Report says delaying second dose of the Vaccine up to 42 days is OK, but some warn of risks | Canada News Media
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Report says delaying second dose of the Vaccine up to 42 days is OK, but some warn of risks

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TORONTO —
With just one per cent of Canadians vaccinated, and in the face of rising cases and strained hospitals, a new report from the National Advisory Committee on Immunization says provinces can accelerate the number of people being vaccinated by delaying the second dose for up to 42 days.

This would lengthen the specific waiting period between doses that has been proven to work in clinical trials for both vaccines.

The updated recommendations, released Tuesday by NACI, raise questions for Canadians anxiously awaiting the protection of a vaccine, as well as officials trying to speed up the rollout.

But the data is scarce on the impact of such measures, and scientists are split over whether they are worth the risks.

Dr. Caroline Quach, an epidemiologist and professor at the University of Montreal and chair of NACI told CTV News that it is a decision that could be made when regions “have no choice.”

“When you look at the epidemiological context where Ontario and Quebec are having huge community transmission, hospitalizations, complications, mortality, you have to wonder, do we have any data that would allow us to vaccinate more people at first,” she said.

She pointed out that the wave of cases is very high right now, pushing the need for more vaccines fast to cut down on overall transmission, even if the efficacy of those vaccines might wane due to the delay.

The two vaccines that have been approved in Canada so far — PfizerBioNTech and Moderna’s — both require two separate doses in order to achieve 94-95 per cent immunity for the patient.

These doses are spaced apart. Pfizer’s second dose is intended to be delivered 21 days after the first, while Moderna’s has a 28-day wait in between the doses.

The report from NACI says that while the ideal is to follow the vaccine manufacturers’ recommendations, people can wait longer — 42 days or so for the second dose — in order to allow double the number of Canadians to get some partial protection by receiving their first shot faster.

“We’re basically in a race against time,” Ashleigh Tuite, an epidemiologist and mathematical modeller with the University of Toronto, told CTV News. “And so the quicker we can get people vaccinated, the better.”

She pointed out that the need for fast immunization of the population is even more important in the wake of the news that the more transmissible U.K. variant of the novel coronavirus is in Canada.

Canada currently has almost 80,000 active cases of COVID-19, and more than 6,000 new cases were reported today. In a worrying trend, hospitalizations are also high, and long-term care homes are coming under fire again.

“Based on the data that we have on the vaccines, a week or two or three week delay in [doses] is unlikely to cause us a huge problem,” Tuite said. “And if anything, it’s still preferential to focus on getting those first vaccine doses in arms.”

It’s a plan endorsed by the World Health Organization, which said people can wait up to six weeks between doses to broaden coverage, with both the U.K. and the U.S. now releasing stored doses.

Both vaccines offer partial protection within 15 days of receiving the first shot, with Pfizer offering 52-per-cent efficacy and Moderna providing 80-per-cent efficacy.

But some scientists warn that relying on partial immunity and delaying the second shots may lead to viral mutations and inadequate immunity.

“The efficacy is likely not to be as high as we stretch out the time between the first and second dose,” Matthew Miller, an infectious disease specialist and associate professor at McMaster University, told CTV News.

“The further you get away from that first dose before getting the second dose, the greater your relative risk is [than] if you’ve got that second dose on schedule.”

He agrees that we should be vaccinating as many people as possible, without holding back the second dose in freezers, but believes we should only use up shipments on the first shot if there is the guarantee that more shipments of the second dose will arrive on time.

The very first people getting the vaccines are those on the frontlines and those at the highest risk from the virus, such as elderly people. This makes it all the more important that we get the vaccine rollout right, Miller said.

“We need to make sure that we give those people their vaccine doses on time in order to ensure that they enjoy sort of the maximum benefit and protection that the vaccines have to offer,” he said.

“I think right now where we’re still prioritizing the highest risk populations, it makes the most sense to stick as closely to the vaccine recommended schedule as possible.”

Both Pfizer and Moderna tell CTV News their shots should be delivered as studied and agreed upon by Health Canada.

