OTTAWA —
The panel of medical experts advising the federal government on vaccination has now expanded its recommendation for the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine to include people 65 years of age and older.
The National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI) issued new advice Tuesday morning stating that the two-dose viral vector vaccine can and should be given to seniors.
Since the AstraZeneca vaccine’s initial approval for use in Canada last month, NACI says it looked at three real-world studies that justify expanding its advice to include those 65 and older.
Those studies showed that the AstraZeneca vaccine is safe and effective “particularly against severe COVID-19 disease and hospitalization” in older adults including those who are 80 and older with comorbidities.
Earlier this month, NACI initially recommended against administering the AstraZeneca vaccine to Canadians 65 years of age and older, and said they should be prioritized for the mRNA Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines because there was stronger evidence of their efficacy in that age group.
NACI is still recommending the mRNA vaccines be prioritized for use in those at higher risk of exposure, severe illness, and death.
The initial suggestion to hold off on administering this vaccine to people older than 65 was at odds with Health Canada’s February regulatory approval of the vaccine. Health Canada has said that the AstraZeneca vaccine has an efficacy of 62.1 per cent among people 18 to 64 years old.
“It’s not that we’re flip-flopping, it’s just that we try to monitor the evidence,” said NACI chair Dr. Caroline Quach-Thanh during a briefing, when asked to address the possible impact on vaccine confidence from changing the guidance in such a short timeframe.
“It’s always easier if Health Canada and NACI agree, but it doesn’t have to be. It’s not the first time it doesn’t,” she said, noting that the new studies informing their current position came to light following their initial guidance.
The NACI panel does not impose rules around vaccination. It only offers recommendations, which then allow provinces to tailor their own vaccination rollout plans to fit their needs.
The group says it will keep monitoring any new data from ongoing clinical trials and real-world evidence of the effectiveness of all vaccines currently approved byHealth Canada, and will further revise its recommendations as needed.
NACI’s changed guidance was welcomed by members of the medical community who are pushing to get as many Canadians vaccinated as quickly as possible, but are confronted by patients’ concerns about the AstraZeneca vaccine.
“The efficacy in terms of real world data shows that it is working, and the sooner we get shots in arms, the better it will be,” said Dr. Sandy Tecimer, clinical lead at Prince Edward Medical in Toronto in an interview on CTV News Channel.
However, Ontario Premier Doug Ford voiced his frustration with having to keep up with NACI’s continuously evolving advice.
“I can’t begin to tell you the logistics behind it. It just messes everything up to be very frank with you. It’s good news that they can you know, can go older than 65 but man, we have everything set up, get everyone lined up, and all of a sudden without notice today, now we can move the goalpost again,” Ford told reporters. “So now we have to change everything. It’s not easy.”
HEALTH CANADA ON CLOT CONCERNS
Over the last few days several European countries have suspended use of the AstraZeneca vaccine following reports of blood clots in some recipients, despite European regulators indicating that there’s no evidence that the vaccine is to blame.
AstraZeneca has also said that a “careful review” of more than 17 million people who’ve received their vaccine in the U.K. and Europe found “no evidence” of an elevated blood clotting risk in any batch, or age group.
On Tuesday, Quach said NACI is monitoring the adverse events, but noted it’ll be up to Health Canada to advise whether Canada would pause the use of this vaccine. So far, the federal health agency continues to stand by its authorization of the AstraZeneca vaccine and says that the risk of contracting COVID-19 outweighs any potential complications.
“Health Canada is actively monitoring the ongoing situation in Europe… Based on the information that Health Canada has reviewed, the number of cases of thromboembolic adverse events at this point in time are lower than the rates that would be expected in the population that has been vaccinated with the AstraZeneca vaccine,” said Health Canada director Marc Berthiaume on Tuesday.
“We are aware of those cases, we are in direct communication with the European Medicines Agency… we are looking to get additional information about the case,” said Berthiaume, adding that more information will be made available on Thursday during an international meeting about these reports of adverse effects.
“At this point in time based on the information that has been distributed by and reviewed by Health Canada, there is no safety concern… but we’re actively looking into the issue,” he said.
Further, Chief Public Health Officer Dr. Theresa Tam noted in a later press conference that, to date, there have been no unexpected vaccine safety issues identified in Canada.
Tecimer said her medical facility is nevertheless getting “called nonstop” with questions about the AstraZeneca vaccine. “So far the event rates of the clots from the vaccine are not higher than the event rates that we see in real life of blood clots. And we know that when you’re infected with the COVID virus your risk of blood clots increases significantly, so we are encouraging patients not to hold back.”
Canada is scheduled to receive 23.9 million doses of the vaccine, with the first 500,000 doses already being administered across the country.
With files from CTV News’ Nicole Bogart and Ben Cousins
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.
