All four million doses of the joint Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) and BioNTech SE (Nasdaq:BNTX) vaccine previously guaranteed to Canada by the end of March will officially arrive on time despite ongoing delivery and production delays.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Friday (February 12) he had just received an updated delivery schedule from Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla confirming the doses will be in the country on schedule.
Pfizer began revamping its production facilities in Belgium to expand its manufacturing capacity last month, leading to ongoing delays to weekly deliveries to Canada.
No Pfizer shipments arrived in the country the last week of January, and Canada is only receiving 82% of the previously expected deliveries for the weeks of February 1 and February 8.
Health Canada signed off earlier this week on relabelling the Pfizer vaccine, allowing immunizers to begin extracting six doses from each vial using specialized syringes rather than the previously agreed-upon five doses.
Now that Canadian health workers can extract one extra dose from each vial, federal officials confirmed Thursday Pfizer is due to deliver 404,000 doses next week, followed by 475,000 doses the last week of February and 444,000 doses weekly for the first two weeks of March.
Maj.-Gen. Dany Fortin, the vice-president of logistics and operations at the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC), did not have a confirmed delivery schedule for Pfizer vaccine doses for the final three weeks of March as of Thursday.
PHAC’s website has not been updated with the recently confirmed shipment schedule as of Friday morning.
Trudeau said governments in the provinces and territories would soon receive the updated shipment schedules.
Federal officials had repeatedly said they’ve received assurances from the two manufacturers that all of the previously guaranteed doses — four million from Pfizer and two million from Moderna Inc. (NYSE:MRNA) — will be delivered by the end of March.
Moderna has not yet confirmed its delivery schedule for the final weeks of March.
After that, the two manufacturers had been contracted to deliver a combined total of 20 million doses by the end of June, with 10.8 million doses coming from Pfizer.
But Trudeau revealed Friday the federal government also just ordered an additional four million Moderna doses, set to arrive “over the summer.”
His comments seem to indicate those Moderna doses will be arriving in the third quarter — not the second quarter — of 2021.
However, Minister of Public Services and Procurement Anita Anand said later in the day that 23 million doses from the two manufacturers are now due to arrive by the end of the second quarter.
Meanwhile, the prime minister also confirmed new border measures aimed at slowing the spread of COVID-19 variants will go into effect February 22.
International travellers who fly into the country will be required to take a PCR (polymerase chain reaction) test at the airport to determine if they have COVID-19.
Those travellers will then be required to wait at an approved hotel for up to three days at their own expense — $2,000 — as they await test results.
Those who test negative will be able to quarantine at home, while those international travellers who test positive will be sent to a designated government facility to quarantine.
“It’s not a punitive measure to keep people in quarantine for three days while they get the result. It’s just so that we can get a negative result off of that test,” the prime minister said.
And beginning Monday, non-essential travellers arriving at land borders will need to show proof of a negative PCR test taken in the U.S. within three days.
From there, they will be required to quarantine at home.
By February 22, non-essential land travellers will be required to take a PCR test upon arrival and at the end of their 14-day home quarantine.
Truckers and emergency service providers are exempt from that requirement.
“Anyone who shows up at a border crossing without an adequate quarantine plan already is directed to quarantine facilities approved by PHAC so that they can do it safely,” Trudeau said.
“Every decision we’re taking is based on the best possible evidence and will continue to be as we do everything we can to protect Canadians from the threats of these new variants.”
VANCOUVER – West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. says it’s indefinitely curtailing its sawmill in Lake Butler, Fla., by the end of the month.
The Vancouver-based company says the decision is because of high fibre costs and soft lumber markets.
West Fraser says the curtailment will affect about 130 employees, though it will mitigate the impact by providing work opportunities at other locations.
The company says high fibre costs at Lake Butler and the current low-price commodity environment have made it difficult to operate the mill profitably.
It expects to take an impairment charge in the third quarter associated with the curtailment.
