Business
Dogecoin hits record after tweets from Elon Musk and Snoop Dogg – Al Jazeera English
Dogecoin touched a record on Monday after Tesla founder Elon Musk and celebrities Snoop Dogg and Kiss bassist Gene Simmons tweeted about it.
Dogecoin, the tongue-in-cheek cryptocurrency featuring a Shiba Inu dog as a mascot, briefly touched a record Monday after billionaire Elon Musk, rapper Snoop Dogg and Kiss bassist Gene Simmons tweeted about it.
The token climbed to a peak of about 8.2 U.S. cents and a market capitalization of $10.5 billion Monday before pulling back, according to pricing data from CoinGecko. The coin was ranked among the top 10 cryptocurrencies by market value, the figures showed. Bitcoin surged to a record after Tesla Inc. disclosed that it had purchased $1.5 billion of the cryptocurrency.
🎶 Who let the Doge out 🎶
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 7, 2021
Dogecoin’s surprising social media-fueled rally is just one instance of the revival in cryptocurrencies over the past year. The two biggest tokens, Bitcoin and Ether, both scaled fresh peaks in recent weeks amid a debate about whether they’re blipping onto the radar of long-term investors or being lifted by waves of speculative buying in a world awash with stimulus.
Famed fund manager Bill Miller has reserved the right for one of his portfolios to indirectly invest in Bitcoin via the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust, according to a filing with U.S. regulators. Miller is one of Bitcoin’s earliest proponents among well-known investors, saying in 2014 he owned the cryptocurrency personally.
Bitcoin was trading at about $43,824 as of 10:04 a.m. in New York, after surging to a record $44,795. Ether traded near an all-time high amid the start of trading in CME Group Inc. futures contracts.
Musk, the richest person in the world, has tweeted multiple times about Dogecoin recently. Snoop Dogg pinned a tweet with “Snoop Doge.” Simmons, a member of the American rock band Kiss, pointed out how much people could have made if they had purchased Dogecoin earlier.
Speaking on social audio app Clubhouse on Feb. 1, Musk said he’s a supporter of Bitcoin and thinks it’s “a good thing.” He added that his comments on Dogecoin were meant as jokes.
(Adds Tesla purchase of Bitcoin in the third paragraph.)
Business
As more COVID-19 vaccines arrive, provinces look to revise vaccination timeline – Global News
Armed with four approved COVID-19 vaccines and possible dosing gaps, Canadian provinces are now aiming to review their vaccination timelines and get more people immunized earlier than projected.
The Johnson & Johnson vaccine is the newest to be approved by Health Canada, which unlike the others, requires just a single dose.
Canada has pre-purchased 10 million doses, and has options to buy another 28 million doses. Additionally, the country is expected to receive 12.8 million doses between April to June, from Pfizer alone.
From a logistical standpoint, this could imply faster vaccination across all provinces.
The Manitoba government has already announced that it’s possible everyone in the province 18 and older who wants to get a COVID-19 vaccination may have the chance to do so by May 18.
The numbers for Manitoba, released in a technical briefing to the media Friday, say if vaccine supplies are steady, it will move up first-dose vaccinations by months.
Some 18,000 doses of the newly-approved Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine are expected to arrive in the province next week, and will immediately be distributed to eligible clinics and pharmacies, Dr. Joss Reimer, medical lead of the province’s vaccine task force, said Friday.
“We’re very confident in the data that we’ve seen so far regarding the effectiveness in the real world of the first dose,” Reimer said.
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Federal authorities said Friday that the four vaccines that have been approved in Canada may have different efficacy rates, but data shows they all are safe and can prevent severe illness and impact hospitalization from COVID-19.
The Ontario government too has declared that it is now looking to have all eligible residents who wish to get a vaccine, have their first shot completed by June 20.
“We’ve had a seismic shift in our vaccination opportunities and the program to roll it out,” said retired general Rick Hillier, the head of the province’s vaccine task force.
The recent approval of the AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson vaccines and the extended gap between first and second doses will allow the province to “crush those timelines really tightly.”
Read more:
Ford government aims to have all eligible Ontarians receive 1st COVID-19 vaccine shot by June 20
“Our aim would be to allow the province of Ontario to have a first needle in the arm of every eligible person who wants it by the first day of summer,” Hillier said. “Please be patient a little while longer.”
The province is currently nearing the end of Phase 1, in which those living in long-term care homes, retirement homes, as well as staff and front-line workers were targeted.
More than 820,000 doses have been administered and at least 269,000 Ontarians have been fully immunized with two shots.
Earlier this week, Canada’s National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI) recommended that provinces and territories extend the interval between first and second COVID-19 vaccine doses up to four months.
