As the country prepares to accept half a million COVID-19 vaccines from AstraZeneca-Oxford, provinces and territories are working to determine who exactly should receive them.
In the new guidelines, NACI cited “limited information” about its effectiveness in older people as the reason it’s not recommending the shot be used in seniors.
However, it is ultimately up to the provinces and territories to decide how to dole out the vaccines.
Who will be the recipient of those AstraZeneca shots? Here’s a closer look at what each region has said.
A spokesperson for the department of health and wellness in Nova Scotia told Global News the province is “actively looking at what the next use of this vaccine is for Nova Scotia.”
“No decisions have been made,” an emailed statement read.
Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, the province’s chief medical officer of health, Dr. Robert Strang, said the province has been offered an initial shipment of 13,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine that will expire in a month.
“Therefore, we would need to have a plan to use them immediately,” he said. “So we’re actively looking at what is the best use of this AstraZeneca vaccine at this time for Nova Scotia.”
Newfoundland and Labrador
In Newfoundland and Labrador, health officials are still reviewing evidence regarding the AstraZeneca vaccine.
“As this approval is still recent, we are reviewing the evidence from a provincial perspective to determine where the vaccine will fit in our strategy,” the province’s chief medical officer of health Dr. Janice Fitzgerald told a press conference on Monday.
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Coronavirus: Canada to receive 945,000 vaccine doses this week, procurement minister says
As of Monday, Fitzgerald said they had not yet received a definitive date as to when the AstraZeneca vaccines could land in Newfoundland and Labrador.
“My understanding is we’re still waiting on information at the national level there,” she said.
At a press conference on Tuesday, Prince Edward Island’s Chief Health Officer Dr. Heather Morrison said when the province confirms how many of the AstraZeneca vaccines it will receive, they will be targeting the shots to “healthy, younger individuals” who are working in “certain front line, essential services.”
“And that would be our plan and offering it to them and knowing that people will have a choice,” she said. “But AstraZeneca is showing good evidence around decreasing severe illness and hospitalization.”
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1:48 B.C. health officials considering vaccinating essential workers
B.C. health officials considering vaccinating essential workers
Morrison said once they know how many doses the province will receive, they will know exactly which groups to target.
“But that certainly is our current thinking,” she said.
New Brunswick
In an email to Global News, a spokesperson for the New Brunswick Department of Health said the province expects to receive 10,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine this month.
“We are examining Health Canada’s approval and the recommendations from the National Advisory Committee on Immunization to decide how best to employ this vaccine once it does arrive in New Brunswick,” the statement read.
In an email to Global News, a spokesperson for Quebec’s Ministry of Health and Social Services said the province is expecting to receive guidance from its immunization committee very soon.
“This notice will specify the target groups for this vaccine,” the email read in French. “We will adapt our vaccination strategy in the light of this advice.”
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Confusion arises in Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine recommendations for seniors
Ontario
Ontario, meanwhile, has decided it will not administer the AstraZeneca vaccine to seniors.
Health Minister Christine Elliott told The Canadian Press that the province plans to follow the advice of NACI.
She said, though, that it is a “very versatile” vaccine because it does not need to be stored at freezing temperatures.
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For that reason, Elliot said the shots could be used elsewhere, like at correctional facilities.
2:57 AstraZeneca vaccine won’t be administered to Ontarians aged 65+: health minister
AstraZeneca vaccine won’t be administered to Ontarians aged 65+: health minister
Elliott said an updated vaccination plan that factors in expected AstraZeneca supply will be shared soon.
“There’s a lot that is in the mix right now, but we expect that to be finalized very shortly and we will be making a public announcement of the plan very soon,” she said.
Manitoba
Manitoba’s chief public health officer, Dr. Brent Roussin, told reporters on Tuesday the AstraZeneca vaccine is a “welcome addition to the vaccine repertoire that we have.”
“You know, our goal is to protect as many Manitobans as quickly as possible,” he said. “And right now the rate limiting step is just access to vaccine doses, and for the specific cell that the vaccine task force discussed that, but it’s a welcome addition for sure.”
Global News sent a request for comment to Manitoba to clarify whether the province plans to deliver the AstraZeneca to its senior population, but was not answered by time of publication.
Saskatchewan
Speaking during a press conference on Tuesday, Saskatchewan’s chief medical health officer, Dr. Saquib Shahab said he anticipates the province will receive “very limited amounts of AstraZeneca next week,” around 15,000 doses.
“And (we) will probably use it for specific age groups up to age 64,” he said. “And we will clarify which specific age groups in a few days.”
Shahab said as the province receives more vaccines from AstraZeneca or Johnson & Johnson, the shots will need to be incorporated into the vaccination schedule “depending on NACI recommendations.”
“And we have to remember, by the time AstraZeneca and Johnson supplies pick up, we hopefully will already have done everyone 65 and older anyway with Pfizer and Moderna,” he said.
Alberta
On Monday, Alberta’s Health Minister Tyler Shandro said the province will not be providing the AstraZeneca vaccine to those over the age of 65.
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Doctor weighs in on AstraZeneca vaccine approval
Shandro said how that will impact the administration for those who are in phase two is “still yet to be determined.”
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“We will be making those decisions and announcing them fairly soon,” he said. “But you’re right that it has been recommended for the AstraZeneca vaccine to not be provided for those who are 65 and older.”
British Columbia
Meanwhile, the British Columbia Ministry of Health told Global News that once the province knows how many doses of the AstraZeneca shots it will be receiving and when, it will be able to further expand who is receiving the vaccine, including to essential workers, many of whom are under the age of 65.
The ministry said due to the clinical testing of AstraZeneca limited to those under the age of 65, the province will need to adjust its plan to include these vaccines, adding that the province’s immunization committee will be looking at how best to do that based on science, data and ethical analysis.
The Territories
Neither the Northwest Territories or the Yukon are anticipating receiving any AstraZeneca vaccines.
Instead, they will be vaccinating their populations with the vaccine from Moderna.
Global News reached out to Nunavut to determine whether the territory expects to receive an allotment of AstraZeneca vaccines and if they will be administered to those over 65, but did not hear back by time of publication.
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— With files from Global News’ Rachael D’Amore and The Canadian Press
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.
