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Atlantic provinces dispose of thousands of doses of expired AstraZeneca vaccine – CP24 Toronto's Breaking News

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FREDERICTON – Provinces in Atlantic Canada have had to dispose of thousands of doses of Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine in recent weeks after demand dried up and they expired.

Prince Edward Island announced this week it had disposed of 3,200 expired AstraZeneca doses, and Newfoundland and Labrador confirmed Thursday it has nearly 2,900 doses that will go to waste.

But an infectious disease specialist says the number of doses allowed to expire in Canada is a small price to pay to ensure there’s an adequate vaccine supply in the country.

Dr. Allison McGeer of Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto said it is better to have too much of a particular vaccine than to turn people away because supply is lacking.

“We deliberately overbought vaccines, because we knew that with that many different vaccines coming, there were bound to be issues with one or more of them, and some of them we wouldn’t get at all,” McGeer said in an interview Thursday.

She said while provinces like Prince Edward Island doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine that are going to waste after expiring earlier this month are a relatively tiny amount in a world that needs billions of doses. “We have worked hard across the country to not waste vaccines, but it is not realistic to think we are not going to waste some,” McGeer said.

Last month, the National Advisory Committee on Immunization recommended that people who received AstraZeneca for their first dose should get one of the mRNA vaccines, Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna, for the second dose.

Canada’s Chief Public Officer of Health, Dr. Theresa Tam, said German studies show mixing vaccines is more effective than two AstraZeneca shots. And she said it would also mitigate any potential risk of the rare blood-clotting disorder known as VITT that has been linked to AstraZeneca.

Ron Ryder, a spokesman for the P.E.I. Health Department said the excess doses of AstraZeneca in his province were offered to other provinces before they expired.

“Since NACI changed their guidance on (AstraZeneca), there has been minimal uptake from Islanders for the (AstraZeneca) vaccine,” he said in a statement Thursday. “A limited supply has been kept on hand on P.E.I. for those who are unable to have an mRNA vaccine,”

Health officials in New Brunswick said they had 960 doses of AstraZeneca expire at the end of June, with another 10,300 doses set to expire at the end of August and 200 at the end of October.

“Until last month, we had not had any vaccine reach its expiry date before it could be administered,” Shawn Berry, a spokesman for the New Brunswick Health Department, said in a statement. He said the province is in discussions with the federal government to see about redistributing doses that are not required in New Brunswick.

The government in Newfoundland and Labrador was able to transfer 1,400 doses of AstraZeneca to Ontario in mid-May for use there as they neared their expiry date. However, the province had 2,848 doses of the vaccine expire at the end of June, Lesley Clarke, a spokeswoman for the Health Department said Thursday.

In Nova Scotia, health officials said they received 60,000 doses of AstraZeneca and had to dispose of just 299 that expired.

“At this time, Nova Scotia does not intend to order any further AstraZeneca given the low interest in the vaccine. For those with allergies related to the mRNA vaccines that may need to consider AstraZeneca, we will address those on a case-by-case basis,” Heather Fairbairn, a media relations adviser for the province said in a statement.

Elsewhere, Manitoba officials said they had to get rid of fewer than 550 of the 84,000 doses of AstraZeneca that were sent out for distribution.

In Alberta, health officials confirmed that due to decreased demand, 3,947 doses of AstraZeneca expired at the end of June. Government spokeswoman Lisa Glover noted the amount is a small fraction of the more than 292,000 doses administered to date.

“Emerging evidence about the effectiveness of receiving a Moderna or Pfizer vaccine, either as a complete series or following a first dose of AstraZeneca, led to a sharp decline in Albertans seeking second doses of AstraZeneca,” she said.

On Monday, the federal government announced it would donate nearly 18 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine to poorer countries. Procurement Minister Anita Anand said that after talking with the provinces, it was determined that the demand for the AstraZeneca vaccine had been met, and the remaining doses were excess supply.

Canada secured 20 million doses of AstraZeneca through an advance purchase agreement, but demand for the vaccine has dropped as the supply of mRNA vaccines increased.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 15, 2021.

– With files from Kelly Geraldine Malone in Winnipeg and Fakiha Baig in Edmonton.

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Telus prioritizing ‘most important customers,’ avoiding ‘unprofitable’ offers: CFO

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Telus Corp. says it is avoiding offering “unprofitable” discounts as fierce competition in the Canadian telecommunications sector shows no sign of slowing down.

The company said Friday it had fewer net new customers during its third quarter compared with the same time last year, as it copes with increasingly “aggressive marketing and promotional pricing” that is prompting more customers to switch providers.

Telus said it added 347,000 net new customers, down around 14.5 per cent compared with last year. The figure includes 130,000 mobile phone subscribers and 34,000 internet customers, down 30,000 and 3,000, respectively, year-over-year.

The company reported its mobile phone churn rate — a metric measuring subscribers who cancelled their services — was 1.09 per cent in the third quarter, up from 1.03 per cent in the third quarter of 2023. That included a postpaid mobile phone churn rate of 0.90 per cent in its latest quarter.

Telus said its focus is on customer retention through its “industry-leading service and network quality, along with successful promotions and bundled offerings.”

“The customers we have are the most important customers we can get,” said chief financial officer Doug French in an interview.

“We’ve, again, just continued to focus on what matters most to our customers, from a product and customer service perspective, while not loading unprofitable customers.”

Meanwhile, Telus reported its net income attributable to common shares more than doubled during its third quarter.

The telecommunications company said it earned $280 million, up 105.9 per cent from the same three-month period in 2023. Earnings per diluted share for the quarter ended Sept. 30 was 19 cents compared with nine cents a year earlier.

