Wed, April 24, 2024 at 9:35 AM EDT
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Nova Scotia to set up cold storage sites for COVID-19 vaccine in four areas across the province – TheChronicleHerald.ca
Nova Scotians outside the central health zone are one step closer to getting the COVID-19 vaccine.
In a news release Monday, the Department of Health and Wellness announced it was setting up vaccine storage sites in four areas across the province:
- Cape Breton Regional Hospital
- Colchester East Hants Health Centre
- Valley Regional Hospital
- Yarmouth Regional Hospital.
The storage sites are required to keep the vaccine at the appropriate temperature specified by the manufacturer. The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, the only one approved by Health Canada so far, must be stored between -80°C and -60°C.
Currently, the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine is stored at Dalhousie University and a vaccination clinic has been set up on campus for front-line health-care workers and long-term care staff in the central zone. The strict storage and handling guidelines for the vaccine means that vaccination clinics can only be set up where ultra-low temperature freezers are available.
Strang said the province acquired large freezers for storage and small ones for transportation. He added that the province got one of the freezers from the federal government.
Cape Breton Regional Hospital and Valley Regional Hospital, which is located in Kentville, will get the storage sites during the week of Jan. 4, with each site will receiving 1,950 vaccine doses.
Strang said he’s not sure when the other two storage sites will be ready. Details of the immunization clinics are also still being worked out.
So far, 1463 people in Nova Scotia have received their first shot of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.
“We’re expecting our first shipment of the Moderna vaccine soon. As soon as Health Canada approves it,” said Dr. Robert Strang, Nova Scotia’s chief medical officer of health, at Monday’s live COVID-19 update.
Strang said vaccination is moving ahead of schedule, with all eligible health-care workers in the central zone having had received their first dose. As vaccination moves to the general public later next year, Strang said the province will be prioritizing people based on age, health condition, and “vulnerability in communities based on socioeconomic factors.”
An 11-member vaccine expert panel with representation from the Department of Health and Wellness, Nova Scotia Health Authority, IWK Health Centre and the Canadian Center for Vaccinology has been established to monitor the use of vaccine in Nova Scotia. Strang said the panel won’t be deciding who has the priority to get the vaccine.
Nova Scotia will receive another shipment of 3,900 doses Pfizer-BioNtech COVID-19 vaccine this week.
Two new cases
Nova Scotia is reporting two more COVID-19 cases as the number of active cases in the province continues to decline.
One case is in the province’s central health zone, and the other case is in the western zone. Both cases are related to previously reported cases. There are now 38 active cases in the province. It’s been two weeks since the number of new cases reported in one day was over 10. Strang said he’s grateful to Nova Scotians for following the public health protocols.
“Today’s numbers and the trends we are seeing are a direct result of your hard work,” he said.
On Friday, Eskasoni First Nation reported its first case of COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic. Premier Stephen McNeil said a pop-up testing site will be set up at Eskasoni First Nation today, Monday, and Tuesday for anyone who’d like to get tested.
Clarification on restrictions
Starting Monday, new restrictions have come into place across Nova Scotia. They include the reopening of fitness facilities and resuming of faith-based activities in the Halifax Regional Municipality and Hants County. But restaurants, licensed establishments and the Halifax casino will remain closed until Jan. 10.
Across the province, retail stores and malls are only allowed to open at 25 per cent of their legal capacity as of Monday. The gathering limit is 10, including the people in a household.
“It doesn’t matter how old or young or your relationship, the limit is 10,” said Strang.
A close group of 10 can go out in public to attend faith gatherings or walk in a park without physical distancing. The group should be consistent.
Business meetings and training has a limit of 25 people with physical distancing and masks. Community events, such as suppers and parties, are not allowed.
While there are no specific instructions to avoid travel in and out of the Halifax Regional Municipality and Hants County, unnecessary travel continues to be discouraged during the holidays.
“If you do need to travel in the province, you need to go from point A to point B, without making unnecessary stops along the way,” said Strang.
People in long-term care are allowed an additional designated care-giver and family visitors. It’s up to individual long-term care facilities to decide how they’ll apply the restrictions, said Strang.
People can find the complete list of restrictions at https://novascotia.ca/coronavirus/restriction-updates/.
Nova Scotia Health Authority’s labs completed 1,389 Nova Scotia tests on Dec. 20.
Since Oct. 1, Nova Scotia has completed close to 100,000 tests. There have been 358 positive COVID-19 cases and no deaths. No one is currently in hospital.
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Oil companies planning to ship crude on the expanded Trans Mountain pipeline in Canada are concerned that the project may not begin full service on May 1 but they would be nevertheless obligated to pay tolls from that date.
In a letter to the Canada Energy Regulator (CER), Suncor Energy and other shippers including BP and Marathon Petroleum have expressed doubts that Trans Mountain will start full service on May 1, as previously communicated, Reuters reports.
Trans Mountain Corporation, the government-owned entity that completed the pipeline construction, told Reuters in an email that line fill on the expanded pipeline would be completed in early May.
After a series of delays, cost overruns, and legal challenges, the expanded Trans Mountain oil pipeline will open for business on May 1, the company said early this month.
