The approval of the AstraZeneca vaccine will speed up Manitoba’s timeline for vaccinating all eligible age groups, but how much of an impact it has remains to be seen, says the head of the provincial government’s vaccine implementation task force.
“This is great news for our timeline and really does push us closer to our high-supply scenario” for future vaccination rollout, Dr. Joss Reimer said during a media briefing Friday.
Health Canada announced earlier Friday it had approved the vaccine developed by Oxford University-AstraZeneca, clearing the way for millions more doses of vaccine to come into the country.
Manitoba is basing its vaccine eligibility for members of the general public on age, starting with the oldest Manitobans and gradually working down.
The vaccine task force has released two separate timelines for when it expects to immunize each age group, under low- and high-supply scenarios.
Under the low-supply scenario — which assumed using only the previously approved Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines — the province estimated it would complete vaccinations by the end of November.
Under the high-supply scenario, which assumed a third vaccine would become available, the province could complete vaccinations by the end of August.
WATCH | Dr. Joss Reimer says Health Canada approval of AstraZeneca is ‘great news’:
Dr. Joss Reimer, head of Manitoba’s vaccine implementation task force, said Friday the approval of AstraZeneca adds another tool in the province’s toolbelt to help roll out vaccines quickly. 1:14
Easier storage, lower efficacy rate
AstraZeneca’s vaccine doesn’t have to be stored at the exceptionally low temperatures required for Pfizer-BioNTech’s and Moderna’s vaccines.
The AstraZeneca vaccine can be stored and transported at normal refrigerated temperatures of 2 to 8 C for at least six months, which means it can be administered in a wider range of settings, such as physicians’ offices and pharmacies.
Health Canada regulators have determined the new vaccine to be 62 per cent effective at preventing infection, which is less effective than the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines.
However, the shot is 100 per cent effective in preventing the severe outcomes of COVID-19 — including serious illness, hospitalizations and death — the regulators said.
“I think that’s the most important factor, is it kept people out of the ICU, and it kept people off of ventilators,” said virologist Jason Kindrachuk, an assistant professor in the department of medical microbiology at the University of Manitoba.
The availability of multiple vaccines raises the possibility people might be reluctant to take one if they know it has a lower efficacy rating, which poses challenges for public health messaging, he said.
“The most important factor right now for us [is] it’s keeping people out of the hospital, and as well trying to curb transmission. The AZ vaccine actually looks really good in both of those regards.”
Dose numbers still unknown
It’s too soon to know how much the AstraZeneca approval will alter Manitoba’s vaccination timeline, because no one knows yet how many doses the province will actually get.
“This is only good news as far as how long it will take to reach all Manitobans,” Reimer said.
“The more options we have and the more convenient it is for people to receive a vaccine, the more Manitobans will be able to receive it before the end of summer.”
The province is in the process of determining who will be eligible to receive the AstraZeneca vaccine. Health officials are waiting for the National Advisory Committee on Immunizations to release its recommendations.
Some countries in Europe have limited use of the vaccine to people under the age of 65, even though the World Health Organization says the product is effective for all age groups.
Health Canada said clinical trial results “were too limited to allow a reliable estimate of vaccine efficacy in individuals 65 years of age and older,” but was comfortable approving the vaccine due to experience in places its already been used.
WATCH | Health Canada’s Dr. Supriya Sharma outlines efficacy of AstraZeneca vaccine:
Dr. Supriya Sharma, Health Canada’s chief medical adviser, outlines why the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine has been approved in Canada. 3:10
“If it ends up being that we stick to a younger age cohort [for AstraZeneca in Manitoba], then we’ll have to make some decisions about who is highest risk in the younger age cohort,” Reimer said.
Like the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines, AstraZeneca’s requires two shots. Health Canada has recommended the second dose be administered four to 12 weeks after the first.
Reimer said Manitoba will look at the results of the trials and decide whether to continue with the current process of administering second doses within three to four weeks, or stretching that time period in order to get more first doses to Manitobans.
Around 500 physicians and pharmacies have applied to administer vaccines once a suitable candidate becomes available, and about 250 of those are approved and ready to go, Reimer said.
Doctors Manitoba issued a statement welcoming the approval of the new vaccine.
“This approval means Manitobans are one step closer to getting the vaccine from their doctor, a trusted medical professional who knows their health situation best,” president Dr. Cory Baillie said in the statement.
It’s possible that AstraZeneca could be considered as part of a door-to-door vaccination campaign, to reach people who are unable to leave their home, but who don’t live in a personal care home or other facility targeted by mobile immunization teams, she said.
WATCH | Full news conference on COVID-19 | Feb. 26, 2021:
Provincial officials give update on COVID-19 outbreak: Friday, February 26, 2021. 29:34
TOKYO (AP) — Japanese technology group SoftBank swung back to profitability in the July-September quarter, boosted by positive results in its Vision Fund investments.
