Safe and reliable vaccines can help protect you and your family from COVID-19covid 19. They will be an important tool to help stop the spread of the virus and allow individuals, families and workers to safely resume normal life.
When a large percentage of the population becomes immune to COVID-19covid 19, the spread of the virus will slow down or stop. This is known as herd immunity.
Herd immunity is different for each disease. For example, to stop their spread:
approximately 80% of the population must be immune to polio
up to 95% of the population must be immune to measles
As evidence is evolving on COVID-19covid 19 and vaccines, additional research is needed to determine how much of the population needs to be vaccinated to stop its spread.
Building immunity takes time
Both the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines approved for use in Canada require two doses, administered a few weeks apart, for your body to develop adequate immunity.
Until vaccines are widely available for everyone to receive two doses and achieve herd immunity, we all must:
Please check back for regular updates as more details are available.
When vaccines will be available
We are rolling out a three-phase distribution plan to ensure Ontario is prepared to receive, store and administer COVID-19covid 19 vaccines when they arrive over the next several months. It focuses first on vulnerable populations that are at greatest risk of COVID-19covid 19 and severe illness and those who care for them.
After independent and thorough scientific reviews for safety, efficacy and quality, Health Canada has approved two vaccines for use in Canada:
How we will distribute Pfizer-BioNTech vs Moderna vaccines
Both COVID-19 vaccines are fragile and must be stored and transported in special conditions to keep them stable and effective.
While you can store the Moderna vaccine at -20 degrees Celsius, the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine requires colder temperatures, around -70 Celsius. This means the Moderna vaccine is easier to transport and store safely.
Because of this, we plan to administer the:
Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine primarily in hospitals in urban areas
Moderna vaccine in long-term care homes, congregate settings and more rural and remote communities
Phase 1
Vaccine readiness pilot: December 14, 2020
Ontario participated in a COVID-19covid 19 vaccine readiness pilot with the Public Health Agency of Canada and Pfizer-BioNTech.
More than 2,500 health care workers who provide care in select long-term care homes and hospitals were vaccinated at University Health Network in Toronto and The Ottawa Hospital.
The purpose of the readiness pilot was to help:
inform our plan for receiving more vaccine doses during phase one
test the logistics of delivery, vaccine storage and handling, clinic management and post-vaccine surveillance
learn from people’s experience being vaccinated so we can improve future vaccinations
After the readiness pilot: December 2020 to early January 2021
Based on per capita allocations, Ontario is receiving approximately 90,000 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine from the federal government.
These doses are being delivered to up to 17 hospital sites (in addition to the University Health Network and the Ottawa Hospital).
Who can be vaccinated
Vaccines are available to health care workers and essential caregivers who work in:
hospitals
long-term care homes
retirement homes
other congregate settings caring for seniors
Clinic locations
The clinic locations include:
Grand River Hospital
Halton Healthcare
Hamilton Health Sciences
Humber River Hospital
Lakeridge Health
London Health Sciences Centre
Mackenzie Health
Michael Garron Hospital
Ottawa Hospital
Royal Victoria Regional Health Centre
Scarborough Health Network
Southlake Regional Health Centre
Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre
Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre (selected to test the travel logistics in Northern Ontario and support the administration of the vaccine to Indigenous and remote communities)
Trillium Health Partners
University Health Network in Toronto
Unity Health Toronto
William Osler Health System
Windsor Regional Hospital
These vaccination clinics are not open to the public.
Expanding beyond the pilot: January 2021 and beyond
Additional hospital sites will begin providing vaccines in regions with the highest rates of COVID-19covid 19 infection.
Who can be vaccinated
The vaccine will be available to:
health care workers
essential caregivers
long-term care home and retirement home residents
First Nation communities and urban Indigenous populations, including Métis and Inuit adults
Clinic locations
We anticipate that by end of January, more than 20 hospitals across Ontario will be administering the vaccines.
Phase 2
Phase 2 will begin when more doses become available to Ontario. This is expected to begin later this winter.
During phase two, pending consultation, vaccinations will be expanded to:
all members of the groups in phase 1
additional congregate care settings (for example, shelters)
adults over 70 in expanded regions
Phase 3
Ontario will enter phase three when vaccines are available for everyone who wants to be immunized.
Vaccines will not be mandatory, but you are strongly encouraged to get vaccinated.
The federal government has advance agreements with several manufacturers to purchase COVID-19covid 19 vaccines once the scientific studies are completed and the vaccines are approved for use in Canada.
Ontario is ready to receive and distribute more COVID-19covid 19 vaccines as soon as they are available.
Who will be able to get vaccinated first
Since there will be limited supply in the first few months of the vaccine program, some groups will be able to get a COVID-19covid 19 vaccine in the early phases.
Early doses of the vaccine will be available for:
residents, staff, essential caregivers (including family caregivers) and other employees who work in congregate living settings providing care for seniors as they are at higher risk of infection and serious illness from COVID-19covid 19
health care workers, including hospital employees, other staff who work or study in hospitals and other health care personnel
adults in First Nations, Métis and Inuit populations where infection can have disproportionate consequences, including those living in remote or isolated areas where risk of transmission is high
adult recipients of chronic home health care
As further information becomes available from clinical trials and from Health Canada approvals, the groups for which the vaccines are authorized for use could change.
Ontario will also prioritize regions with the highest rates of COVID-19covid 19 infection – those in the Red – Control and Grey – Lockdown zones when we receive the vaccines.
These priorities are based on advice from the:
We are also developing an ethical framework to guide our decisions on vaccine distribution. It will be released in the coming weeks.
COVID-19 Vaccine Distribution Task Force
The COVID-19covid 19 Vaccine Distribution Task Force is advising Ontario as it plans the immunization program and delivers vaccines.
The task force is advising and providing recommendations on:
how to deliver, store and distribute vaccines
support for our partners in the health care system to deliver vaccinations in phases, beginning with vulnerable populations
clinical guidance to administer the vaccine and track vaccine uptake
reporting data and technology to provide timely, relevant and accurate information to health care providers, decision-makers and the public
public education and community outreach efforts to encourage people to get the vaccine
Members
General (retired) Rick Hillier, former Chief of Defence Staff for the Canadian Forces (chair)
Mario Di Tommaso, Deputy Solicitor General, Community Safety, Commissioner of Emergency Management (vice-chair)
Helen Angus, Deputy Minister of Health (vice-chair)
Ontario Regional Chief RoseAnne Archibald of Taykwa Tagamou Nation
Dr. Isaac Bogoch, infectious diseases consultant and internist, Toronto General Hospital
Linda Hasenfratz, CEO, Linamar Corporation
Dr. Dirk Huyer, Ontario’s Chief Coroner and Coordinator of Provincial Outbreak Response
Angela Mondou, President and CEO, TECHNATION
Mark Saunders, former Toronto Police Chief
Dr. Maxwell Smith, bioethicist and assistant professor, Western University
Dr. Homer Tien, trauma surgeon and President and CEO, Ornge
Dr. Regis Vaillancourt, Director of Pharmacy, Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario
Ex-officio members
Dr. David Williams, Chief Medical Officer of Health, Public Health
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.
