It’s been more than a year since Canada first started rolling out COVID-19 vaccine doses. Now, Canadians are rolling up their sleeves to get booster shots to combat the highly transmissible Omicron variant. But do boosters have the same side effects as the initial vaccine shots?
Canada’s National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI) recommends that booster shots of an mRNA vaccine – from Pfizer and Moderna – be offered to adults aged 18 and above at least six months after their second dose.
In updated guidance released on Dec. 3, NACI also said immunocompromised Canadians may receive a second booster, or fourth shot, at least six months after their last dose.
Side effects are common when it comes to vaccines and booster shots are no different.
“Side effects often tell us that our immune systems are actually working and are responding as they should to the vaccine,” said Dr. Samir Sinha, director of geriatrics at Sinai Health and University Health Network hospitals in Toronto.
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Experts say while some people may experience a more intense reaction to the shots with headaches, body chills and fatigue, others just feel some soreness in the arm that was injected.
“The adverse effects of dose three should not differ all that much compared to dose two or previous injections,” said Dr. Ciriaco Picirillo, an immunologist and senior scientist at the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre (MUHC).
Clinical trial data shows that a booster dose of an mRNA COVID-19 vaccine has a favourable safety profile comparable to the second dose of the primary series, according to NACI.
A survey conducted in Israel showed that most people who received a third dose of Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine felt similar or fewer side effects than they did after receiving the second shot.
Pfizer’s booster shot has exactly the same formula and dosage (30 micrograms) as the initial two doses.
According to clinical trial data submitted to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) by Pfizer, pain at the injection site was the most common adverse reaction – reported by 83 per cent of recipients.
Fatigue was the second most frequent side effect (63.8 per cent), followed by headache (48.4 per cent), muscle or joint pain (39.1 per cent) and chills (29.1 per cent). The side effects were mostly mild to moderate, lasting roughly two days after receiving the booster shot.
“Of note, swollen lymph nodes in the underarm were observed more frequently following the booster dose than after the second dose of a two-dose primary series,” the FDA said.
No deaths or other adverse events of clinical interest – such as myocarditis, pericarditis, Bell’s Palsy, or appendicitis – were reported following the booster dose.
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Moderna’s booster is the same formula but half the original dose – 50 micrograms – is administered, except for immunocompromised individuals, long-term care residents and those aged 70 and above, who should receive the full dose of 100 micrograms, as indicated by NACI.
Adverse reactions reported in Moderna’s booster clinical trials included pain at the injection site, fatigue, headache, muscle pain, joint stiffness, chills, nausea/vomiting, axillary swelling/tenderness, fever, swelling at the injection site, redness at the injection site, and rash.
Anaphylaxis and other severe allergic reactions, myocarditis, pericarditis, and syncope (fainting) have also been reported outside of clinical trials, Moderna said.
Immune response
A more intense reaction following a booster is sign of a stronger immune response, said Sinha.
“Some people are reporting that they’ve experienced side effects for the first time or a more significant level of side effects with their booster dose than they did with their first or second dose,” he said.
Pfizer’s booster is preferred for those aged 18 to 29 years due to the lower risk of myocarditis and pericarditis with this vaccine, according to NACI’s guidelines.
However, those aged 30 and up can get either Moderna or Pfizer.
Sinha said there is no concrete data to suggest that one brand of vaccine would elicit more side effects compared to the other.
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According to Picirillo, it’s not entirely clear why some people develop adverse reactions, either local or systemic, and others do not.
Age could be a contributing factor, with younger people having more effects than older individuals, Picirillo said.
“This is thought to relate to the more robust and more vigorous immune responses in the young, particularly in the first line of defence, termed innate immunity.”
Other factors including pre-existing conditions, genetics and environmental factors are likely at play, he added.
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.
