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Plane carrying doses of COVID-19 vaccines for kids touches down in Canada – CP24 Toronto's Breaking News

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3 years ago

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Nicole Thompson, The Canadian Press


Published Sunday, November 21, 2021 3:22PM EST


Last Updated Sunday, November 21, 2021 7:43PM EST

HAMILTON – The first batch of COVID-19 vaccines for children landed in Canada on Sunday, clearing the way for provinces and territories to gear up in earnest for the next phase of the national mass immunization campaign.

A UPS plane bearing thousands of pediatric doses touched down in the rain at an airport in Hamilton, with federal Procurement Minister Filomena Tassi on hand to mark its arrival.

Tassi clapped and cheered as workers unloaded massive grey containers from the upper deck of the plane.

Sunday’s delivery marks the first in an accelerated shipment of vaccines geared toward children between the ages of five and 11.

Health Canada announced Friday that it had approved a modified version of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for use in that demographic, and Ottawa immediately promised some shots would be on Canadian soil 48 hours later.

Tassi said on Friday that Canada would have 2.9 million doses in hand by the end of the week, enough to offer a first dose to every child in the newly approved age bracket.

Health Canada’s approval came following a month-long review of safety and efficacy data from the pharmaceutical giants.

The regulator said the vaccine, which is administered in a smaller dose than the adult version and has a slightly different formula, was 90.7 per cent effective at preventing COVID-19 in children and produced no identified serious side effects.

Provinces welcomed both the vaccine’s approval and imminent arrival, but largely held off on disclosing plans for getting shots into children’s arms until supplies had arrived.

New Brunswick issued a statement Sunday saying vaccine eligibility will be expanded to include children aged five to 11 as soon as supply of the pediatric doses are received, but the province didn’t offer information about when that’s expected.

Many public health units in Ontario hadn’t updated their rollout plans as of Sunday afternoon, with regions including Peel, Windsor-Essex and Waterloo saying Friday that appointments were expected to open up early this week.

The Region of Durham said Friday it anticipated opening booking sites on Monday, while Toronto Public Health issued a statement Friday saying it was preparing to open 20,000 slots between Nov. 25 and Dec. 5 at city-run immunization clinics.

Manitoba was one of few jurisdictions to release booking information before Sunday. The province announced Friday that parents and caregivers could start making first-dose appointments for eligible kids by phone or online as of 6 a.m. Monday.

Sean Sedlacek, a father in Winnipeg, said he’ll try to nab an appointment for his five-year-old son as soon as slots open up.

Sedlacek said he and his wife felt “an incredible sense of relief” Friday when news broke that Health Canada had authorized the pediatric vaccine from Pfizer.

Sedlacek and his wife booked appointments to get themselves vaccinated once they were eligible earlier this year, and said they want to do the same for their only child.

“We really just want to get him as protected as possible,” he said. “I know the risks are a lot lower for younger kids, but you can’t control what other people are doing. I just want to make sure I’m doing as much as I possibly can to keep our family protected.”

In British Columbia, meanwhile, parents have already been able to pre-register their child for an appointment online or by phone. The province said more than 75,000 children had registered as of Friday, putting them on a list to be contacted for an appointment when booking opens.

Alberta announced a similar pre-registration program, adding that the province should start administering shots late this week provided the doses arrive as expected.

Saskatchewan is scheduled to release details Monday about its plans to vaccinate the approximately 115,000 children who are in the five-to 11-age group. Health and education officials are working to set up clinics at schools, and Education Minister Dustin Duncan said last week the government is also working on a plan to ensure anti-vaccination protesters don’t turn up at schools as they have at hospitals.

Quebec Health Minister Christian Dube, meanwhile, said Friday that the province’s immunization plan would be unveiled this week, adding he hoped to have 700,000 children in the approved age range vaccinated with their first dose by Christmas.

Some public health units are setting up vaccine clinics in schools and expanding existing mass vaccination sites. Pharmacies and family doctors’ offices are also expected to offer jabs in some jurisdictions.

Toronto has said hundreds of schools in Ontario’s most populous city will host clinics, but vaccines won’t be given out during class time.

