Editor’s Note: The Canadian Press previously reported that Canada’s first COVID-19 vaccine was administered in Toronto. However, the first shots were administered in Quebec City and Toronto within half an hour of each other, creating confusion about which province could lay claim to being the first in the country.
A resident of a long-term care home in Quebec City was the first person in Canada to receive a dose of Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine Monday.
This comes after the first batch of vaccines officially arrived in Canada Sunday evening, prompting provinces to prepare to inoculate their most vulnerable populations this week.
The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine was approved by Health Canada last week, as cases continue to spike across the country — with 460,743 total cases and 13,431 deaths as of Sunday evening.
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Ontario and Quebec, two of the hardest-hit provinces, administered the first shots Monday afternoon
Here is how the provinces and territories plan on administering the vaccine this week.
3:17 1st coronavirus vaccinations delivered to Canada
1st coronavirus vaccinations delivered to Canada
Ontario and Quebec
Quebec was the first to dole out the COVID-19 vaccine.
Premier Francois Legault announced Monday on Twitter that Gisele Levesque had received the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine at the Saint-Antoine residence.
Health officials said they would today begin vaccinating residents and staff at the Quebec City residence and at the Maimonides Geriatric Centre in Montreal after receiving a shipment of the vaccine Sunday night.
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Health Minister Christian Dube said the province plans to give its first doses of the Pfizer vaccine to about 2,000 people in long-term care homes in Montreal and Quebec City.
During the first wave of the pandemic, the virus killed nearly 6,000 residents in nursing and retirement facilities, accounting for more than 80 per cent of Canada’s COVID-19 deaths.
Maimonides Geriatric Centre had 15 deaths in an outbreak this fall, according to government data. Close to 300 of the facility’s 327 residents should be vaccinated over the course of a week, depending on their health, said Lucie Tremblay, director of nursing for the network that manages Maimonides.
Quebec says the next groups in line to be vaccinated are people living in private seniors residences, followed by residents of isolated communities and then anyone aged 80 and over.
Dube said Quebec also expects to receive enough Pfizer vaccines between Dec. 21 and Jan. 4 to vaccinate 22,000 to 28,000 people.
2:27 Ontario government prepares deep-freeze facilities for COVID-19 vaccine
Ontario government prepares deep-freeze facilities for COVID-19 vaccine
Ontario began giving out the first batch of vaccines on Monday to three personal support workers, a registered nurse, and a registered practical nurse who work at the Rekai Centre nursing home in Toronto.
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The province received 6,000 doses of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine on Sunday night and plans to give them to approximately 2,500 health-care workers.
Half the shots will be administered this week and the other half will be intentionally held back to give the same workers a required second dose 21 days later.
An additional 90,000 doses of the Pfizer vaccine are expected to arrive later this month and are to be provided to 14 hospitals in COVID-19 hot spots.
Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Andrew Furey said he anticipates receiving 1,950 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine at the Health Sciences Centre in St. John’s this week. He added that the province expects another shipment of the vaccine later in the month.
P.E.I. Chief Public Health Officer Dr. Heather Morrison said the province plans to begin by administering the Pfizer vaccine this week.
The vaccine will be administered to priority groups, including residents and staff of long-term care homes, health-care workers and adults in Indigenous communities.
Morrison said she expects to receive 1,950 doses in the first shipment, and the clinic will have to be held at the storage location because the Pfizer vaccine must be kept frozen.
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2:03 N.L., P.E.I. pull out of Atlantic bubble amid rising COVID-19 cases
N.L., P.E.I. pull out of Atlantic bubble amid rising COVID-19 cases – Nov 23, 2020
In New Brunswick, 1,950 doses are expected to arrive this week. The first vaccine administration is set to take place in Mirachimi, a city northeast of Fredericton. The vaccines will be distributed at the Miramichi Hospital, which has an ultralow-temperature freezer to store the vaccine, on Dec. 19 and 20.
The province said the first recipients will get their required second shot of the Pfizer vaccine on Jan. 9 and Jan. 10, 2021.
Nova Scotia’s chief medical officer of health said the province will also receive 1,950 doses of Pfizer’s vaccine for an initial test run beginning Tuesday.
Dr. Robert Strang said the first doses will be used to immunize front-line health workers in the Halifax area who are most directly involved in the pandemic response.
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1:52 Nova Scotia ready to roll out its first batch of vaccines
Nova Scotia ready to roll out its first batch of vaccines
Strang said because the vaccine has specific handling requirements, Pfizer has stipulated that the initial round of immunizations take place near where the doses are stored.
Nova Scotia has one ultralow-temperature freezer to store the vaccine at the tertiary care teaching complex at the Queen Elizabeth II Health Sciences Centre.
Strang said the province is getting another freezer through Ottawa that will operate out of a central depot for vaccines at the public health office in Halifax. The province is also looking at securing freezers from the private sector.
The Prairies
Manitoba expects to administer its first doses of the COVID-19 vaccine on Wednesday.
Manitoba Premier Brian Pallister said some 900 health-care workers in critical care units will be the first to receive the vaccine after doses start to arrive.
