OTTAWA —
Seeking to stamp out confusion over what should be made of the advice coming from a federal panel of medical experts that second COVID-19 vaccine doses should be delayed by up to four months, federal health officials say that the latest guidance is meant to “complement, not mirror” the official Health Canada authorizations for use of these vaccines and that Canadians should expect the advice around the best administration strategy to keep changing.
Late Wednesday, the National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI) issued new guidance advising that the window between shots for all three of the currently approved vaccines—Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, and AstraZeneca—can now be delayed by up to four months, while still being effective.
The approach of holding off on administering all second doses by four months is in contrast with what Health Canada’s authorization of these vaccines initially indicated: that the second Pfizer dose was to be delivered around 21 days after the first, that the second Moderna shot was to be given around 28 days after the first, and that the AstraZeneca second dose should be given between four and 12 weeks after the first.
Seeking to offer some clarity around the role Canada’s National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI)’s COVID-19 vaccine usage advice is supposed to play, Deputy Chief Public Health Officer Dr. Howard Njoo said Thursday that the latest guidance is meant to “complement, not mirror” the official Health Canada authorizations for use of these vaccines.
Njoo said that the difference in messaging from the two national bodies is different by design, indicating provinces should consider both the Health Canada directives and expert advice in plotting their ongoing vaccine rollout strategies.
“You have likely noticed that NACI’s recommendations are sometimes different, possibly broader or narrower than the conditions of vaccine use that Health Canada has authorized. As the regulator, Health Canada authorizes each vaccine for use in Canada according to factors based on clinical trial evidence, whereas NACI bases its guidance on the available and evolving evidence in a real-world context, including the availability of other vaccines,” Njoo said.
NACI says it’s come to this conclusion after considering evidence from recent scientific studies and “real world effectiveness,” that show high levels of protection after one shot. Though the data remains limited and is still evolving around the best time frame to administer the first and second shots of the three currently approved vaccines, which are all two-dose regimens.
Seeking to further explain the process and why there appears to be contrasting guidance coming from the national level, Health Canada’s senior media adviser Dr. Supriya Sharma said that while the messaging would be simpler if there was one set of data and it never changed, “that’s not what science does.”
“We want to make sure that people have confidence in the decisions that are being made about vaccines, whether it’s at the level of the regulator or broader recommendations from NACI or the provinces and the territories… It’s really important that people know that this is going to be changing. We’re in this place now where we have multiple vaccines that are authorized, we have huge mass vaccination campaigns that are ongoing around the world, and the responsible thing to do is to make sure that we get all that information and incorporate that into our decision making,” she said.
PROVINCES PIVOT
While NACI’s advice are recommendations and not rules, which allows provinces to continue to tailor their vaccination rollout campaigns to fit the pandemic reality in each region, the new suggested approach has already been adopted by several provinces in recent days.
Njoo explained Thursday that while it seems the major change in goalposts of the vaccination strategy seems like it happened very fast, it followed NACI briefing provincial health authorities over the weekend.
“What happened then is that some provinces… have come out publicly in terms of moving forward with obviously the good information and evidence that they heard on Sunday, and so you’re seeing that play out in real time, with various provinces that already are coming forward with their thinking based on the information and the evidence that NACI presented on the weekend,” he said.
NACI’s new guidance makes the case that with limited supply of COVID-19 vaccines, prioritizing first doses would allow jurisdictions to maximize the number of people being immunized with a first dose offering an initial amount of immunity earlier on, though it remains to be seen how the logistics of the rollout would have to be adjusted to adopt this approach.
Speaking about his provinces decision to delay the second dose by up to four months during a press conference with other premiers on Thursday, British Columbia Premier John Horgan said the decision was “a pretty simple” one to make.
“We want to get as many first doses in place as we can, and as the procurement of the federal government starts to ramp up in quarter three is the time to go back and get those second shots in place,” he said. “We believe this is the right way forward.”
Similarly, Alberta Premier Jason Kenney said that while NACI’s guidance was a factor, there has also been real-world examples in countries who are farther ahead in vaccinating its citizens indicating a longer window between shots is an effective strategy.
Kenney also pointed to the slow rollout of doses so far, saying the provinces have “no choice” but to extend the interval between in order to “get more people covered” to move towards a larger amount of population immunity quicker.
New Brunswick Premier Blaine Higgs said adopting the second dose delay will help see that province’s borders open up. “We’re focused on this spring and getting ourselves back to normal this spring, and I think we can do that,” he said.
Maj-Gen. Dany Fortin who is leading the national logistics of the vaccine rollout said Thursday that it’s possible that coupled with additional vaccines being approved and larger shipments coming in the months ahead, the overall timeline could be accelerated. But, but for now the end of September remains the target they are planning to meet
CTVNews.ca has reached out to Health Minister Patty Hajdu’s office to inquire whether the federal government has a comment on the shifting approach of prioritizing first doses for more people before moving to inject second doses months later.
In response Cole Davidson, a spokesperson for the minister, said that the Liberal government “will always support evidence-based decision making based on the latest data from experts.”
WHO IS IN THE NACI?
The infectious diseases, immunology, pharmacy, epidemiology, and public health experts who make up this advisory body are considered arms-length to the government. The panel makes recommendations to the Government of Canada for the use of vaccines approved for use in Canada based on analysis of “the best current available scientific knowledge at the time.”
The body has been in existence since 1964 advising on various new vaccines, but since the onset of the pandemic, it has been predominately focused on COVID-19 vaccines and the prioritization of them. It reports to the Infectious Disease Prevention and Control Branch of the Public Health Agency of Canada.
Njoo said that NACI will continue to monitor evidence on the effectiveness of a delayed second dose and “will adjust recommendations as needed.”
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.
