When the first COVID-19 vaccine was approved in Canada, Ketty Samel and her 76-year-old husband Morris believed the end to the long months of isolation was in sight. Since last March, the Thornhill, Ont., couple has been hunkering down in their home.
“We’re living in fear. For me to go to a grocery store right now, I’m in a total sweat. I’m stressed, I walk in and I walk out. I grab whatever I need off the shelves and that’s it.”
Under Ontario’s vaccination rollout plan, Samel, 71, and her husband will be vaccinated in Phase 2 — a phase that could begin as early as March, according to government officials, and will continue through to July. It’s a tiered system by age groups, starting with those 80 years of age or older, then decreasing by five-year increments.
“They’ve told us from the beginning of this pandemic that we were vulnerable. [After] long term care we were the next vulnerable population,” said Samel.
“And all of a sudden we’re expendable. That’s our feeling.”
The Ontario Ministry of Health says the roadblock to vaccinating more people faster is supply, which is expected to increase in Phase 2.
But in the meantime, some are questioning whether everyone getting a dose in Phase 1 is as vulnerable as seniors in the community, with figures from Public Health Ontario showing that more than a third of COVID-19 deaths are adults over 60 who aren’t in long-term care.
Long-term care nurse Limin Liu, right, takes a selfie as registered nurse Sasha Vartley vaccinates her with the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 mRNA vaccine during the COVID-19 pandemic in Toronto on Dec. 15. (Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press)
Federal guidelines
The National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI) recommends adults 70 and older to be part of the first stage of immunization rollout, alongside residents and staff in seniors’ congregate living settings, health-care workers, and adults in Indigenous communities “where infection can have disproportionate consequences.”
Actual plans vary by province. In Ontario, Phase 1 of the rollout involves vaccinating all residents, staff, essential and other workers in long term care and retirement homes, health care workers, adults in First nations, Metis and Inuit populations and recipients of adult chronic home care.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford watches a health-care worker prepare a dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine at a vaccine clinic in Toronto on Jan. 7. (Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press)
This discrepancy between federal guidelines and Ontario’s planned rollout is one that 76-year-old Toronto resident Brian Corcoran calls frustrating.
“We’re not considering elderly people. They don’t have that criteria in Ontario,” said Corocoran.
Corcoran, like many other seniors in Ontario, has called his local health clinic to try to find out when he’d be vaccinated, only to be told staff have received no direction.
“By having the seniors in limbo is not good for a lot of people. A lot of people will get depressed. A lot of people will be isolated.”
Corcoran said he believes in the importance of vaccinating seniors in long-term care homes and front line workers first, but said he doesn’t understand why older adults like him aren’t included in the first phase after them.
Brian Corcoran, 76, pictured outside his Toronto home. He’d like to see elderly people such as himself vaccinated in Phase 1 of Ontario’s rollout plan. (Pelin Sidki/CBC)
It’s a sentiment shared by Samel and her husband.
“If we should contract COVID, it’s most likely that we are going to end up taking up a hospital bed and end up not surviving. That’s the bottom line,” she said.
‘The numbers don’t lie’
According to Public Health Ontario’s figures as of Friday, there have been 5289 COVID deaths in the province.
A closer look at the numbers show that of the estimated 5289 deaths, 96 per cent — 5064 people — are aged 60 and over. (The majority — 3137 deaths — have been seniors in long-term care homes, but nearly 2000 estimated deaths have been seniors not in long-term care.)
Those figures are prompting some medical professionals and advocates to call for Ontario’s vaccination plan to look more closely at older adults.
“The numbers don’t lie,” said Dr. Samir Sinha, director of Geriatrics at at Mount Sinai and the University Health Network Hospitals in Toronto.
“And yet our government is basically following a kind of a plan that I don’t actually think really follows the science.”
Dr. Samir Sinha, director of geriatrics at Sinai Health and University Health Network in Toronto, says he doesn’t believe the government is using science to guide its vaccination rollout plan when it comes to seniors. (Jennifer La Grassa/CBC)
Sinha questions why some essential workers in hospitals — who don’t interact with patients — are being vaccinated before older adults.
“The science says that when 96 per cent of the people dying in this pandemic are people older than 60. Why would you make that make that population wait until April, that 3.5 million people, and start vaccinating 1.5 million essential workers months in advance of that?”
Sinha pointed to other countries — such as Israel — that he said have already vaccinated more than 70 per cent of its population over the age of 60 in a matter of weeks.
Bill VanGorder is the Chief Policy Officer for the Canadian Association for Retired Persons (CARP). He says with community spread in Ontario, there is a serious risk to those seniors living in their own homes. (CARP)
Each province has its own timeline for vaccinating seniors. In British Columbia for example, only those 80 years of age or older who live in the community will be vaccinated before April.