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The province has set up appointments that will take place from Wednesday to Friday, on a first-come, first-serve basis at the University of Manitoba’s Rady Health campus on McDermot Avenue.
As more shipments come in, priority will be given to other health-care workers, seniors and Indigenous people.
The province hopes to vaccinate more than 100,000 people by March — that’s roughly seven per cent of Manitoba’s population.
Officials said they’ve been setting up a large-scale “supersite” to deliver the vaccine.
1:43 Province’s first COVID-19 doses will immunize 900 Manitobans: Premier
Province’s first COVID-19 doses will immunize 900 Manitobans: Premier
Saskatchewan plans to start immunizing critical health-care workers against COVID-19 in a pilot project this week. Premier Scott Moe said the province expects to receive 1,950 doses of Pfizer’s vaccine by Tuesday.
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The initial pilot program for the vaccine will target health-care workers in ICUs, emergency departments and COVID-19 units at Regina General and Pasqua hospitals and staff at testing and assessment centres, officials said.
The first official stage of Saskatchewan’s vaccination program will be in late December when the province receives more doses. It will target more health-care workers, staff and residents in long-term care, seniors over 80 and people in remote areas who are at least 50.
Some 202,052 doses of the Pfizer vaccine are expected to arrive within the first quarter of next year, and there are to be 10,725 weekly allocations.
Moe said vaccinations for the general population is expected to begin in April.
Alberta
Alberta Health Minister Tyler Shandro said the first Pfizer vaccinations will begin Wednesday, focusing on two hospitals in Edmonton and two in Calgary.
There will be 3,900 doses going to intensive care doctors, nurses, respiratory therapists and care-home workers, he said.
Shandro said the vaccine must be administered at its delivery site, so it can’t go to care homes.
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The second batch of the vaccine is expected later this month.
The province said it eventually plans to roll out the vaccine from 30 different locations.
1:45 COVID-19 vaccine arrives in Alberta Wednesday
COVID-19 vaccine arrives in Alberta Wednesday
British Columbia
British Columbia’s provincial health officer, Dr. Bonnie Henry, said the province will start its immunization program this week with 4,000 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.
Because the Pfizer vaccine needs to be stored at ultracold temperatures, officials will bring people to the vaccine instead of the vaccine to the people, she previously said.
Henry said workers in long-term care facilities will be the first to get the doses starting this week.
She expects about 400,000 residents to be vaccinated by March.
Those recipients are to be health-care workers, people over 80, vulnerable populations, and front-line workers, including teachers and grocery workers.
Territories
Nunavut’s premier said the territory will get the vaccine made by Moderna in the first quarter of 2021.
Joe Savikataaq says Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has told him Nunavut will get enough doses to vaccinate 75 per cent of the population.
Chief public health officer Dr. Michael Patterson says Nunavut will prioritize elders and health-care workers first for the vaccine.
The premier of the Northwest Territories said N.W.T. will receive 51,000 doses of the Moderna vaccine in the new year.
Like Nunavut, that’s enough to vaccinate 75 per cent of the population ages 18 and up.
The territory is creating a vaccine team made up of nurses and support staff to travel to smaller communities.
0:43 Coronavirus: Canadian government to handle all COVID-19 vaccine costs
Coronavirus: Canadian government to handle all COVID-19 vaccine costs
Health Minister Julie Green said two specialized freezers for storing the vaccines are on their way from the federal government and will be placed in Yellowknife and Inuvik.
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Smaller, portable freezers are also on the way and will be placed in smaller communities.
Yukon also said it will get enough of the Moderna vaccine by spring to vaccinate 75 per cent of its residents.
A statement from the Yukon government said the territory’s allocation is in recognition of its large Indigenous populations and remote communities.
TORONTO – Will Taylor Swift bring chaos or do we all need to calm down?
It’s a question many Torontonians are asking this week as the city braces for the arrival of Swifties, the massive fan base of one of the world’s biggest pop stars.
Hundreds of thousands are expected to descend on the downtown core for the singer’s six concerts which kick off Thursday at the Rogers Centre and run until Nov. 23.
And while their arrival will be a boon to tourism dollars — the city estimates more than $282 million in economic impact — some worry it could worsen Toronto’s gridlock by clogging streets that already come to a standstill during rush hour.
Swift’s shows are set to collide with sports events at the nearby Scotiabank Arena, including a Raptors game on Friday and a Leafs game on Saturday.
Some residents and local businesses have already adjusted their plans to avoid the area and its planned road closures.
Aahil Dayani says he and some friends intended to throw a birthday bash for one of their pals until they realized it would overlap with the concerts.
“Something as simple as getting together and having dinner is now thrown out the window,” he said.
Dayani says the group rescheduled the gathering for after Swift leaves town. In the meantime, he plans to hunker down at his Toronto residence.
“Her coming into town has kind of changed up my social life,” he added.
“We’re pretty much just not doing anything.”
Max Sinclair, chief executive and founder of A.I. technology firm Ecomtent, suggested his employees avoid the company’s downtown offices on concert days, saying he doesn’t see the point in forcing people to endure potential traffic jams.
