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
MONTREAL – Travel company Transat AT Inc. reported a loss in its latest quarter compared with a profit a year earlier as its revenue edged lower.
The parent company of Air Transat says it lost $39.9 million or $1.03 per diluted share in its quarter ended July 31.
The result compared with a profit of $57.3 million or $1.49 per diluted share a year earlier.
Revenue in what was the company’s third quarter totalled $736.2 million, down from $746.3 million in the same quarter last year.
On an adjusted basis, Transat says it lost $1.10 per share in its latest quarter compared with an adjusted profit of $1.10 per share a year earlier.
Transat chief executive Annick Guérard says demand for leisure travel remains healthy, as evidenced by higher traffic, but consumers are increasingly price conscious given the current economic uncertainty.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
Dollarama Inc.’s food aisles may have expanded far beyond sweet treats or piles of gum by the checkout counter in recent years, but its chief executive maintains his company is “not in the grocery business,” even if it’s keeping an eye on the sector.
“It’s just one small part of our store,” Neil Rossy told analysts on a Wednesday call, where he was questioned about the company’s food merchandise and rivals playing in the same space.
“We will keep an eye on all retailers — like all retailers keep an eye on us — to make sure that we’re competitive and we understand what’s out there.”
Over the last decade and as consumers have more recently sought deals, Dollarama’s food merchandise has expanded to include bread and pantry staples like cereal, rice and pasta sold at prices on par or below supermarkets.
However, the competition in the discount segment of the market Dollarama operates in intensified recently when the country’s biggest grocery chain began piloting a new ultra-discount store.
The No Name stores being tested by Loblaw Cos. Ltd. in Windsor, St. Catharines and Brockville, Ont., are billed as 20 per cent cheaper than discount retail competitors including No Frills. The grocery giant is able to offer such cost savings by relying on a smaller store footprint, fewer chilled products and a hearty range of No Name merchandise.
Though Rossy brushed off notions that his company is a supermarket challenger, grocers aren’t off his radar.
“All retailers in Canada are realistic about the fact that everyone is everyone’s competition on any given item or category,” he said.
Rossy declined to reveal how much of the chain’s sales would overlap with Loblaw or the food category, arguing the vast variety of items Dollarama sells is its strength rather than its grocery products alone.
“What makes Dollarama Dollarama is a very wide assortment of different departments that somewhat represent the old five-and-dime local convenience store,” he said.
The breadth of Dollarama’s offerings helped carry the company to a second-quarter profit of $285.9 million, up from $245.8 million in the same quarter last year as its sales rose 7.4 per cent.
The retailer said Wednesday the profit amounted to $1.02 per diluted share for the 13-week period ended July 28, up from 86 cents per diluted share a year earlier.
The period the quarter covers includes the start of summer, when Rossy said the weather was “terrible.”
“The weather got slightly better towards the end of the summer and our sales certainly increased, but not enough to make up for the season’s horrible start,” he said.
Sales totalled $1.56 billion for the quarter, up from $1.46 billion in the same quarter last year.
Comparable store sales, a key metric for retailers, increased 4.7 per cent, while the average transaction was down2.2 per cent and traffic was up seven per cent, RBC analyst Irene Nattel pointed out.
She told investors in a note that the numbers reflect “solid demand as cautious consumers focus on core consumables and everyday essentials.”
Analysts have attributed such behaviour to interest rates that have been slow to drop and high prices of key consumer goods, which are weighing on household budgets.
To cope, many Canadians have spent more time seeking deals, trading down to more affordable brands and forgoing small luxuries they would treat themselves to in better economic times.
“When people feel squeezed, they tend to shy away from discretionary, focus on the basics,” Rossy said. “When people are feeling good about their wallet, they tend to be more lax about the basics and more willing to spend on discretionary.”
The current economic situation has drawn in not just the average Canadian looking to save a buck or two, but also wealthier consumers.
“When the entire economy is feeling slightly squeezed, we get more consumers who might not have to or want to shop at a Dollarama generally or who enjoy shopping at a Dollarama but have the luxury of not having to worry about the price in some other store that they happen to be standing in that has those goods,” Rossy said.
“Well, when times are tougher, they’ll consider the extra five minutes to go to the store next door.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 11, 2024.
TORONTO – The U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has ordered TD Bank Group to pay US$28 million for repeatedly sharing inaccurate, negative information about its customers to consumer reporting companies.
The agency says TD has to pay US$7.76 million in total to tens of thousands of victims of its illegal actions, along with a US$20 million civil penalty.
It says TD shared information that contained systemic errors about credit card and bank deposit accounts to consumer reporting companies, which can include credit reports as well as screening reports for tenants and employees and other background checks.
CFPB director Rohit Chopra says in a statement that TD threatened the consumer reports of customers with fraudulent information then “barely lifted a finger to fix it,” and that regulators will need to “focus major attention” on TD Bank to change its course.
TD says in a statement it self-identified these issues and proactively worked to improve its practices, and that it is committed to delivering on its responsibilities to its customers.
The bank also faces scrutiny in the U.S. over its anti-money laundering program where it expects to pay more than US$3 billion in monetary penalties to resolve.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 11, 2024.
