The head of the World Health Organization has called for a two-month moratorium on administering booster shots of COVID-19 vaccines as a means of reducing global vaccine inequality and preventing the emergence of new coronavirus variants.
WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told reporters Monday that he was “really disappointed” with the scope of vaccine donations worldwide. He called on countries offering third vaccine doses to forward what they would use for booster shots to other countries so they can increase their vaccination coverage.
Those whose immune system is compromised should get a booster shot, though they represent only a small percentage of the population, he added.
The United States announced last week it plans to make COVID-19 vaccine booster shots widely available starting on Sept. 20 as infections rise from the coronavirus delta variant.
Tedros said that vaccine injustice and vaccine nationalism increase the risk of more contagious variants like the delta variant emerging.
.– From The Associated Press and Reuters, last updated at 9 a.m. ET
What’s happening in Canada
WATCH | COVID-19 surges in parts of Western Canada:
COVID-19 surges in parts of Western Canada
16 hours ago
A surge in COVID-19 cases in Western Canada has some speculating if B.C. will push back its final re-opening phase, while the Canadian Armed Forces has been sent in for help in the Northwest Territories. 2:03
What’s happening around the world
A teacher, centre right, keeps a watch as students of a government school leave in Bangalore, India, on Monday. (Manjunath Kiran/AFP/Getty Images)
As of early Monday morning, more than 211.8 million cases of COVID-19 had been reported worldwide, according to Johns Hopkins University. The reported global death toll stood at more than 4.4 million.
In the Asia-Pacific region, Vietnam’s largest metropolis, Ho Chi Minh City, began a stricter lockdown on Monday in an attempt to curb its worst coronavirus outbreak, a day before U.S Vice-President Kamala Harris arrives in the country on a state visit. Since a wave of infections began at the end of April, Vietnam has reported 344,000 cases, with Ho Chi Minh City and neighbouring Binh Duong accounting for most of them.
Ho Chi Minh City and Vietnam’s entire southern region have already been in lockdown since July, when the delta variant started to spread quickly.
New Zealand’s government, meanwhile, said it’s extending a strict nationwide lockdown until at least Friday as it tries to extinguish a growing coronavirus outbreak. The news came as health authorities reported 35 new local infections of the fast-spreading delta variant, the highest number of COVID-19 cases in New Zealand since April last year.
People queue to be vaccinated at the New South Wales Health mass vaccination hub in Homebush in Sydney, Australia, on Monday. (Lisa Maree Williams/Getty Images)
Meanwhile, in neighbouring Australia, Prime Minister Scott Morrison says lockdowns are not a sustainable way to live. He says states must open their borders once vaccination rates reach 80 per cent of the population aged 16 years and older.
In the Americas, the U.S. gave full approval to Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine on Monday, a milestone that may help lift public confidence in the shots as the country battles the most contagious coronavirus mutant yet.
The vaccine made by Pfizer and its partner BioNTech now carries the strongest endorsement from the Food and Drug Administration, which has never before had so much evidence to judge a shot’s safety. More than 200 million Pfizer doses already have been administered in the U.S. — and hundreds of millions more worldwide — since emergency use began in December.
Today, FDA approved the first COVID-19 vaccine for the prevention of <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/COVID19?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#COVID19</a> disease in individuals 16 years of age and older. <a href=”https://t.co/iOqsxXV1fj”>https://t.co/iOqsxXV1fj</a>
The Pentagon said Monday that it will require service members to receive the COVID-19 vaccine now that the Pfizer vaccine has received full approval. Pentagon spokesperson John Kirby said guidance is being developed and a timeline will be provided in the coming days.
In a memo Aug. 9, Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin said he’d seek the president’s approval to make the vaccine mandatory no later than mid-September, or immediately upon FDA licensure, “whichever comes first.”
Kirby said the move is an effort to ensure the safety of service members. Concerns about the virus are especially acute in the military, where service members live and work closely together in barracks and on ships, increasing the risks of rapid spreading.
In the Middle East, hard-hit Iran was still struggling with an uptick in COVID-19 cases and deaths, reporting on Monday that 610 additional people had died over 24 hours, according to the country’s Health Ministry.
Oman, meanwhile, will allow anyone holding a vaccine certificate to travel to the country from Sept. 1, the civil aviation authority said.
In Africa, Egypt’s health minister said they detected the country’s first case of the delta variant last month.
In Europe, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said “everything points at no new nationwide shutdown will be necessary” because of the high number of people vaccinated in the country. Getting the shot in Denmark is voluntary and is available to people aged 12 years and older.
– From The Associated Press, Reuters and CBC News, last updated at 11:55 a.m. ET
Have questions about this story? We’re answering as many as we can in the comments.