“It’s going to be less productive for us, and it’s going to be just a pain for everyone, so it’s easier to avoid it,” Sinclair said.
“We’re a hybrid company, so we can be flexible. It just makes sense.”
Swift’s concerts are the latest pop culture moment to draw attention to Toronto’s notoriously disastrous daily commute.
In June, One Direction singer Niall Horan uploaded a social media video of himself walking through traffic to reach the venue for his concert.
“Traffic’s too bad in Toronto, so we’re walking to the venue,” he wrote in the post.
Toronto Transit Commission spokesperson Stuart Green says the public agency has been working for more than a year on plans to ease the pressure of so many Swifties in one confined area.
“We are preparing for something that would be akin to maybe the Beatles coming in the ‘60s,” he said.
Dozens of buses and streetcars have been added to transit routes around the stadium, and the TTC has consulted the city on potential emergency scenarios.
Green will be part of a command centre operated by the City of Toronto and staffed by Toronto police leaders, emergency services and others who have handled massive gatherings including the Raptors’ NBA championship parade in 2019.
“There may be some who will say we’re over-preparing, and that’s fair,” Green said.
“But we know based on what’s happened in other places, better to be over-prepared than under-prepared.”
Metrolinx, the agency for Ontario’s GO Transit system, has also added extra trips and extended hours in some regions to accommodate fans looking to travel home.
A day before Swift’s first performance, the city began clearing out tents belonging to homeless people near the venue. The city said two people were offered space in a shelter.
“As the area around Rogers Centre is expected to receive a high volume of foot traffic in the coming days, this area has been prioritized for outreach work to ensure the safety of individuals in encampments, other residents, businesses and visitors — as is standard for large-scale events,” city spokesperson Russell Baker said in a statement.
Homeless advocate Diana Chan McNally questioned whether money and optics were behind the measure.
“People (in the area) are already in close proximity to concerts, sports games, and other events that generate massive amounts of traffic — that’s nothing new,” she said in a statement.
“If people were offered and willingly accepted a shelter space, free of coercion, I support that fully — that’s how it should happen.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 13, 2024.
TORONTO – Hundreds of Taylor Swift fans lined up outside the gates of Toronto’s Rogers Centre Wednesday, with hopes of snagging some of the pop star’s merchandise on the eve of the first of her six sold-out shows in the city.
Swift is slated to perform at the venue from Thursday to Saturday, and the following week from Nov. 21 to Nov. 23, with concert merchandise available for sale on some non-show days.
Swifties were all smiles as they left the merch shop, their arms full of sweaters and posters bearing pictures of the star and her Eras Tour logo.
Among them was Zoe Haronitis, 22, who said she waited in line for about two hours to get $300 worth of merchandise, including some apparel for her friends.
Haronitis endured the autumn cold and the hefty price tag even though she hasn’t secured a concert ticket. She said she’s hunting down a resale ticket and plans to spend up to $600.
“I haven’t really budgeted anything,” Haronitis said. “I don’t care how much money I spent. That was kind of my mindset.”
The megastar’s merchandise costs up to $115 for a sweater, and $30 for tote bags and other accessories.
Rachel Renwick, 28, also waited a couple of hours in line for merchandise, but only spent about $70 after learning that a coveted blue sweater and a crewneck had been snatched up by other eager fans before she got to the shop. She had been prepared to spend much more, she said.
“The two prized items sold out. I think a lot more damage would have been done,” Renwick said, adding she’s still determined to buy a sweater at a later date.
Renwick estimated she’s spent about $500 in total on “all-things Eras Tour,” including her concert outfit and merchandise.
The long queue for Swift merch is just a snapshot of what the city will see in the coming days. It’s estimated that up to 500,000 visitors from outside Toronto will be in town during the concert period.
Tens of thousands more are also expected to attend Taylgate’24, an unofficial Swiftie fan event scheduled to be held at the nearby Metro Toronto Convention Centre.
Meanwhile, Destination Toronto has said it anticipates the economic impact of the Eras Tour could grow to $282 million as the money continues to circulate.
But for fans like Haronitis, the experience in Toronto comes down to the Swiftie community. Knowing that Swift is going to be in the city for six shows and seeing hundreds gather just for merchandise is “awesome,” she said.
Even though Haronitis hasn’t officially bought her ticket yet, she said she’s excited to see the megastar.
“It’s literally incredible.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 13, 2024.
OTTAWA – Via Rail is asking for a judicial review on the reasons why Canadian National Railway Co. has imposed speed restrictions on its new passenger trains.
The Crown corporation says it is seeking the review from the Federal Court after many attempts at dialogue with the company did not yield valid reasoning for the change.
It says the restrictions imposed last month are causing daily delays on Via Rail’s Québec City-Windsor corridor, affecting thousands of passengers and damaging Via Rail’s reputation with travellers.
CN says in a statement that it imposed the restrictions at rail crossings given the industry’s experience and known risks associated with similar trains.
The company says Via has asked the courts to weigh in even though Via has agreed to buy the equipment needed to permanently fix the issues.
Via said in October that no incidents at level crossings have been reported in the two years since it put 16 Siemens Venture trains into operation.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 13, 2024.