In Quebec, the provincial government plans to start vaccinating those 70 years and older by February 15 with the hope that all Quebecers over 70 will get vaccine by April. In Alberta the plan is to start offering vaccines to seniors 75 and older by February.
Some seniors’ advocates say older adults must be prioritized regardless of where they live.
“There is great risk to people who are living in their own homes. They’re still visited … by caregivers, by their own family,” said Bill VanGorder, chief policy officer with the Canadian Association for Retired Persons (CARP)
“And we know how bad community spread is right across [Ontario]. Why would we not want to vaccinate them just as quickly as possible first?”
WATCH | Why some provinces are delaying 2nd dose of vaccine against recommendations:
As provinces rush to get vaccines into arms, debate continues over how late second doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines can be given. Canada’s Vaccine Task Force is pushing for manufacturer guidelines to be adhered to, while Canada’s National Advisory Committee on Immunization says up to 42 days is OK. 2:01
Ministry response
CBC News reached out to the Ontario Ministry of Health to ask why older adult aren’t part of Phase 1 and why the province hasn’t moved to vaccinate them sooner.
In a statement it said the province has the ability to ramp up its capacity to vaccinate more people, but the problem is supply.
“We continue to urge the federal government to deliver more COVID-19 vaccines as soon as possible to keep up with Ontario’s capacity to administer.”
It added: “As the province continues to receive more doses, we will continue to expand locations across the province to vaccinate our most vulnerable and over time every Ontarian who wishes to be immunized.”
For Ketty Samel and her husband, that’s not good enough. They’ve started a letter-writing campaign to the provincial government.
“They’ve told us and warned us that we are so vulnerable,” said Samel. “If we’re so vulnerable, why is nobody looking at this?”
TORONTO – Roots Corp. may have built its brand on all things comfy and cosy, but its CEO says activewear is now “really becoming a core part” of the brand.
The category, which at Roots spans leggings, tracksuits, sports bras and bike shorts, has seen such sustained double-digit growth that Meghan Roach plans to make it a key part of the business’ future.
“It’s an area … you will see us continue to expand upon,” she told analysts on a Friday call.
The Toronto-based retailer’s push into activewear has taken shape over many years and included several turns as the official designer and supplier of Team Canada’s Olympic uniform.
But consumers have had plenty of choice when it comes to workout gear and other apparel suited to their sporting needs. On top of the slew of athletic brands like Nike and Adidas, shoppers have also gravitated toward Lululemon Athletica Inc., Alo and Vuori, ramping up competition in the activewear category.
Roach feels Roots’ toehold in the category stems from the fit, feel and following its merchandise has cultivated.
“Our product really resonates with (shoppers) because you can wear it through multiple different use cases and occasions,” she said.
“We’ve been seeing customers come back again and again for some of these core products in our activewear collection.”
Her remarks came the same day as Roots revealed it lost $5.2 million in its latest quarter compared with a loss of $5.3 million in the same quarter last year.
The company said the second-quarter loss amounted to 13 cents per diluted share for the quarter ended Aug. 3, the same as a year earlier.
In presenting the results, Roach reminded analysts that the first half of the year is usually “seasonally small,” representing just 30 per cent of the company’s annual sales.
Sales for the second quarter totalled $47.7 million, down from $49.4 million in the same quarter last year.
The move lower came as direct-to-consumer sales amounted to $36.4 million, down from $37.1 million a year earlier, as comparable sales edged down 0.2 per cent.
The numbers reflect the fact that Roots continued to grapple with inventory challenges in the company’s Cooper fleece line that first cropped up in its previous quarter.
Roots recently began to use artificial intelligence to assist with daily inventory replenishments and said more tools helping with allocation will go live in the next quarter.
Beyond that time period, the company intends to keep exploring AI and renovate more of its stores.
It will also re-evaluate its design ranks.
Roots announced Friday that chief product officer Karuna Scheinfeld has stepped down.
Rather than fill the role, the company plans to hire senior level design talent with international experience in the outdoor and activewear sectors who will take on tasks previously done by the chief product officer.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
VANCOUVER – Mediated talks between the union representing HandyDART workers in Metro Vancouver and its employer, Transdev, are set to resume today as a strike that has stopped most services drags into a second week.
No timeline has been set for the length of the negotiations, but Joe McCann, president of the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1724, says they are willing to stay there as long as it takes, even if talks drag on all night.
About 600 employees of the door-to-door transit service for people unable to navigate the conventional transit system have been on strike since last Tuesday, pausing service for all but essential medical trips.
Hundreds of drivers rallied outside TransLink’s head office earlier this week, calling for the transportation provider to intervene in the dispute with Transdev, which was contracted to oversee HandyDART service.
Transdev said earlier this week that it will provide a reply to the union’s latest proposal on Thursday.
A statement from the company said it “strongly believes” that their employees deserve fair wages, and that a fair contract “must balance the needs of their employees, clients and taxpayers.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
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.
