The race is on for the province to nearly double its capacity and deliver 20,000 COVID-19 vaccine doses a day next month.
In just four weeks, vaccine deliveries are expected to ramp up significantly, but on Friday, the province only had the capacity to dole out about 12,500 lifesaving shots.
The Manitoba government has set a goal to give out 20,000 jabs daily in order to keep up with the minimum 1.5 million doses it will receive from the federal government from April to June.
Considering recent changes that allow second doses to be delayed as many as four months, Johanu Botha, operational lead for the COVID-19 vaccine task force, said he is certain the province will make good on its promise and provide a single shot to all adult Manitobans as early as May 18.
The new timeline is contingent on the province receiving a steady and high supply of vaccines from the federal government, Botha said.
If the province gets a steady supply of vaccines from the federal government it can administer 20,000 doses a day, says Johanu Botha, operational lead for the COVID-19 vaccine task force. (Mike Deal / Winnipeg Free Press files)
“If that’s the case, and our system is up and running, as it will be, to administer 20,000 doses a day come the first of April, we will have all eligible Manitobans vaccinated,” Botha said. “We’re confident we can do this, if the supply arrives more consistently.”
The vaccine task force had earlier estimated all eligible Manitobans would get a shot by the end of August in the best-case scenario.
The expedited schedule follows a recommendation by the National Advisory Committee on Immunization that provinces delay second doses as long as the vaccine supply is scarce.
Attention now turns to the province’s ability to deliver.
Heavy hitters: mass vaccination clinics
Manitoba plans to use high-volume vaccination clinics — dubbed super-sites — to give roughly 14,000 shots a day beginning in April.
Right now, the province has three such clinics capable of administering 6,499 shots a day, including the RBC Convention Centre in Winnipeg, the Keystone Centre in Brandon, and two locations in Thompson: a clinic at the recreation centre, and one at “Vaxport,” the provincial air hangar. A fourth super-site clinic will open Monday at the former Selkirk and District General Hospital, with an estimated daily capacity of 1,000 shots.
A fifth clinic will open at the Access Event Centre in Morden. An opening date has yet to be announced and the province has yet to confirm how many doses the clinic will provide daily.
Where the balance of doses will be offered — as many as 6,000 daily — remained uncertain Friday.
Provincial plans have called for a total of 13 super-sites, including two more in Winnipeg, a third for the north in either Flin Flon or The Pas, and one additional site in Southern Health and Interlake-Eastern, to be open in April. So far, no additional clinics have been announced.
Recently, Botha said the search for suitable facilities for mass clinics has been challenged due to strict infrastructure requirements for infection prevention and control.
KEVIN KING/WINNIPEG SUN
Gisella Greschner, 97, receives her COVID-19 vaccination at the convention centre in Winnipeg, one of three of the province’s so-called supersites. (Kevin King / Pool files)
“So what we’re looking at in terms of what will help us leap up to 20,000, it may be another super-site or two, but I think probably what will get us there at this point will be an array of pop-up sites,” Botha said. “We will continue on with building up to our around 13 super-sites, but that timeline… is impacted by the appropriate infection prevention and control measures.”
In the meantime, officials said the clinic at the convention centre will be expanded to towards meeting the April goal.
When it comes to staffing, the province says it has hired 1,647 immunizers — more than enough to deliver 14,000 doses a day at super-sites. Immunizers can also be assigned for post-immunization observation, as clinical leads or clinic managers, based on experience, the province said.
Earlier this week, 165 people were added to the provincial vaccine workforce, for a total of 2,224 staff. The province said it continues to recruit for clinic navigators outside Winnipeg and is in the process of hiring 50 students to begin working full-time as of April 1 to fill positions across Manitoba. Recruitment continues for immunizers in southern Manitoba.
Familiar and convenient: pharmacies and clinics
The province has recruited enough pharmacists and physicians to give up to 5,000 daily vaccine doses — a quarter of the planned capacity — through community clinics and pharmacies.
On average, individual clinics and pharmacies will give up to 20 doses a day throughout the spring.