It reported adjusted net income was $413 million, up 10.7 per cent year-over-year from $373 million in the same quarter last year. Operating revenue and other income for the quarter was $5.1 billion, up 1.8 per cent from the previous year.

Mobile phone average revenue per user was $58.85 in the third quarter, a decrease of $2.09 or 3.4 per cent from a year ago. Telus said the drop was attributable to customers signing up for base rate plans with lower prices, along with a decline in overage and roaming revenues.

It said customers are increasingly adopting unlimited data and Canada-U.S. plans which provide higher and more stable ARPU on a monthly basis.

“In a tough operating environment and relative to peers, we view Q3 results that were in line to slightly better than forecast as the best of the bunch,” said RBC analyst Drew McReynolds in a note.

Scotiabank analyst Maher Yaghi added that “the telecom industry in Canada remains very challenging for all players, however, Telus has been able to face these pressures” and still deliver growth.

The Big 3 telecom providers — which also include Rogers Communications Inc. and BCE Inc. — have frequently stressed that the market has grown more competitive in recent years, especially after the closing of Quebecor Inc.’s purchase of Freedom Mobile in April 2023.

Hailed as a fourth national carrier, Quebecor has invested in enhancements to Freedom’s network while offering more affordable plans as part of a set of commitments it was mandated by Ottawa to agree to.

The cost of telephone services in September was down eight per cent compared with a year earlier, according to Statistics Canada’s most recent inflation report last month.

“I think competition has been and continues to be, I’d say, quite intense in Canada, and we’ve obviously had to just manage our business the way we see fit,” said French.

Asked how long that environment could last, he said that’s out of Telus’ hands.

“What I can control, though, is how we go to market and how we lead with our products,” he said.

“I think the conditions within the market will have to adjust accordingly over time. We’ve continued to focus on digitization, continued to bring our cost structure down to compete, irrespective of the price and the current market conditions.”

Still, Canada’s telecom regulator continues to warn providers about customers facing more charges on their cellphone and internet bills.

On Tuesday, CRTC vice-president of consumer, analytics and strategy Scott Hutton called on providers to ensure they clearly inform their customers of charges such as early cancellation fees.

That followed statements from the regulator in recent weeks cautioning against rising international roaming fees and “surprise” price increases being found on their bills.

Hutton said the CRTC plans to launch public consultations in the coming weeks that will focus “on ensuring that information is clear and consistent, making it easier to compare offers and switch services or providers.”

“The CRTC is concerned with recent trends, which suggest that Canadians may not be benefiting from the full protections of our codes,” he said.

“We will continue to monitor developments and will take further action if our codes are not being followed.”

French said any initiative to boost transparency is a step in the right direction.

“I can’t say we are perfect across the board, but what I can say is we are absolutely taking it under consideration and trying to be the best at communicating with our customers,” he said.

“I think everyone looking in the mirror would say there’s room for improvement.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.

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TC Energy cuts cost estimate for Southeast Gateway pipeline project in Mexico

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CALGARY – TC Energy Corp. has lowered the estimated cost of its Southeast Gateway pipeline project in Mexico.

It says it now expects the project to cost between US$3.9 billion and US$4.1 billion compared with its original estimate of US$4.5 billion.

The change came as the company reported a third-quarter profit attributable to common shareholders of C$1.46 billion or $1.40 per share compared with a loss of C$197 million or 19 cents per share in the same quarter last year.

Revenue for the quarter ended Sept. 30 totalled C$4.08 billion, up from C$3.94 billion in the third quarter of 2023.

TC Energy says its comparable earnings for its latest quarter amounted to C$1.03 per share compared with C$1.00 per share a year earlier.

The average analyst estimate had been for a profit of 95 cents per share, according to LSEG Data & Analytics.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 7, 2024.

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BCE reports Q3 loss on asset impairment charge, cuts revenue guidance

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BCE Inc. reported a loss in its latest quarter as it recorded $2.11 billion in asset impairment charges, mainly related to Bell Media’s TV and radio properties.

The company says its net loss attributable to common shareholders amounted to $1.24 billion or $1.36 per share for the quarter ended Sept. 30 compared with a profit of $640 million or 70 cents per share a year earlier.

On an adjusted basis, BCE says it earned 75 cents per share in its latest quarter compared with an adjusted profit of 81 cents per share in the same quarter last year.

“Bell’s results for the third quarter demonstrate that we are disciplined in our pursuit of profitable growth in an intensely competitive environment,” BCE chief executive Mirko Bibic said in a statement.

“Our focus this quarter, and throughout 2024, has been to attract higher-margin subscribers and reduce costs to help offset short-term revenue impacts from sustained competitive pricing pressures, slow economic growth and a media advertising market that is in transition.”

Operating revenue for the quarter totalled $5.97 billion, down from $6.08 billion in its third quarter of 2023.

BCE also said it now expects its revenue for 2024 to fall about 1.5 per cent compared with earlier guidance for an increase of zero to four per cent.

The company says the change comes as it faces lower-than-anticipated wireless product revenue and sustained pressure on wireless prices.

BCE added 33,111 net postpaid mobile phone subscribers, down 76.8 per cent from the same period last year, which was the company’s second-best performance on the metric since 2010.

It says the drop was driven by higher customer churn — a measure of subscribers who cancelled their service — amid greater competitive activity and promotional offer intensity. BCE’s monthly churn rate for the category was 1.28 per cent, up from 1.1 per cent during its previous third quarter.

The company also saw 11.6 per cent fewer gross subscriber activations “due to more targeted promotional offers and mobile device discounting compared to last year.”

Bell’s wireless mobile phone average revenue per user was $58.26, down 3.4 per cent from $60.28 in the third quarter of the prior year.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 7, 2024.

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