Canada has fallen behind other developed nations in the number of shots administered per capita as supply disruptions derail planned vaccinations.
According to data collated by the University of Oxford-based Our World in Data, Canada now ranks 20th globally, well behind allies like the United States and the United Kingdom but also middle-income countries like Poland and Serbia.
Canada’s vaccination effort has also been outpaced so far by those in Bahrain, Denmark, Germany, Israel, Italy, Malta, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Spain and the United Arab Emirates, among others.
While a laggard compared to many other wealthy nations, Canada has administered more shots per capita than G7 partners like France and Japan.
Japan, with a population of 126 million people and just 5,400 COVID-19-related deaths, hasn’t yet started its vaccination campaign. Unlike Canada, Japan is planning to produce 90 million shots of the AstraZeneca vaccine domestically.
Some observers have blamed France’s “technocratic” system with its maze of red tape — a patient needs to consult with a doctor before they get a shot — for the slow rollout there.
While the U.S. is grappling with distribution issues of its own — the press there has said President Joe Biden is “inheriting a complete disaster,” and an “absolute mess” from the last administration — the Americans have so far vaccinated 24.5 million people with at least one dose.
Even when accounting for population size, the U.S. has vaccinated 3 times more people per capita than Canada. The CBC’s vaccine tracker estimates just over 900,000 doses have been administered in Canada to this point.
The U.S., with a population roughly nine times bigger than Canada, has fully vaccinated 3.8 million Americans with the two-dose regime of either the Pfizer or Moderna products, compared to about 150,000 people in Canada.
The U.K., a world leader so far, has administered at least one dose to 11.3 per cent of its people, nearly five times more per capita than Canada.
That country’s vaccination efforts have been helped by an early approval of the product from Swedish-British pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca. Health Canada regulators are still reviewing the company’s promising vaccine for safety and efficacy.
Canada was among one of the first countries in the world to authorize the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines for use but other nations have since caught up, as Canada contends with shortages because of a plant shutdown in Belgium.
Pfizer plant back online, Canada’s shipments still delayed
Pfizer is making upgrades to its Belgian plant so it can manufacture up to two billion doses this year to meet the insatiable demand.
In order to complete those upgrades, some production lines were idled and Pfizer didn’t have enough vials to go around in the short term to meet its previously promised delivery schedule.
WATCH | COVID-19 vaccine shortage forces provinces to rethink rollout:
Canadian provinces are being forced to rethink their vaccination rollouts due to the shortage of doses from Pfizer, with some jurisdictions now considering stretching out the time between shots, despite questions over whether that would reduce vaccine effectiveness. But the federal government maintains it will vaccinate all willing Canadians by September. 2:02
A Belgian newspaper reported Thursday those upgrades are now complete, but a spokesperson for Pfizer confirmed Canada’s deliveries won’t return to a more normal level until next month.
“We expect the supply constraints of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine to last in Canada until mid-February when we will be able to increase allocations to catch up,” the spokesperson said.
“While the precise percentage allocation may fluctuate, Pfizer Canada remains on track to meet our quarterly delivery objectives to Canada by the end of the first quarter of 2021.”
Confusion over first quarter deliveries
While the delivery schedules may fluctuate, the government insists its medium-term targets are more certain.
However, a government planning document released to the provinces Wednesday caused confusion as the delivery charts indicate Canada would only receive 3.5 million Pfizer doses by the end of March, 500,000 less than anticipated.
The confusion stems from just how many doses are included in each vial shipped. Amid manufacturing delays, Pfizer is pushing the government to recognize that six doses can be extracted from each vial, but the current Health Canada standard is only five.
Dr. Howard Njoo, Canada’s deputy chief public health officer, said Health Canada is still reviewing the request to formally change the label and is examining whether that sixth dose can be extracted consistently.
Maj.-Gen. Dany Fortin, the military commander leading vaccine logistics at the Public Health Agency of Canada, insisted Thursday that, regardless of how many are in each vial, Pfizer is still contractually obligated to send 4 million doses to Canada in the first quarter of this year.
A health-care worker prepares a dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine at a COVID-19 vaccine clinic in Toronto on Jan. 7, 2021. (Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press)
He said the 3.5 million figure floated to the provinces was just for “planning purposes” in the interim, and the country will still hold Pfizer to its previous commitments.
Fortin said the pharmaceutical giant has assured Canada that it will reach 4 million doses delivered, no matter which vial standard is recognized. If Health Canada accepts that six doses can be extracted from each vial, Pfizer will send more product to cover any gaps, Fortin said.
Fortin said that Canada is expecting 79,000 Pfizer doses next week, 70,000 doses for the week of Feb. 8, 335,000 the week of Feb. 15 and 395,000 doses the week of Feb. 22. Moderna will deliver 230,400 doses next week with 249,600 doses to follow three weeks later.
Thus, Canada is expected to receive 1,359,000 doses in the month of February, enough to vaccinate 679,500 people.