VANCOUVER – Contract negotiations resume today in Vancouver in a labour dispute that has paralyzed container cargo shipping at British Columbia’s ports since Monday.
The BC Maritime Employers Association and International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 514 are scheduled to meet for the next three days in mediated talks to try to break a deadlock in negotiations.
The union, which represents more than 700 longshore supervisors at ports, including Vancouver, Prince Rupert and Nanaimo, has been without a contract since March last year.
The latest talks come after employers locked out workers in response to what it said was “strike activity” by union members.
The start of the lockout was then followed by several days of no engagement between the two parties, prompting federal Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon to speak with leaders on both sides, asking them to restart talks.
MacKinnon had said that the talks were “progressing at an insufficient pace, indicating a concerning absence of urgency from the parties involved” — a sentiment echoed by several business groups across Canada.
In a joint letter, more than 100 organizations, including the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, Business Council of Canada and associations representing industries from automotive and fertilizer to retail and mining, urged the government to do whatever it takes to end the work stoppage.
“While we acknowledge efforts to continue with mediation, parties have not been able to come to a negotiated agreement,” the letter says. “So, the federal government must take decisive action, using every tool at its disposal to resolve this dispute and limit the damage caused by this disruption.
“We simply cannot afford to once again put Canadian businesses at risk, which in turn puts Canadian livelihoods at risk.”
In the meantime, the union says it has filed a complaint to the Canada Industrial Relations Board against the employers, alleging the association threatened to pull existing conditions out of the last contract in direct contact with its members.
“The BCMEA is trying to undermine the union by attempting to turn members against its democratically elected leadership and bargaining committee — despite the fact that the BCMEA knows full well we received a 96 per cent mandate to take job action if needed,” union president Frank Morena said in a statement.
The employers have responded by calling the complaint “another meritless claim,” adding the final offer to the union that includes a 19.2 per cent wage increase over a four-year term remains on the table.
“The final offer has been on the table for over a week and represents a fair and balanced proposal for employees, and if accepted would end this dispute,” the employers’ statement says. “The offer does not require any concessions from the union.”
The union says the offer does not address the key issue of staffing requirement at the terminals as the port introduces more automation to cargo loading and unloading, which could potentially require fewer workers to operate than older systems.
The Port of Vancouver is the largest in Canada and has seen a number of labour disruptions, including two instances involving the rail and grain storage sectors earlier this year.
A 13-day strike by another group of workers at the port last year resulted in the disruption of a significant amount of shipping and trade.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2024.
The Royal Canadian Legion says a new partnership with e-commerce giant Amazon is helping boost its veterans’ fund, and will hopefully expand its donor base in the digital world.
Since the Oct. 25 launch of its Amazon.ca storefront, the legion says it has received nearly 10,000 orders for poppies.
Online shoppers can order lapel poppies on Amazon in exchange for donations or buy items such as “We Remember” lawn signs, Remembrance Day pins and other accessories, with all proceeds going to the legion’s Poppy Trust Fund for Canadian veterans and their families.
Nujma Bond, the legion’s national spokesperson, said the organization sees this move as keeping up with modern purchasing habits.
“As the world around us evolves we have been looking at different ways to distribute poppies and to make it easier for people to access them,” she said in an interview.
“This is definitely a way to reach a wider number of Canadians of all ages. And certainly younger Canadians are much more active on the web, on social media in general, so we’re also engaging in that way.”
Al Plume, a member of a legion branch in Trenton, Ont., said the online store can also help with outreach to veterans who are far from home.
“For veterans that are overseas and are away, (or) can’t get to a store they can order them online, it’s Amazon.” Plume said.
Plume spent 35 years in the military with the Royal Engineers, and retired eight years ago. He said making sure veterans are looked after is his passion.
“I’ve seen the struggles that our veterans have had with Veterans Affairs … and that’s why I got involved, with making sure that the people get to them and help the veterans with their paperwork.”
But the message about the Amazon storefront didn’t appear to reach all of the legion’s locations, with volunteers at Branch 179 on Vancouver’s Commercial Drive saying they hadn’t heard about the online push.
Holly Paddon, the branch’s poppy campaign co-ordinator and bartender, said the Amazon partnership never came up in meetings with other legion volunteers and officials.
“I work at the legion, I work with the Vancouver poppy office and I go to the meetings for the Vancouver poppy campaign — which includes all the legions in Vancouver — and not once has this been mentioned,” she said.
Paddon said the initiative is a great idea, but she would like to have known more about it.
The legion also sells a larger collection of items at poppystore.ca.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2024.
