residents there.
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Hillier cautioned that the province’s vaccination efforts are in the early stages, and that it will be a long time before shots are available to the general population.
“There will be bumps in the road. So please, be patient,” he said.
Ford laid out the early details of Ontario’s plan to distribute the COVID-19 vaccine on Monday, saying vulnerable seniors, their caregivers and health-care workers would be first on the list. The province’s hardest-hit regions, including those in the red “control” and grey “lockdown” zones, would be higher priorities to receive the vaccination.
Ontario set a new provincial record Thursday with nearly 2,000 new cases of the virus. Almost 500 of those cases were linked to Toronto, while Ottawa Public Health reported 31 new infections on Thursday.
Despite the relatively lower number of daily cases in the nation’s capital, which has been in the province’s orange “restrict” level since early November, Ford said in his statement that Ottawa has been tapped as a test-case for the province’s vaccine roll-out because of the “challenges” it has faced with the virus in long-term care homes.
“Ottawa has been selected in part to test and validate provincial distribution networks, as well as in recognition of the challenges the region has faced with certain long-term care home outbreaks,” the statement read.
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There are currently nine open outbreaks in Ottawa long-term care facilities, the hardest hit being Extendicare’s Starwood care home where 183 people have tested positive for the virus and 25 residents have died with COVID-19.
Anthony Di Monte, head of Ottawa’s vaccine distribution task force, said in a statement Thursday that the 3,000 doses the city expects to receive next week will not be sufficient to fully vaccinate staff across the city’s long-term care homes.
As a result, the Ottawa Hospital will work with Ottawa Public Health to prioritize vaccinating staff working in the highest-risk environments, he said.
Di Monte also said the task force is working on “mobile strike teams” to go into long-term care homes to vaccinate residents once the city is given the all-clear to transport either the Pfizer shot or another vaccine with fewer risks around movement.
Hillier said Thursday that Ottawa was chosen “weeks ago” as an initial site because the nation’s capital acted as a test of Ontario’s distribution system, which will require transporting the initial delivery from Pearson Airport in Toronto to other sites across the province.
7:46 Coronavirus: BioNTech CFO on vaccine shipments, doses Canadians can expect
Coronavirus: BioNTech CFO on vaccine shipments, doses Canadians can expect
A spokesperson with the Ottawa Hospital confirmed the news Thursday.
2:01 Ontario will receive 6,000 COVID-19 vaccines on Monday
Ontario will receive 6,000 COVID-19 vaccines on Monday
“We are working closely with the Ministry of Health and the province of Ontario on a distribution plan for the vaccine. As part of the plan, the hospital will provide vaccinations to health-care workers who work in long-term care homes beginning next week,” the statement read. The spokesperson said the hospital would share more information when it becomes available.
A spokesperson for the University Health Network referred questions on details of the vaccine roll-out to the Ministry of Health.
3:49 Health Canada approves Pfizer-BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine
Health Canada approves Pfizer-BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine
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.