However, physicians and pharmacists will only be able to hit the targeted 5,000 daily doses if enough fridge-stable vaccines are sent to Manitoba.
Currently, only the AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson vaccines can be stored between 2 C and 8 C, with the former recommended for people under 65 years of age. The national advisory clinic has not provided recommendations on how the Johnson & Johnson vaccine should be used.
Barret Procyshyn, pharmacist and co-owner of Dauphin Clinic Pharmacy, said his pharmacy is ready to spring into action when the doses arrive.
CP
The province has recruited pharmacists and physicians to provide up to 5,000 daily vaccine doses through community clinics and pharmacies. (Jessica Hill / The Associated Press files)
It has designated space to offer COVID-19 vaccines, Procyshyn said, and has established an online waiting list where community members can sign up and provide information related to their eligibility.
As eligibility criteria are expanded, Procyshyn said his pharmacy will contact people on the list to offer them appointments. He said they will be able to do between 60 and 80 doses a day.
“It has been a lot of work, but this is a chance for pharmacists and our profession to step up and show that we’re front-line health-care providers,” Procyshyn said. “I think you’re going to see a lot of pharmacists, especially in rural areas, step up to the plate.
“That’s the only way people in these small towns are going to get their vaccines,” he said.
Meanwhile, Doctors Manitoba has prepared its own website to assist the public in connecting with physicians who give COVID-19 vaccines. The website, ManitobaVaccine.ca, will include a list of doctors providing the jabs as clinics open for appointments. Each clinic and pharmacy will book appointments directly for their clients.
Hard to reach: pop-up clinics and immunization teams
An estimated 1,000 doses will be given per day to people who live in congregate settings or in isolated communities, through focused immunization teams and pop-up clinics.
Vaccine booking changes
On Friday, Manitoba’s vaccine task force announced changes to the way vaccine appointments are booked as officials plan to speed up delivery of the first doses of COVID-19 vaccine. Here’s the latest:
• Manitobans older than 87, and First Nations members older than 67, are eligible to get vaccinated.
• Age eligibility will be expanded in descending order. All Manitobans age 80 and up will likely be eligible to book vaccine appointments next week. Up-to-date eligibility requirements are posted on the government’s website here.
On Friday, Manitoba’s vaccine task force announced changes to the way vaccine appointments are booked as officials plan to speed up delivery of the first doses of COVID-19 vaccine. Here’s the latest:
• Manitobans older than 87, and First Nations members older than 67, are eligible to get vaccinated.
• Age eligibility will be expanded in descending order. All Manitobans age 80 and up will likely be eligible to book vaccine appointments next week. Up-to-date eligibility requirements are posted on the government’s website here.
• Only one appointment will be booked per person as of Friday. (Previously, Manitobans were required to schedule a second-dose appointment before they could receive their first shot).
• Spouses and members of the same household can book their appointments at the same time, as long as they all meet the age requirements. This means they can travel to their appointment together. Only those who are old enough to be eligible can get the vaccine at the same time as their spouse.
• Manitobans who are between 50 to 64 years old and have serious health conditions will be next in line to receive the vaccine, at their doctor’s office or pharmacy. It is not yet possible to book appointments with a doctor or pharmacy, but they will set up their own booking systems. More information will be released when it’s available.
• Currently, the only way to book a vaccine appointment is by calling 1-844-626-8222. Appointments are limited to those who meet the age requirements. A Manitoba health card number is required. A consent form is available online to be printed out and taken to the appointment. Copies of the form are available on site.
• Online booking doesn’t yet exist in Manitoba. The province plans to launch an online booking portal in April.
• Manitobans with vaccine appointments will be directed to their nearest vaccine clinic. Currently, Winnipeg, Brandon and Thompson each have one vaccine clinic. On March 8, a clinic will open in Selkirk. A clinic will open in Morden later this month.
• In response to concerns the vaccine super-site clinics have not been accessible enough for elderly Manitobans, members of the task force said Friday they were working to improve the situation and would place more chairs so people can sit and wait.
• In First Nations communities, vaccine clinics will start being set up later in March to offer the vaccine to everyone over 18.
