Eligible Ontarians aged 60 to 64 in three public health units will be able to book an appointment for the Astrazeneca COVID-19 vaccine at a pharmacy starting on Friday.
The Ministry of Health says more than 325 pharmacies in Toronto, Windsor-Essex and Kingston, Frontenac and Lennox & Addington (KFLA) are participating in a pilot program to administer 194,500 doses of the vaccine.
You can find the full list at the bottom of this story.
Ontario gained access to the initial shipment of the AstraZeneca vaccine this week. It was approved for use by Health Canada in late February, though the National Advisory Committee on Immunizations (NACI) subsequently recommended that it be used only for adults aged 18 to 64.
Members of the province’s vaccine task force said that due to the limited supply right now, the doses will be targeted toward residents aged 60 to 64 years old, which the province has defined by birth year as between 1957 and 1961.
At a news conference Wednesday afternoon, retired Gen. Rick Hillier, who is leading the province’s vaccine task force, said of the doses from the pilot project, 29,500 will be going to family doctors, while the rest are going to pharmacies.
Primary care physicians in six public health units (Hamilton, Toronto, Wellington-Dufferin Guelph, Peterborough, Simcoe Muskoka and Peel) will also start offering vaccines for eligible people age 60 to 64 starting on March 13. The province says they will not be taking appointments by request, but doctors will instead be contacting people directly to book appointments starting today.
Premier Doug Ford said the province should surpass one million overall vaccinations by the end of the day.
Soon, Ontario will have 120 new mass immunization clinics set up, Ford said, and will be in a place to offer up to 150,000 vaccines a day, depending on supply.
“This is an absolute game-changer,” Ford said.
“It appears that our vaccine supply is continuing to improve.”
WATCH | Premier Ford on Ontario’s vaccine pilot project:
Ontarians aged 60 to 64 in three public health units will be able to book an appointment for the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine at a pharmacy starting on Friday. Officials said that more than 325 pharmacies in Toronto, Windsor-Essex and Kingston, Frontenac and Lennox & Addington (KFLA) will be participating in a pilot program to administer 194,500 doses of the vaccine. 1:27
Provincial officials also say that Ontario will launch an online booking system and a provincial customer service desk for vaccinations on March 15. Those supports are intended to help answer questions and book appointments at mass vaccination clinics, starting with people over the age of 80.
At the news conference, Ford pleaded with the public not to try to use those systems unless they are in that over-80 age bracket. Many locations have had problems with these sorts of initiatives at the outset because demand overpowered capacity.
“If you’re not booking for anyone from 80 plus, please do not go online, please do not call that number,” Ford said.
Long-term care resident deaths down as vaccines ramp up
Because the AstraZeneca vaccine can be stored in a regular fridge, health officials intend to distribute primarily through pharmacies and primary care providers once shipments ramp up.
Right now, time is critical, as about 114,000 of the doses are set to expire on April 1. Speaking yesterday, Health Minister Elliott said none of those shots will be wasted.
“We have been ready to receive the AstraZeneca vaccines and we will be able to deliver them before expiry,” she said during question period at Queen’s Park.
Elliott added that once shipments of vaccines ramp up in coming weeks, Ontario will be able to quadruple its capacity in “very short order.”
The province administered 35,264 shots of COVID-19 vaccines yesterday. A total of 279,204 people have received both shots of either the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines.
The effort to immunize those living in long-term care has dramatically reduced COVID-19-linked deaths among residents, of which 3,876 have died during the pandemic. Today was the fifth straight day in Ontario without any additional resident deaths reported.
(CBC)
1,316 new COVID-19 cases
Meanwhile, this morning Ontario reported another 1,316 cases of COVID-19 and 16 more deaths of people with the illness.
The new cases include 428 in Toronto, 244 in Peel Region and 149 in York Region.
Health units that saw a double-digit increase were:
Thunder Bay: 67
Hamilton: 59
Ottawa: 59
Durham Region: 48
Halton Region: 48
Simcoe-Muskoka: 31
Waterloo Region: 25
Windsor-Essex: 23
Niagara Region: 19
Peterborough: 16
Brant County: 14
Sudbury: 13
Eastern Ontario: 11
Leeds, Grenville and Lanark District: 11
(Note: All of the figures used in this story are found on the Ministry of Health’s COVID-19 dashboard or in its Daily Epidemiologic Summary. The number of cases for any region may differ from what is reported by the local public health unit on a given day, because local units report figures at different times.)
The seven-day average climbed for a fifth straight day to 1,238, its highest point in about a month (though it is important to note that, due to a data error, the daily case count on March 8 was artificially inflated by a few hundred infections that should have been reported the previous Saturday).
According to the Ministry of Health, there were people with COVID-19 in hospitals, of which 281 were being treated in intensive care.
Notably, however, an internal March 8 report from Critical Care Services Ontario (CCSO) put the number of COVID-19 patients in ICUs at 344. The CCSO report, which is circulated among hospitals and health agencies, reflects a more accurate accounting of ICU admissions due to a difference in how cases are counted.
Hospitals continue to prepare for the possible implications of a rise in the transmission of variants of concern, which Ontario’s COVID-19 science advisory table has said could put a significant burden on ICUs.
Toronto sets up field hospital ahead of possible 3rd wave
Sunnybrook Hospital in Toronto confirmed today that a mobile health unit is being built on its campus in preparation for a potential influx of patients in April. The field operation is a joint effort between the hospital and the provincial and federal governments.
A mobile health unit consisting of self-contained pods with eight to 10 beds each was erected on the Bayview campus of Sunnybrook Hospital in Toronto this morning. (Paul Smith/CBC)
A spokesperson for the hospital said the mobile unit will have 84 beds, though it can be expanded to accommodate 100 if need arises.
“In the event of an increase in the demand for beds, we expect the facility will most likely be used to provide space for patients who are awaiting placement in other facilities, and low acuity recovering patients which will free up acute and critical care beds in the hospital,” the spokesperson said.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said in January that two mobile health units would be sent to help hospitals in the Greater Toronto Area. The federal government procured 10 mobile health units last year as the COVID-19 pandemic was worsening in Canada.
See the full list of pharmacies participating in the pilot here:
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.
