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Canadians may need COVID-19 boosters by Christmas, Moderna president says – Global News
Moderna’s president is warning that Canada could see a rise in so-called “breakthrough” infections of COVID-19 among fully vaccinated people by Christmas time, prompting the need for a booster shot for the broader public.
“In December and January, when flu season comes back and when respiratory viruses really take off around the holidays, it could become a very bad moment because you’ll see high forces of infection and breakthroughs,” president Stephen Hoge said in an exclusive interview with Global News’ current affairs show The New Reality.
Moderna has been studying the immune response to its vaccine since the summer of 2020, when 30,000 participants received two doses, 28 days apart. Moderna says data from that trial shows antibodies start to wane about six months after the second shot.
WATCH: Antibodies only half the story of immune protection: experts
While antibodies are expected to decrease over time, Hoge said alarm bells started going off over the summer as outbreaks fuelled by the Delta variant surged worldwide. Moderna researchers began to see a spike in breakthrough cases of symptomatic COVID-19, among those fully vaccinated clinical trial participants.
This is prompting Moderna to call for a booster for fully vaccinated adults.
“None of us want to be in a situation where we’re showing up six months or three months late … where we’re seeing breakthrough infections, severe disease, hospitalization, and even death.”
Canadian data shows vaccine effectiveness is still remarkably robust at preventing severe outcomes, like hospitalization, from COVID-19. Hoge said that could be, in part, because some Canadian provinces delayed the interval between the first and second doses by up to four months, prolonging immunity.
Read more:
An exclusive look inside Moderna
The decision to stretch the interval between doses was a controversial move as health officials weighed the benefits of getting people fully vaccinated versus giving more people partial immunity with one dose.
“In retrospect, we will probably say that time between the doses extended the durability,” Hoge said.
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“The more recently you were boosted with your second dose, the less likely you’re going to need a third dose booster. And that’s good news,” he said. “The challenge for all of us is you also don’t want to wait too long.”
WATCH: Boosters could be needed annually says Moderna’s president
But fast-forward six months from summer – after many Canadians received their second doses – and the number of breakthrough infections could change, Moderna’s internal trial data suggests.
“Do we expect there to be waning immunity in populations like Canada that had separated booster doses? I think the answer is yes,” Hoge said.
“That’s the concern, that by Christmas things could look very different.”
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The concerning forecast comes as health officials in the U.S. are launching campaigns to provide booster shots for millions of vulnerable people who received the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine. The Centres for Disease Control (CDC) formally approved plans for additional shots for people who work in high-risk jobs like teachers and health care workers, as well as anyone over 65.
Canada’s National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI), meanwhile, has only recommended additional shots for people with compromised immune systems and those living in congregate care settings, like long-term care homes.
The booster debate has divided the international scientific community, with some saying there is no current need for additional doses for healthy adults, while others say there is mounting evidence showing immunity is declining.
Studies from Pfizer and the CDC have also suggested evidence of waning vaccine effectiveness.
One CDC study evaluated data from New York State from May 3 to July 25, when the Delta variant represented more than 80 per cent of new cases. The effectiveness of vaccines in preventing infection in adults declined from 91.7 percent to 79.8 percent during that time, the study found.
During those weeks, New York recorded 9,675 breakthrough infections and 1,271 hospitalizations in vaccinated people, roughly 15 per cent of all COVID-19 hospitalizations.
However, a series of contrasting studies released by the CDC have shown the vaccines are working well at preventing severe disease.
A pair of analyses released last month showed that vaccines are still holding up in the fight against COVID-19. One study indicated unvaccinated people were about 4.5 times more likely to become infected, and were more than 10 times more likely to need hospitalization or die from COVID-19 than people who are fully vaccinated.
Canadian public health officials, meanwhile, say they are evaluating data from other countries before making any further recommendations on booster doses.
“(NACI) continues to review evidence on the effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines in key populations and the general population, including the duration of protection that will inform decisions regarding booster doses,” a spokesperson with the Public Health Agency of Canada said in an email.
Moderna has asked regulators in the U.S. to greenlight a half-dose (50mcg) of its original vaccine for use six months after the second shot. Hoge says its data shows the booster brings antibody levels even higher than after the initial shots across all age groups.
They have yet to make a formal submission to Health Canada for approval but are planning to do so imminently, Hoge said.
“Our clinical trials – which are the longest exposures to the vaccine and the virus that we have – are starting to suggest to us that it’s time to get concerned and get ready,” he said.
“We’ll present that data to Health Canada and to recommending bodies globally, but they then need to decide ‘OK, does that cause them to take action for their people?’”
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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.
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The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
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.
Companies in this story: (TSX:SHOP)
The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
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.
Companies in this story: (TSX:REI.UN)
The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
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