• Plans are underway for the First Nations clinics. Information on where they will be located and how people can book appointments hasn’t yet been released. People living in or near First Nations will be able to receive the vaccine at their nearest super-site if they don’t want to wait for an immunization team to arrive in their community.
• The First Nations vaccine rollout is also following the province’s plan to deliver all first doses before continuing with the second vaccine dose.
The province says it has the capacity to offer 500 doses a day to people through focused immunization teams.
Currently, immunization teams are tasked with providing shots at assisted-living facilities and seniors homes, as well as at hospitals to immunize long-term patients. Nearly 3,000 residents and patients are scheduled for a vaccine at 70 locations throughout the province next week.
The same immunization teams will eventually go to provincial jails, family violence shelters, homeless shelters and transitional housing, group homes and addictions treatment facilities.
For rural and remote communities that cannot easily access a super-site clinic, the province plans to offer pop-up clinics. As of Friday, pop-up clinics could offer as many as 500 total daily doses.
However, no information has been provided about where pop-up clinics will be staged or when they would open. Churchill, Gillam, Lynn Lake, Leaf Rapids and Grand Rapids have been flagged for pop-up clinics.
Telus Corp. says it is avoiding offering “unprofitable” discounts as fierce competition in the Canadian telecommunications sector shows no sign of slowing down.
The company said Friday it had fewer net new customers during its third quarter compared with the same time last year, as it copes with increasingly “aggressive marketing and promotional pricing” that is prompting more customers to switch providers.
Telus said it added 347,000 net new customers, down around 14.5 per cent compared with last year. The figure includes 130,000 mobile phone subscribers and 34,000 internet customers, down 30,000 and 3,000, respectively, year-over-year.
The company reported its mobile phone churn rate — a metric measuring subscribers who cancelled their services — was 1.09 per cent in the third quarter, up from 1.03 per cent in the third quarter of 2023. That included a postpaid mobile phone churn rate of 0.90 per cent in its latest quarter.
Telus said its focus is on customer retention through its “industry-leading service and network quality, along with successful promotions and bundled offerings.”
“The customers we have are the most important customers we can get,” said chief financial officer Doug French in an interview.
“We’ve, again, just continued to focus on what matters most to our customers, from a product and customer service perspective, while not loading unprofitable customers.”
Meanwhile, Telus reported its net income attributable to common shares more than doubled during its third quarter.
The telecommunications company said it earned $280 million, up 105.9 per cent from the same three-month period in 2023. Earnings per diluted share for the quarter ended Sept. 30 was 19 cents compared with nine cents a year earlier.
It reported adjusted net income was $413 million, up 10.7 per cent year-over-year from $373 million in the same quarter last year. Operating revenue and other income for the quarter was $5.1 billion, up 1.8 per cent from the previous year.
Mobile phone average revenue per user was $58.85 in the third quarter, a decrease of $2.09 or 3.4 per cent from a year ago. Telus said the drop was attributable to customers signing up for base rate plans with lower prices, along with a decline in overage and roaming revenues.
It said customers are increasingly adopting unlimited data and Canada-U.S. plans which provide higher and more stable ARPU on a monthly basis.
“In a tough operating environment and relative to peers, we view Q3 results that were in line to slightly better than forecast as the best of the bunch,” said RBC analyst Drew McReynolds in a note.
Scotiabank analyst Maher Yaghi added that “the telecom industry in Canada remains very challenging for all players, however, Telus has been able to face these pressures” and still deliver growth.
The Big 3 telecom providers — which also include Rogers Communications Inc. and BCE Inc. — have frequently stressed that the market has grown more competitive in recent years, especially after the closing of Quebecor Inc.’s purchase of Freedom Mobile in April 2023.
Hailed as a fourth national carrier, Quebecor has invested in enhancements to Freedom’s network while offering more affordable plans as part of a set of commitments it was mandated by Ottawa to agree to.
The cost of telephone services in September was down eight per cent compared with a year earlier, according to Statistics Canada’s most recent inflation report last month.
“I think competition has been and continues to be, I’d say, quite intense in Canada, and we’ve obviously had to just manage our business the way we see fit,” said French.
