Lonza seeks workers to lift Moderna vaccine output | Canada News Media
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Lonza seeks workers to lift Moderna vaccine output

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Lonza

By John Miller

ZURICH (Reuters) -Three Lonza manufacturing lines for Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine are due to reach production capacity by late June, Chief Executive Pierre-Alain Ruffieux said on Thursday, though he still needs about 100 more workers to staff them.

Ruffieux’s June projection for the existing lines in Visp, Switzerland, came as Lonza announced a new pact with Moderna to double its Swiss vaccine ingredient production by adding three new lines by 2022.

Concerns over Lonza’s ability to deliver on schedule emerged last week, when Moderna flagged second-quarter shortfalls in shots for Britain and Canada, citing an uneven production ramp-up, just as COVID-19 variants rage and infections hit record peaks.

Ruffieux, with Lonza Chairman Albert Baehny, said they were working with the Swiss government to streamline work permits for foreign specialists while contacting Swiss companies who could loan specialists to step in temporarily.

“Whatever we do, we need to do more,” Ruffieux said in an interview. “With our partner Moderna, we just try to continually optimise these kinds of processes.”

Moderna now aims to produce at least 800 million mRNA shots this year and up to 3 billion in 2022. Lonza also makes Moderna ingredients at a New Hampshire plant for U.S. delivery.

Original Lonza estimates for staffing the Swiss production lines called for 70 employees each. As the facilities took shape, Ruffieux said, he realised more were necessary.

“By putting more people in some places, you can further accelerate your production and make it more efficient,” he said, adding that experience gained now will help to boost efficiency of new Moderna production lines due in 2022.

‘SPECULATION’

Asked about concerns that Lonza could miss quarterly delivery targets, Baehny described such comments as “speculation”.

“We are just at the beginning of the second quarter,” he said. “We’ll do everything we can to produce as much as we can.”

Dan Staner, Moderna’s European head, separately told Swiss state radio that the new pact with Lonza to double Swiss production was a vote of confidence.

“It demonstrates that we think we have taken the right decision by coming to produce in Switzerland and, above all, to link up with Lonza,” Staner said.

Lonza did not give a value for new Moderna deal, but the production lines it built last year each cost 70 million Swiss francs ($77 million).

($1 = 0.9093 Swiss francs)

(Reporting by John Miller and Stephanie NebehayEditing by David Clarke and David Goodman)

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RCMP arrest second suspect in deadly shooting east of Calgary

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EDMONTON – RCMP say a second suspect has been arrested in the killing of an Alberta county worker.

Mounties say 28-year-old Elijah Strawberry was taken into custody Friday at a house on O’Chiese First Nation.

Colin Hough, a worker with Rocky View County, was shot and killed while on the job on a rural road east of Calgary on Aug. 6.

Another man who worked for Fortis Alberta was shot and wounded, and RCMP said the suspects fled in a Rocky View County work truck.

Police later arrested Arthur Wayne Penner, 35, and charged him with first-degree murder and attempted murder, and a warrant was issued for Strawberry’s arrest.

RCMP also said there was a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of Strawberry, describing him as armed and dangerous.

Chief Supt. Roberta McKale, told a news conference in Edmonton that officers had received tips and information over the last few weeks.

“I don’t know of many members that when were stopped, fuelling up our vehicles, we weren’t keeping an eye out, looking for him,” she said.

But officers had been investigating other cases when they found Strawberry.

“Our investigators were in O’Chiese First Nation at a residence on another matter and the major crimes unit was there working another file and ended up locating him hiding in the residence,” McKale said.

While an investigation is still underway, RCMP say they’re confident both suspects in the case are in police custody.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

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26-year-old son is accused of his father’s murder on B.C.’s Sunshine Coast

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RICHMOND, B.C. – The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team says the 26-year-old son of a man found dead on British Columbia’s Sunshine Coast has been charged with his murder.

Police say 58-year-old Henry Doyle was found badly injured on a forest service road in Egmont last September and died of his injuries.

The homicide team took over when the BC Coroners Service said the man’s death was suspicious.

It says in a statement that the BC Prosecution Service has approved one count of first-degree murder against the man’s son, Jackson Doyle.

Police say the accused will remain in custody until at least his next court appearance.

The homicide team says investigators remained committed to solving the case with the help of the community of Egmont, the RCMP on the Sunshine Coast and in Richmond, and the Vancouver Police Department.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.



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Metro Vancouver’s HandyDART strike continues after talks break with no deal

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VANCOUVER – Mediated talks between the union representing HandyDART workers in Metro Vancouver and its employer, Transdev, have broken off without an agreement following 15 hours of talks.

Joe McCann, president of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1724, says they stayed at the bargaining table with help from a mediator until 2 a.m. Friday and made “some progress.”

However, he says the union negotiators didn’t get an offer that they could recommend to the membership.

McCann says that in some ways they are close to an agreement, but in other areas they are “miles apart.”

About 600 employees of the door-to-door transit service for people who can’t navigate the conventional transit system have been on strike since last week, pausing service for all but essential medical trips.

McCann asks HandyDART users to be “patient,” since they are trying to get not only a fair contract for workers but also a better service for customers.

He says it’s unclear when the talks will resume, but he hopes next week at the latest.

The employer, Transdev, didn’t reply to an interview request before publication.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

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