The opposition Conservatives have been pressing the government on why Canada has been bested by small countries like the Seychelles on vaccinations so far. “That is not normal for a country that claims to have the best vaccine portfolio in the world,” Conservative MP Pierre Paul-Hus said in the Commons.
The government has said it still expects hundreds of thousands of doses to flow in the months ahead. “This is a completely temporary situation, as we are working hard to ensure that every Canadian who wants a vaccine gets one,” Public Services and Procurement Minister Anita Anand said.
The opposition Conservatives have been criticizing the Liberal government on the pace of Canada’s vaccination program. (File photo from Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
Under questioning from the opposition, Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland said “there is no more urgent issue for this government than getting Canadians vaccinated.”
She reminded MPs that Canada has vaccinated more people than our Five Eyes partners of Australia and New Zealand. Those two countries haven’t yet begun their vaccination programs but COVID-19 is almost non-existent there.
TORONTO – Roots Corp. may have built its brand on all things comfy and cosy, but its CEO says activewear is now “really becoming a core part” of the brand.
The category, which at Roots spans leggings, tracksuits, sports bras and bike shorts, has seen such sustained double-digit growth that Meghan Roach plans to make it a key part of the business’ future.
“It’s an area … you will see us continue to expand upon,” she told analysts on a Friday call.
The Toronto-based retailer’s push into activewear has taken shape over many years and included several turns as the official designer and supplier of Team Canada’s Olympic uniform.
But consumers have had plenty of choice when it comes to workout gear and other apparel suited to their sporting needs. On top of the slew of athletic brands like Nike and Adidas, shoppers have also gravitated toward Lululemon Athletica Inc., Alo and Vuori, ramping up competition in the activewear category.
Roach feels Roots’ toehold in the category stems from the fit, feel and following its merchandise has cultivated.
“Our product really resonates with (shoppers) because you can wear it through multiple different use cases and occasions,” she said.
“We’ve been seeing customers come back again and again for some of these core products in our activewear collection.”
Her remarks came the same day as Roots revealed it lost $5.2 million in its latest quarter compared with a loss of $5.3 million in the same quarter last year.
The company said the second-quarter loss amounted to 13 cents per diluted share for the quarter ended Aug. 3, the same as a year earlier.
In presenting the results, Roach reminded analysts that the first half of the year is usually “seasonally small,” representing just 30 per cent of the company’s annual sales.
Sales for the second quarter totalled $47.7 million, down from $49.4 million in the same quarter last year.
The move lower came as direct-to-consumer sales amounted to $36.4 million, down from $37.1 million a year earlier, as comparable sales edged down 0.2 per cent.
The numbers reflect the fact that Roots continued to grapple with inventory challenges in the company’s Cooper fleece line that first cropped up in its previous quarter.
Roots recently began to use artificial intelligence to assist with daily inventory replenishments and said more tools helping with allocation will go live in the next quarter.
Beyond that time period, the company intends to keep exploring AI and renovate more of its stores.
It will also re-evaluate its design ranks.
Roots announced Friday that chief product officer Karuna Scheinfeld has stepped down.
Rather than fill the role, the company plans to hire senior level design talent with international experience in the outdoor and activewear sectors who will take on tasks previously done by the chief product officer.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
VANCOUVER – Mediated talks between the union representing HandyDART workers in Metro Vancouver and its employer, Transdev, are set to resume today as a strike that has stopped most services drags into a second week.
No timeline has been set for the length of the negotiations, but Joe McCann, president of the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1724, says they are willing to stay there as long as it takes, even if talks drag on all night.
About 600 employees of the door-to-door transit service for people unable to navigate the conventional transit system have been on strike since last Tuesday, pausing service for all but essential medical trips.
Hundreds of drivers rallied outside TransLink’s head office earlier this week, calling for the transportation provider to intervene in the dispute with Transdev, which was contracted to oversee HandyDART service.
Transdev said earlier this week that it will provide a reply to the union’s latest proposal on Thursday.
A statement from the company said it “strongly believes” that their employees deserve fair wages, and that a fair contract “must balance the needs of their employees, clients and taxpayers.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
MONTREAL – Travel company Transat AT Inc. reported a loss in its latest quarter compared with a profit a year earlier as its revenue edged lower.
The parent company of Air Transat says it lost $39.9 million or $1.03 per diluted share in its quarter ended July 31.
The result compared with a profit of $57.3 million or $1.49 per diluted share a year earlier.
Revenue in what was the company’s third quarter totalled $736.2 million, down from $746.3 million in the same quarter last year.
On an adjusted basis, Transat says it lost $1.10 per share in its latest quarter compared with an adjusted profit of $1.10 per share a year earlier.
Transat chief executive Annick Guérard says demand for leisure travel remains healthy, as evidenced by higher traffic, but consumers are increasingly price conscious given the current economic uncertainty.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