At the beginning of this year, West Fraser said it was closing a sawmill in Maxville, Fla., and indefinitely closing another in Huttig, Ark.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2024.
TORONTO – Canada Goose Holdings Inc. says it has signed a deal that will result in the creation of its first eyewear collection.
The deal announced on Thursday by the Toronto-based luxury apparel company comes in the form of an exclusive, long-term global licensing agreement with Marchon Eyewear Inc.
The terms and value of the agreement were not disclosed, but Marchon produces eyewear for brands including Lacoste, Nike, Calvin Klein, Ferragamo, Longchamp and Zeiss.
Marchon plans to roll out both sunglasses and optical wear under the Canada Goose name next spring, starting in North America.
Canada Goose says the eyewear will be sold through optical retailers, department stores, Canada Goose shops and its website.
Canada Goose CEO Dani Reiss told The Canadian Press in August that he envisioned his company eventually expanding into eyewear and luggage.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2024.
Almost seven years since news broke of an alleged conspiracy to fix the price of packaged bread across Canada, the saga isn’t over: the Competition Bureau continues to investigate the companies that may have been involved, and two class-action lawsuits continue to work their way through the courts.
Here’s a timeline of key events in the bread price-fixing case.
Oct. 31, 2017: The Competition Bureau says it’s investigating allegations of bread price-fixing and that it was granted search warrants in the case. Several grocers confirm they are co-operating in the probe.
Dec. 19, 2017: Loblaw and George Weston say they participated in an “industry-wide price-fixing arrangement” to raise the price of packaged bread. The companies say they have been co-operating in the Competition Bureau’s investigation since March 2015, when they self-reported to the bureau upon discovering anti-competitive behaviour, and are receiving immunity from prosecution. They announce they are offering $25 gift cards to customers amid the ongoing investigation into alleged bread price-fixing.
Jan. 31, 2018: In court documents, the Competition Bureau says at least $1.50 was added to the price of a loaf of bread between about 2001 and 2016.
Dec. 20, 2019: A class-action lawsuit in a Quebec court against multiple grocers and food companies is certified against a number of companies allegedly involved in bread price-fixing, including Loblaw, George Weston, Metro, Sobeys, Walmart Canada, Canada Bread and Giant Tiger (which have all denied involvement, except for Loblaw and George Weston, which later settled with the plaintiffs).
Dec. 31, 2021: A class-action lawsuit in an Ontario court covering all Canadian residents except those in Quebec who bought packaged bread from a company named in the suit is certified against roughly the same group of companies.
June 21, 2023: Bakery giant Canada Bread Co. is fined $50 million after pleading guilty to four counts of price-fixing under the Competition Act as part of the Competition Bureau’s ongoing investigation.
Oct. 25 2023: Canada Bread files a statement of defence in the Ontario class action denying participating in the alleged conspiracy and saying any anti-competitive behaviour it participated in was at the direction and to the benefit of its then-majority owner Maple Leaf Foods, which is not a defendant in the case (neither is its current owner Grupo Bimbo). Maple Leaf calls Canada Bread’s accusations “baseless.”
Dec. 20, 2023: Metro files new documents in the Ontario class action accusing Loblaw and its parent company George Weston of conspiring to implicate it in the alleged scheme, denying involvement. Sobeys has made a similar claim. The two companies deny the allegations.
July 25, 2024: Loblaw and George Weston say they agreed to pay a combined $500 million to settle both the Ontario and Quebec class-action lawsuits. Loblaw’s share of the settlement includes a $96-million credit for the gift cards it gave out years earlier.
Sept. 12, 2024: Canada Bread files new documents in Ontario court as part of the class action, claiming Maple Leaf used it as a “shield” to avoid liability in the alleged scheme. Maple Leaf was a majority shareholder of Canada Bread until 2014, and the company claims it’s liable for any price-fixing activity. Maple Leaf refutes the claims.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2024.
Companies in this story: (TSX:L, TSX:MFI, TSX:MRU, TSX:EMP.A, TSX:WN)