“The Commencement Date for commercial operation of the expanded system will be May 1, 2024. Trans Mountain anticipates providing service for all contracted volumes in the month of May,” Trans Mountain Corporation said in early April.
The expanded pipeline will triple the capacity of the original pipeline to 890,000 barrels per day (bpd) from 300,000 bpd to carry crude from Alberta’s oil sands to British Columbia on the Pacific Coast.
The Federal Government of Canada bought the Trans Mountain Pipeline Expansion (TMX) from Kinder Morgan back in 2018, together with related pipeline and terminal assets. That cost the federal government $3.3 billion (C$4.5 billion) at the time. Since then, the costs for the expansion of the pipeline have quadrupled to nearly $23 billion (C$30.9 billion).
The expansion project has faced continuous delays over the years. In one of the latest roadblocks in December, the Canadian regulator denied a variance request from the project developer to move a small section of the pipeline due to challenging drilling conditions.
The company asked the regulator to reconsider its decision, and received on January 12 a conditional approval, avoiding what could have been another two-year delay to start-up.
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Tesla profits slump by more than a half
Tesla has announced its profits fell sharply in the first three months of the year to $1.13bn (£910m), compared with $2.51bn in 2023.
It caps a difficult period for the electric vehicle (EV) maker, which – faced with falling sales – has announced thousands of job cuts.
Boss Elon Musk remains bullish about its prospects, telling investors the launch of new models would be brought forward.
Its share price has risen but analysts say it continues to face significant challenges, including from lower-cost rivals.
The company has suffered from falling demand and competition from cheaper Chinese imports which has led its stock price to collapse by 43% over 2024.
Figures for the first quarter of 2024 revealed revenues of $21.3bn, down on analysts’ predictions of just over $22bn.
But the decision by Tesla to bring forward the launch of new models from the second half of 2025 boosted its shares by nearly 12.5% in after-hours trading.
It did not reveal pricing details for the new vehicles.
However Mr Musk made clear he also grander ambitions, touting Tesla’s AI credentials and plans for self-driving vehicles – even going as far as to say considering it to be just a car company was the “wrong framework.”
“If somebody doesn’t believe Tesla is going to solve autonomy I think they should not be an investor,” he said.
Such sentiments have been questioned by analysts though, with Deutsche Bank saying driverless cars face “technological, regulatory and operational challenges.”
Some investors have called for the company to instead focus on releasing a lower price, mass-market EV.
However, Tesla has already been on a charm offensive, trying to win over new customers by dropping its prices in a series of markets in the face of falling sales.
It also said its situation was not unique.
“Global EV sales continue to be under pressure as many carmakers prioritize hybrids over EVs,” it said.
Despite plans to bring forward new models originally planned for next year the firm is cutting its workforce.
Tesla said it would lose 3,332 jobs in California and 2,688 positions in Texas, starting mid-June.
The cuts in Texas represent 12% of Tesla’s total workforce of almost 23,000 in the area where its gigafactory and headquarters are located.
However, Mr Musk sought to downplay the move.
“Tesla has now created over 30,000 manufacturing jobs in California!” he said in a post on his social media platform X, formerly Twitter, on Tuesday.
Another 285 jobs will be lost in New York.
Tesla’s total workforce stood at more than 140,000 late last year, up from around 100,000 at the end of 2021, according to the company’s filings with US regulators.
Musk’s salary
The car firm is also facing other issues, with a struggle over Mr Musk’s compensation still raging on.
On Wednesday, Tesla asked shareholders to vote for a proposal to accept Mr Musk’s compensation package – once valued at $56bn – which had been rejected by a Delaware judge.
The judge found Tesla’s directors had breached their fiduciary duty to the firm by awarding Mr Musk the pay-out.
Due to the fall in Tesla’s stock value, the compensation package is now estimated to be around $10bn less – but still greater than the GDP of many countries.
In addition, Tesla wants its shareholders to agree to the firm being moved from Delaware to Texas – which Mr Musk called for after the judge rejected his payday.
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Stock market today: Nasdaq futures pop, Tesla surges after earnings with more heavyweights on deck
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Tech stocks rose on Wednesday, outstripping the broader market as investors welcomed Tesla’s (TSLA) cheaper car pledge and waited for the next rush of corporate earnings.
The Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) rose roughly 0.6%, coming off a sharp closing gain. The S&P 500 (^GSPC) was up 0.2%, continuing a rebound from its longest losing streak of 2024, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) fell 0.1%.
Tesla shares jumped nearly 12% after the EV maker’s vow to speed up the launch of more affordable models eclipsed its quarterly earnings and revenue miss. That cheered up investors worried about growth amid a strategy shift to robotaxis and the planned cancellation of a cheaper model.
The results from the first “Magnificent Seven” to report have intensified the already high hopes for Big Tech earnings, that the megacaps can revive the rally in stocks they powered. The spotlight is now on Meta’s (META) report due after the market close, as the Facebook owner’s shares rose after the Senate voted for a potential ban on rival TikTok. Microsoft (MSFT) and Alphabet (GOOG) next up on Thursday.
Meanwhile, Boeing (BA) reported better than expected first quarter results before the opening bell with a loss per share of $1.13, narrower than the $1.72 estimated by Wall Street. Shares rose about 2% in morning trade.
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