“Extending the dose interval to four months allows NACI to create opportunities for protection of the entire adult population within a short timeframe,” the committee said.
Following the advisory, Nova Scotia Premier Iain Rankin announced that everyone in the province could get their first shot of the COVID-19 vaccine by the end of June.
British Columbia too, is expecting all adults in the province to have the option to receive their first dose before the end of July.
Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry announced Monday that the gap between the first and second doses of the vaccine will be extended to 112 days.
Efficacy studies of the vaccine have shown that receiving a first shot of the vaccine is more than 90 per cent effective for at least a few months, Henry said.
“That is why I am so confident that the decision we made, over this weekend, to extend that interval is the best one based on all of the science and the data that we have to maximize the benefit to everybody in our community here in B.C.,” Henry added.
Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe also said Thursday that the prairie province would also follow suit and extend the gap between doses. Other provinces, such as Alberta, Newfoundland and Labrador have suggested they plan to do the same.
— With files from The Canadian Press and Global News
© 2021 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
Business
32 new COVID cases reported in Lethbridge Saturday, 341 province-wide – Lethbridge News Now
In total, 1,834,591 people have been tested in Alberta. The 8,142 tests completed on Friday saw a positivity rate of 4.1 per cent.
247 people are in hospital, with 42 in intensive care (ICU).
As of Friday, 282,674 doses of COVID vaccine have been administered in the province, with 90,824 Albertans fully immunized (two doses). More details on the province’s vaccine program and distribution can be found here.
Below is a breakdown of cases per regional health zone in Alberta:
- Edmonton Zone – 54,266 cases, 1,154 active
- 70 in hospital, 13 in ICU
- 976 deaths (one new)
- Calgary Zone – 51,842 cases, 1,659 active
- 81 in hospital, 14 in ICU
- 591 deaths
- North Zone – 12,280 cases, 958 active
- 32 in hospital, one in ICU
- 140 deaths
- Central Zone – 10,365 cases, 511 active
- 34 in hospital, eight in ICU
- 115 deaths
- South Zone – 6,677 cases, 353 active
- 30 in hospital, six in ICU
- 92 deaths
There are also 107 cases (14 active) in zones that are unknown.
Below is a graph illustrating how COVID-19 cases have trended since the start of the pandemic. More details can be found here.
The province reported 36 cases of COVID variants, bringing the total of variant cases in Alberta to 599. None of those cases are currently in the South Zone.
Below is a breakdown of cases in the South Health Zone:
- Brooks – 1,363 cases (one new), one active, 14 deaths
- Lethbridge – 2,252 cases (32 new), 258 active, 20 deaths
- South Lethbridge – 755 cases, 72 active, 16 deaths
- West Lethbridge – 750 cases, 66 active, two deaths
- North Lethbridge – 746 cases, 120 active, two deaths
- Cardston County – 626 cases (five new), 50 active, 12 deaths
- Medicine Hat – 559 cases (one new), 13 active, 17 deaths
- Lethbridge County – 549 cases, 16 active, seven deaths
- M.D. of Taber – 340 cases, four active, six deaths
- M.D. of Pincher Creek – 218 cases, three active, five deaths
- County of Warner – 162 cases (one new), zero active, three deaths
- County of Newell – 160 cases, one active, two deaths
- Cypress County – 145 cases, one active, zero deaths
- County of Forty Mile – 117 cases, zero active, two deaths
- Fort Macleod – 102 cases (one new), five active, four deaths
- Crowsnest Pass – 24 cases, zero active, zero deaths
The next live update from the province will be on Monday, March 8.
REGINA —
Three COVID-19 deaths were reported in Saskatchewan on Saturday, along with 163 new cases and 52 recoveries.
The province said the deaths include one person in their 50s, one person in their 70s and one person in the 80-plus age group. All three people were from the Saskatoon zone.
There are currently 1,613 cases considered active. The seven-day average for new cases is 155, or 12.7 per 100,000 population.
The 163 new cases were reported in the Far North West (four), Far North East (14), North West (10), North Central (20), North East (three), Saskatoon (34), Central West (one), Central East (12), Regina (58), South West (one) and South East (four) zones.
Twelve cases pending residence information were assigned. Two out-of-province cases were removed from the counts.
There are 142 people in hospital related to COVID-19 in Saskatchewan, including 22 in intensive care.
The province said 2,744 COVID-19 tests were processed in Saskatchewan on Friday.
A total of 3,577 doses of COVID-19 vaccine were newly administered, bringing total distribution to 90,456 doses.
Quebec reports 749 new COVID-19 cases, 10 deaths as province expands vaccine access – The Daily Courier
COVID-19 vaccines could be available to the general public in Kingston in May, top doctor predicts – CTV Edmonton
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