Tokyo-based SoftBank Group Corp. reported Tuesday a fiscal second quarter profit of nearly 1.18 trillion yen ($7.7 billion), compared with a 931 billion yen loss in the year-earlier period.
Quarterly sales edged up about 6% to nearly 1.77 trillion yen ($11.5 billion).
SoftBank credited income from royalties and licensing related to its holdings in Arm, a computer chip-designing company, whose business spans smartphones, data centers, networking equipment, automotive, consumer electronic devices, and AI applications.
The results were also helped by the absence of losses related to SoftBank’s investment in office-space sharing venture WeWork, which hit the previous fiscal year.
WeWork, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2023, emerged from Chapter 11 in June.
SoftBank has benefitted in recent months from rising share prices in some investment, such as U.S.-based e-commerce company Coupang, Chinese mobility provider DiDi Global and Bytedance, the Chinese developer of TikTok.
SoftBank’s financial results tend to swing wildly, partly because of its sprawling investment portfolio that includes search engine Yahoo, Chinese retailer Alibaba, and artificial intelligence company Nvidia.
SoftBank makes investments in a variety of companies that it groups together in a series of Vision Funds.
The company’s founder, Masayoshi Son, is a pioneer in technology investment in Japan. SoftBank Group does not give earnings forecasts.
Shopify Inc. executives brushed off concerns that incoming U.S. President Donald Trump will be a major detriment to many of the company’s merchants.
“There’s nothing in what we’ve heard from Trump, nor would there have been anything from (Democratic candidate) Kamala (Harris), which we think impacts the overall state of new business formation and entrepreneurship,” Shopify’s chief financial officer Jeff Hoffmeister told analysts on a call Tuesday.
“We still feel really good about all the merchants out there, all the entrepreneurs that want to start new businesses and that’s obviously not going to change with the administration.”
Hoffmeister’s comments come a week after Trump, a Republican businessman, trounced Harris in an election that will soon return him to the Oval Office.
On the campaign trail, he threatened to impose tariffs of 60 per cent on imports from China and roughly 10 per cent to 20 per cent on goods from all other countries.
If the president-elect makes good on the promise, many worry the cost of operating will soar for companies, including customers of Shopify, which sells e-commerce software to small businesses but also brands as big as Kylie Cosmetics and Victoria’s Secret.
These merchants may feel they have no choice but to pass on the increases to customers, perhaps sparking more inflation.
If Trump’s tariffs do come to fruition, Shopify’s president Harley Finkelstein pointed out China is “not a huge area” for Shopify.
However, “we can’t anticipate what every presidential administration is going to do,” he cautioned.
He likened the uncertainty facing the business community to the COVID-19 pandemic where Shopify had to help companies migrate online.
“Our job is no matter what comes the way of our merchants, we provide them with tools and service and support for them to navigate it really well,” he said.
Finkelstein was questioned about the forthcoming U.S. leadership change on a call meant to delve into Shopify’s latest earnings, which sent shares soaring 27 per cent to $158.63 shortly after Tuesday’s market open.
The Ottawa-based company, which keeps its books in U.S. dollars, reported US$828 million in net income for its third quarter, up from US$718 million in the same quarter last year, as its revenue rose 26 per cent.
Revenue for the period ended Sept. 30 totalled US$2.16 billion, up from US$1.71 billion a year earlier.
Subscription solutions revenue reached US$610 million, up from US$486 million in the same quarter last year.
Merchant solutions revenue amounted to US$1.55 billion, up from US$1.23 billion.
Shopify’s net income excluding the impact of equity investments totalled US$344 million for the quarter, up from US$173 million in the same quarter last year.
Daniel Chan, a TD Cowen analyst, said the results show Shopify has a leadership position in the e-commerce world and “a continued ability to gain market share.”
In its outlook for its fourth quarter of 2024, the company said it expects revenue to grow at a mid-to-high-twenties percentage rate on a year-over-year basis.
“Q4 guidance suggests Shopify will finish the year strong, with better-than-expected revenue growth and operating margin,” Chan pointed out in a note to investors.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 12, 2024.
TORONTO – RioCan Real Estate Investment Trust says it has cut almost 10 per cent of its staff as it deals with a slowdown in the condo market and overall pushes for greater efficiency.
The company says the cuts, which amount to around 60 employees based on its last annual filing, will mean about $9 million in restructuring charges and should translate to about $8 million in annualized cash savings.
The job cuts come as RioCan and others scale back condo development plans as the market softens, but chief executive Jonathan Gitlin says the reductions were from a companywide efficiency effort.
RioCan says it doesn’t plan to start any new construction of mixed-use properties this year and well into 2025 as it adjusts to the shifting market demand.
The company reported a net income of $96.9 million in the third quarter, up from a loss of $73.5 million last year, as it saw a $159 million boost from a favourable change in the fair value of investment properties.
RioCan reported what it says is a record-breaking 97.8 per cent occupancy rate in the quarter including retail committed occupancy of 98.6 per cent.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 12, 2024.
