The latest:
Saskatchewan is activating its emergency operations centre to lead its response to record levels of COVID-19.
Premier Scott Moe says the move will better co-ordinate the pandemic response between government ministries and staff, and provide administrative support so health-care workers can focus on treating patients.
He says the province’s chief medical health officer will continue to be responsible for public health recommendations and orders.
On Wednesday, the province reported 356 people in hospital with COVID-19, including 76 in intensive care — the highest since the pandemic began.
Saskatchewan has the highest rate of new daily COVID-19 cases in the last week of any province.
Moe says most COVID-19 patients in hospital are not vaccinated and people need to stop spreading conspiracy theories about vaccines.
Earlier this week, the provincial government said it would not be bringing in gathering limits for Thanksgiving, despite requests from the Saskatchewan Medical Association and Saskatchewan Union of Nurses to do so.
Instead, the province recommended people meet outdoors as much as possible, and warned that children under 12, who aren’t yet eligible for vaccination against COVID-19, have a higher risk of contracting the virus.
What’s happening across Canada
![](https://thumbnails.cbc.ca/maven_legacy/thumbnails/820/786/m_booster.jpg?crop=1.777xh:h;*,*&downsize=510px:* 510w")
Canadians who are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 might see longer immunity if their shots were spaced further apart than recommended by the vaccine makers, says Dr. Matthew Oughton, an infectious diseases specialist in Montreal who said most people don’t need booster shots at this time. (Evan Mitsui/CBC) 4:51
What’s happening around the world
As of early Thursday morning, more than 236.5 million cases of COVID-19 had been reported worldwide, according to Johns Hopkins University’s coronavirus-tracking tool. The reported global death toll stood at more than 4.8 million.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres appealed on Thursday for $8 billion US to help equitably vaccinate 40 per cent of people in all countries by the end of the year, as the World Health Organization (WHO) launched a plan that aims to inoculate 70 per cent of the world by mid-2022.
Guterres urged the Group of 20 rich countries to deliver on their “desire to get the world vaccinated” at a summit in Rome later this month.
“Not to have equitable distribution of vaccines is not only a question of being immoral, it is also a question of being stupid,” he said at a joint news conference with WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, warning of the potential for new, vaccine-resistant variants to emerge if the virus continues to spread “like wildfire.”
![](https://thumbnails.cbc.ca/maven_legacy/thumbnails/853/995/UN_WHO_Video_Mixdown_4.jpg?crop=1.777xh:h;*,*&downsize=510px:* 510w")
United Nations Secretary General António Guterres said not having equitable distribution of COVID-19 vaccines around the world is both ‘immoral’ and ‘stupid.’ At the same press conference, World Health Organization Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus called for the sharing of intellectual property so more COVID-19 vaccines can be produced. 2:30
So far, more than 6.3 billion doses of coronavirus vaccines have been administered globally. But more than half of the world has yet to receive at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, according to Our World in Data, and less than five per cent of Africans have been fully vaccinated, according to the continent’s top public health official.
In Europe, Russia’s daily coronavirus infections soared Thursday to their highest level so far this year as authorities have struggled to control a surge in new cases amid a slow pace in vaccinations and few restrictions in place.
The government’s coronavirus task force reported 27,550 new confirmed cases, a nearly 10 per cent rise from the previous day. The daily coronavirus death toll topped 900 for a second straight day, with 924 new deaths reported Thursday — a day after reaching a record 929.
In Africa, Sudan has received more than 500,000 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine produced by Pfizer, the first batch of a U.S. donation of 1.27 million doses through the COVAX vaccine-sharing initiative.
In the Asia-Pacific region, the World Health Organization has started shipping COVID-19 medical supplies into North Korea, a possible sign that the North is easing one of the world’s strictest pandemic border closures to receive outside help.
In the Middle East, rebel-held northwest Syria is facing an unprecedented coronavirus surge and aid agencies are calling on the world to help provide humanitarian and medical aid, increase hospital capacity and ensure people are vaccinated.
The surge, apparently caused by the more contagious delta variant, has overwhelmed hospitals with sick patients and is causing shortages of oxygen, according to local officials. The local rebel-run authority imposed a nighttime curfew as of Tuesday while schools and universities were closed and students are getting distant learning.
In the Americas, Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech have asked the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to approve emergency use of their COVID-19 vaccine for children aged five to 11, Pfizer said in a tweet on Thursday.
The FDA has set a date of Oct. 26 for outside advisers to meet and discuss the Pfizer application.
U.S. President Joe Biden is set to visit Chicago on Thursday to meet with United Airlines’ chief executive and local Democratic leaders as he touts his decision to impose vaccine mandates on employees of large firms, the White House said. United this summer became the first American carrier to institute a vaccine mandate.
Have questions about this story? We’re answering as many as we can in the comments.