Children are not to be vaccinated without parental consent.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for children on Oct. 29 and the United States has already immunized more than two million kids.

Dr. Samira Jeimy, an allergist and immunologist with Western University in London, Ont., said it can be frustrating for eager parents to be told they have to wait to book vaccine appointments for their kids.

“I don’t blame parents who have been waiting at the edge of their seats – like me,” she said in an interview Saturday. “I understand from the point of view of trying to keep things organized, but I feel like we should really have been ready to mobilize things.”

– With files from Melissa Couto Zuber in Toronto and Rob Drinkwater in Edmonton

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 21, 2021.

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What Difference Will You Make to an Employer?

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18 hours ago

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October 21, 2024

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Ex-Employer (Job)

It’s common knowledge that companies don’t hire the most qualified candidates. Employers hire the person they believe will deliver the best value in exchange for their payroll cost.

Since most job seekers know the above, I’m surprised that so few mention their Employee Value Proposition (EVP). Most job seekers list their education, skills, and experience without substantiating them and expect employers to determine whether they can benefit their company; hence, most resumes and LinkedIn profiles are just a list of opinions—borderline platitudes—that are meaningless and, therefore, have no value. Job seekers need to better explain, along with providing evidence, how they’ll contribute to an employer’s success.

Employers don’t hire opinions (read: talk is cheap); they hire results.

You’re not offering anything tangible when you claim:

 

  • I’m a great communicator.
  • I’m detail oriented.
  • I’m a team player.

 

Tangible:

 

  • “At Global Dynamics, I held quarterly town hall meetings with my 22 sales reps, highlighting our accomplishments, identifying opportunity areas, and recognizing outstanding performers.”
  • “For eight years, I managed Vandelay Industries IT department, overseeing a staff of 18 and a 12-million-dollar budget while coordinating cross-specialty projects. My strong attention to detail is why I never exceeded budget.”
  • “While working at Cyberdyne Systems, I was part of the customer service team, consisting of nine of us, striving to improve our response time. Through collaboration and sharing of best practices, we reduced our average response time from 48 to 12 business hours, resulting in a 35% improvement in customer feedback ratings.”

 

These examples of tangible answers provide employers with what they most want to hear from candidates but rarely do; what value the candidate will bring to the company. Typically, job seekers present their skills, experience, and unsubstantiated opinions and expect recruiters and employers to figure out their value, which is a lazy practice.

Getting hired isn’t based on “I have an MBA in Marketing and Sales,” “I’ve been a web designer for over 15 years,” “I’m young, beautiful and energetic,” blah, blah, blah. Likewise, being rejected isn’t based on “I’m overqualified,” “I’m too old,” “I don’t have enough education,” blah, blah, blah. Getting hired depends entirely on showing employers that you can add value and substance to their company; that you’ll serve a purpose.

When you articulate a solid value offer, the “blah, blah, blah” doesn’t matter. Job seekers focus too much on the “blah, blah, blah,” and when not hired, they say, “It’s not me, it’s…” The biggest mistake I see job seekers make is focusing on the “blah, blah, blah”—their experience and education—believing this is what interests employers. Hiring managers are more interested in whether you can solve the problems the position exists to solve than in your education and experience.

 

Not impressive: Education

Impressive: A track record of achieving tangible results.

 

You aren’t who you say you are; you are what you do.

 

If you want to be somebody who works hard, you have to actually work hard. If you want to be somebody who goes to the gym, you actually have to go to the gym. If you want to be a good friend, spouse, or colleague, you have to actually be a good friend, spouse, or colleague. Actions build reputations, not words.

The biggest challenge job seekers face today is differentiating themselves. To stand out and be memorable, don’t be like most job seekers, someone who’s all talk and no action. Any recruiter or hiring manager will tell you that the job market is heavily populated with job seekers who talk themselves up, talk a “good game” about everything they can “supposedly” do, drop names, etc., but have nothing to show for it.

More than ever, employers want to hear candidates offer a value proposition summarizing what value they bring. If you’re looking for a low-hanging fruit method to differentiate yourself, do what job seekers hardly ever do and make a hard-to-ignore value proposition.

