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Manitoba premier tours Winnipeg convention centre set to become COVID-19 immunization super site – CBC.ca

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Manitoba Premier Brian Pallister spent his first afternoon of 2021 touring the COVID-19 immunization super site that’s opening in downtown Winnipeg Friday.

Earlier this week, eligible health-care workers were receiving their first dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine at the University of Manitoba’s Bannatyne campus. But on Jan. 4, Manitoba’s first immunization super site will open at the RBC Convention Centre.

A couple of Winnipeg police officers kept watch while Premier Pallister, who did not speak to news media Friday, toured the facility.

The entire setup is on the ground floor of the north building of the convention centre. Free indoor parking is provided in the main convention centre parkade.

People showing up for their immunization will enter the main entrance on York Avenue and line up. Metal fencing is in place to guide the lineup to maximize the amount of people inside, and there are floor stickers indicating two-metres distance.

Manitobans got a look at the province’s new COVID-19 vaccination centre at Winnipeg’s RBC Convention Centre, Friday, Jan. 1, 2021. The centre will be opening Monday and will inoculate 900-1,200 people in it’s first week. (The Canadian Press/John Woods)

Once through the lineup, people will walk up to tables to check in. That’s where they will have to answer screening questions and provide the necessary identification.

From there, people will enter a waiting room that contains about 100 chairs that are all two metres apart from each other. When a person’s name is called, they will enter a large ballroom with at least 30 physically distanced tables that are set up similarly to a mobile blood donor clinic. This is where the vaccine is administered.

Eligible Manitobans waiting for their vaccination at the RBC Convention Centre in Winnipeg will wait here until their name is called. (The Canadian Press/John Woods)

Adjacent to the large ballroom is an area for first aid. That is in case of general accidents, for example and slip and fall, or if people have a reaction after receiving their immunization.

Also next to the ballroom are storage areas that hold personal protective equipment, syringes and sanitizer, as well as three fridges. One of the fridges is set at -75 C, the other two are set at -26 C. The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine must be stored in ultra-low-temperature freezers at -70 C, while the Moderna vaccine must be stored in a freezer at – 20 C.

Once a person receives their COVID-19 vaccine dose and is allowed to leave, they will exit via the southwest corner of the building.

Roughly 3,400 first doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine have been administered since they arrived in December, according to the vaccine bulletin issued by the Manitoba government Thursday.

As of Thursday, about 2,900 appointments to receive the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine at the RBC Convention Centre from Jan. 4-10 were already made. There remain about 3,200 open appointment slots, the bulletin said.

Manitoba Premier Brian Pallister got a look at the province’s new COVID-19 vaccination centre at Winnipeg’s Convention Centre Friday. (The Canadian Press/John Woods)

Health-care workers dealing directly with patients in critical care units and COVID-19 immunization clinics or testing sites are eligible for the vaccine. Health workers who work with patients at long-term or acute care facilities, and who were born by Dec. 31, 1972, are also eligible.

Assuming the necessary supply is available, the Manitoba government expects to have enough vaccine to administer roughly 10,000 doses per week during the month of January, according to a vaccine bulletin issued Dec. 23.

Other super sites in Brandon, Man., and Thompson, Man., are slated to open in the coming weeks, the bulletin said. The Keystone Centre in Brandon should open on Jan. 18, while a site next to the Thompson airport will open on Feb. 1 to serve Manitobans in the northern region.

WATCH | Touring Winnipeg’s COVID-19 immunization super site

Manitoba Premier Brian Pallister toured the COVID-19 immunization super site at the RBC Convention Centre in downtown Winnipeg . The site opens Monday. 1:52

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Japan’s SoftBank returns to profit after gains at Vision Fund and other investments

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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.

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Trump campaign promises unlikely to harm entrepreneurship: Shopify CFO

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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.

Companies in this story: (TSX:SHOP)

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RioCan cuts nearly 10 per cent staff in efficiency push as condo market slows

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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.

Companies in this story: (TSX:REI.UN)

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