Asked how long that environment could last, he said that’s out of Telus’ hands.
“What I can control, though, is how we go to market and how we lead with our products,” he said.
“I think the conditions within the market will have to adjust accordingly over time. We’ve continued to focus on digitization, continued to bring our cost structure down to compete, irrespective of the price and the current market conditions.”
Still, Canada’s telecom regulator continues to warn providers about customers facing more charges on their cellphone and internet bills.
On Tuesday, CRTC vice-president of consumer, analytics and strategy Scott Hutton called on providers to ensure they clearly inform their customers of charges such as early cancellation fees.
That followed statements from the regulator in recent weeks cautioning against rising international roaming fees and “surprise” price increases being found on their bills.
Hutton said the CRTC plans to launch public consultations in the coming weeks that will focus “on ensuring that information is clear and consistent, making it easier to compare offers and switch services or providers.”
“The CRTC is concerned with recent trends, which suggest that Canadians may not be benefiting from the full protections of our codes,” he said.
“We will continue to monitor developments and will take further action if our codes are not being followed.”
French said any initiative to boost transparency is a step in the right direction.
“I can’t say we are perfect across the board, but what I can say is we are absolutely taking it under consideration and trying to be the best at communicating with our customers,” he said.
“I think everyone looking in the mirror would say there’s room for improvement.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.
CALGARY – TC Energy Corp. has lowered the estimated cost of its Southeast Gateway pipeline project in Mexico.
It says it now expects the project to cost between US$3.9 billion and US$4.1 billion compared with its original estimate of US$4.5 billion.
The change came as the company reported a third-quarter profit attributable to common shareholders of C$1.46 billion or $1.40 per share compared with a loss of C$197 million or 19 cents per share in the same quarter last year.
Revenue for the quarter ended Sept. 30 totalled C$4.08 billion, up from C$3.94 billion in the third quarter of 2023.
TC Energy says its comparable earnings for its latest quarter amounted to C$1.03 per share compared with C$1.00 per share a year earlier.
The average analyst estimate had been for a profit of 95 cents per share, according to LSEG Data & Analytics.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 7, 2024.
BCE Inc. reported a loss in its latest quarter as it recorded $2.11 billion in asset impairment charges, mainly related to Bell Media’s TV and radio properties.
The company says its net loss attributable to common shareholders amounted to $1.24 billion or $1.36 per share for the quarter ended Sept. 30 compared with a profit of $640 million or 70 cents per share a year earlier.
On an adjusted basis, BCE says it earned 75 cents per share in its latest quarter compared with an adjusted profit of 81 cents per share in the same quarter last year.
“Bell’s results for the third quarter demonstrate that we are disciplined in our pursuit of profitable growth in an intensely competitive environment,” BCE chief executive Mirko Bibic said in a statement.
“Our focus this quarter, and throughout 2024, has been to attract higher-margin subscribers and reduce costs to help offset short-term revenue impacts from sustained competitive pricing pressures, slow economic growth and a media advertising market that is in transition.”
Operating revenue for the quarter totalled $5.97 billion, down from $6.08 billion in its third quarter of 2023.
BCE also said it now expects its revenue for 2024 to fall about 1.5 per cent compared with earlier guidance for an increase of zero to four per cent.
The company says the change comes as it faces lower-than-anticipated wireless product revenue and sustained pressure on wireless prices.
BCE added 33,111 net postpaid mobile phone subscribers, down 76.8 per cent from the same period last year, which was the company’s second-best performance on the metric since 2010.
It says the drop was driven by higher customer churn — a measure of subscribers who cancelled their service — amid greater competitive activity and promotional offer intensity. BCE’s monthly churn rate for the category was 1.28 per cent, up from 1.1 per cent during its previous third quarter.
The company also saw 11.6 per cent fewer gross subscriber activations “due to more targeted promotional offers and mobile device discounting compared to last year.”
Bell’s wireless mobile phone average revenue per user was $58.26, down 3.4 per cent from $60.28 in the third quarter of the prior year.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 7, 2024.