  1. Increase sales: “Based on my experience managing Regina and Saskatoon for PharmaKorp, I’m confident that I can increase BioGen’s sales by no less than 25% in Winnipeg and the surrounding area by the end of 2025.”
  2. Reduce cost: “During my 12 years as Taco Town’s head of purchasing, I renegotiated contracts with key suppliers, resulting in 15% cost savings, saving the company over $450,000 annually. I know I can do the same for The Pasta House.”
  3. Increase customer satisfaction:“During my time at Globex Corporation, I established a systematic feedback mechanism that enabled customers to share their experiences. This led to targeted improvements, increasing our Net Promoter Score by 15 points. I can increase Dunder Mifflin’s net promoter score.”
  4. Save time: “As Zap Delivery’s dispatcher, I implemented advanced routing software that analyzed traffic patterns, reducing average delivery times by 20%. My implementation of this software at Froggy’s Delivery can reduce your delivery times by at least 20%, if not more.”

 

If you want to achieve job search success as soon as possible, structure your job search with a single thread that’s evident and consistent throughout your résumé, LinkedIn profile, cover letters and especially during interviews; clearly convey what difference you’ll make to the employer.

_____________________________________________________________________

 

Nick Kossovan, a well-seasoned veteran of the corporate landscape, offers “unsweetened” job search advice. You can send Nick your questions to artoffindingwork@gmail.com.

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Netflix’s subscriber growth slows as gains from password-sharing crackdown subside

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5 days ago

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October 17, 2024

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Netflix on Thursday reported that its subscriber growth slowed dramatically during the summer, a sign the huge gains from the video-streaming service’s crackdown on freeloading viewers is tapering off.

The 5.1 million subscribers that Netflix added during the July-September period represented a 42% decline from the total gained during the same time last year. Even so, the company’s revenue and profit rose at a faster pace than analysts had projected, according to FactSet Research.

Netflix ended September with 282.7 million worldwide subscribers — far more than any other streaming service.

The Los Gatos, California, company earned $2.36 billion, or $5.40 per share, a 41% increase from the same time last year. Revenue climbed 15% from a year ago to $9.82 billion. Netflix management predicted the company’s revenue will rise at the same 15% year-over-year pace during the October-December period, slightly than better than analysts have been expecting.

The strong financial performance in the past quarter coupled with the upbeat forecast eclipsed any worries about slowing subscriber growth. Netflix’s stock price surged nearly 4% in extended trading after the numbers came out, building upon a more than 40% increase in the company’s shares so far this year.

The past quarter’s subscriber gains were the lowest posted in any three-month period since the beginning of last year. That drop-off indicates Netflix is shifting to a new phase after reaping the benefits from a ban on the once-rampant practice of sharing account passwords that enabled an estimated 100 million people watch its popular service without paying for it.

The crackdown, triggered by a rare loss of subscribers coming out of the pandemic in 2022, helped Netflix add 57 million subscribers from June 2022 through this June — an average of more than 7 million per quarter, while many of its industry rivals have been struggling as households curbed their discretionary spending.

Netflix’s gains also were propelled by a low-priced version of its service that included commercials for the first time in its history. The company still is only getting a small fraction of its revenue from the 2-year-old advertising push, but Netflix is intensifying its focus on that segment of its business to help boost its profits.

In a letter to shareholder, Netflix reiterated previous cautionary notes about its expansion into advertising, though the low-priced option including commercials has become its fastest growing segment.

“We have much more work to do improving our offering for advertisers, which will be a priority over the next few years,” Netflix management wrote in the letter.

As part of its evolution, Netflix has been increasingly supplementing its lineup of scripted TV series and movies with live programming, such as a Labor Day spectacle featuring renowned glutton Joey Chestnut setting a world record for gorging on hot dogs in a showdown with his longtime nemesis Takeru Kobayashi.

Netflix will be trying to attract more viewer during the current quarter with a Nov. 15 fight pitting former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson against Jake Paul, a YouTube sensation turned boxer, and two National Football League games on Christmas Day.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

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All Magic Spells (TM) : Top Converting Magic Spell eCommerce Store

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October 17, 2024

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