Different vaccines to protect against the novel coronavirus shouldn’t be mixed-and-matched, despite Britain’s recent decision to allow the practice to be used in rare occasions, health experts say.
Mixing different coronavirus vaccines without any data to suggest the safety and efficacy of the practice is “a huge gamble,” Dr. Colin Furness, an infection control epidemiologist and assistant professor at the University of Toronto said.
“I think it’s irresponsible … it’s unethical because we don’t know what that does,” he said. “We don’t know what the effectiveness is, we don’t know what the side effects are.”
Dr. Isaac Bogoch, an infectious diseases faculty member at the University of Toronto said while there may be “some theoretical reasons” as to why vaccine mixing “may provide decent protection to COVID-19 infections,” the data is not yet conclusive.
Coronavirus: Experts call for quick roll-out as COVID-19 vaccines sit in freezers
What to watch next
“Until we see better data to support that, I don’t think we’re going to see any such activity in Canada,” he said.
Vaccine rollout pace criticized as U.S. tops 20 million cases
What to watch next
The comments come after Britain released new guidelines on New Year’s Eve which will allow people seeking their second dose to be given shots of different COVID-19 vaccines on rare occasions.
“(If) the same vaccine is not available, or if the first product received is unknown, it is reasonable to offer one dose of the locally available product to complete the schedule,” according to the guidelines.
Mary Ramsay, head of immunizations at Public Health England, said this would only happen on extremely rare occasions, and that the government was not recommending the mixing of vaccines, which require at least two doses given several weeks apart.
She said “every effort should be made to give them the same vaccine.
“But where this is not possible it is better to give a second dose of another vaccine than not at all,” she said.
What has Health Canada said?
Health Canada’s National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI) currently recommends that the vaccine series “be completed with the same COVID-19 vaccine product.”
“Currently, no data exists on the interchangeability of COVID-19 vaccines,” the agency’s website read.
However, according to NACI, if the vaccine used for a previous dose is “not known, or not available, attempts should be made to complete the vaccine in series with a similar type of COVID-19 vaccine (e.g. mRNA vaccine).”
“In the context of limited COVID-19 vaccine supply and the absence of evidence on interchangeability of COVID-19 vaccines, the previous dose may be counted, and the series need not be restarted,” the website read.
New COVID-19 guidelines released for pregnant women, future moms
What to watch next
The agency said “active surveillance of effectiveness and safety of this mixed schedule will be important in these individuals,” adding that “accurate recording of vaccines received will be critical.”
According to the NACI, the agency will “continue to monitor the evidence” and will update its recommendations as needed.
To date, Health Canada has approved two coronavirus vaccines for use across the country. Both are mRNA vaccines, and require two doses to provide around 95 per cent protection from COVID-19.
The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine requires two shots to be administered 21 days apart, while doses of the Moderna vaccine are to be administered 28 days apart.
Bogoch said we have “good data” on these vaccines, and how they are to be administered.
Asked if there are any circumstances in which Canada should allow different vaccines to be mixed-and-matched before data is available, Bogoch said: “no.”
“I’m not entirely sure outside of a clinical trial what the role would be for conducting this type of activity,” he said.
Furness also said vaccines should not be mixed unless in a lab setting, where participants have given their informed consent.
“If you want to do a trial to try them out, sure,” he said. “But that’s going to take many months.”
Anything else, Furness said, would be “experimental.”
“The human history is really littered with experimenting on people without the understanding that they’re being experimented on,” he said. “And that’s really not OK.”
For now, Bogoch said we should focus on rolling out the approved vaccines as quickly as possible, in the manner in which they are meant to be administered.
“The goal is to have as few vaccines in freezers as possible and get the needles in arms quickly as possible to the highest risk groups and prevent death and suffering,” he said.
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.