“The safety and efficacy of the vaccine has not been evaluated on different dosing schedules as the majority of trial participants received the second dose within the window specified in the study design,” Pfizer said in an emailed statement, adding that there is no data “to demonstrate that protection after the first dose is sustained after 21 days.”

Moderna also stated that all of their trials included a second “boost” dose at 28 days, meaning they have no data on how long the efficacy of the first dose alone is sustained.

Health Canada’s position on the vaccination schedules is that Canadians “receive both doses of the same vaccine, as close as possible to the authorized dosing regimen for each vaccine.”

However, the organization noted in an emailed statement that provinces and territories may refer to NACI’s advice on the matter when making decisions on their vaccine rollout, and that NACI “has carefully weighed the scientific evidence and ethical implications” of all of their recommendations.

And some seniors in Quebec are considering suing because their second doses of the vaccine have been delayed — with some of them having contracted COVID-19 in the meantime.

How much the strategy of delaying the second doses could speed up vaccination is an unknown. Ottawa says 80 million doses are to arrive this year — but exactly when they will be in the arms of the public is still up in the air.

Source:- CTV News

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Telus prioritizing ‘most important customers,’ avoiding ‘unprofitable’ offers: CFO

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Telus Corp. says it is avoiding offering “unprofitable” discounts as fierce competition in the Canadian telecommunications sector shows no sign of slowing down.

The company said Friday it had fewer net new customers during its third quarter compared with the same time last year, as it copes with increasingly “aggressive marketing and promotional pricing” that is prompting more customers to switch providers.

Telus said it added 347,000 net new customers, down around 14.5 per cent compared with last year. The figure includes 130,000 mobile phone subscribers and 34,000 internet customers, down 30,000 and 3,000, respectively, year-over-year.

The company reported its mobile phone churn rate — a metric measuring subscribers who cancelled their services — was 1.09 per cent in the third quarter, up from 1.03 per cent in the third quarter of 2023. That included a postpaid mobile phone churn rate of 0.90 per cent in its latest quarter.

Telus said its focus is on customer retention through its “industry-leading service and network quality, along with successful promotions and bundled offerings.”

“The customers we have are the most important customers we can get,” said chief financial officer Doug French in an interview.

“We’ve, again, just continued to focus on what matters most to our customers, from a product and customer service perspective, while not loading unprofitable customers.”

Meanwhile, Telus reported its net income attributable to common shares more than doubled during its third quarter.

The telecommunications company said it earned $280 million, up 105.9 per cent from the same three-month period in 2023. Earnings per diluted share for the quarter ended Sept. 30 was 19 cents compared with nine cents a year earlier.

It reported adjusted net income was $413 million, up 10.7 per cent year-over-year from $373 million in the same quarter last year. Operating revenue and other income for the quarter was $5.1 billion, up 1.8 per cent from the previous year.

Mobile phone average revenue per user was $58.85 in the third quarter, a decrease of $2.09 or 3.4 per cent from a year ago. Telus said the drop was attributable to customers signing up for base rate plans with lower prices, along with a decline in overage and roaming revenues.

It said customers are increasingly adopting unlimited data and Canada-U.S. plans which provide higher and more stable ARPU on a monthly basis.

“In a tough operating environment and relative to peers, we view Q3 results that were in line to slightly better than forecast as the best of the bunch,” said RBC analyst Drew McReynolds in a note.

Scotiabank analyst Maher Yaghi added that “the telecom industry in Canada remains very challenging for all players, however, Telus has been able to face these pressures” and still deliver growth.

The Big 3 telecom providers — which also include Rogers Communications Inc. and BCE Inc. — have frequently stressed that the market has grown more competitive in recent years, especially after the closing of Quebecor Inc.’s purchase of Freedom Mobile in April 2023.

Hailed as a fourth national carrier, Quebecor has invested in enhancements to Freedom’s network while offering more affordable plans as part of a set of commitments it was mandated by Ottawa to agree to.

The cost of telephone services in September was down eight per cent compared with a year earlier, according to Statistics Canada’s most recent inflation report last month.

“I think competition has been and continues to be, I’d say, quite intense in Canada, and we’ve obviously had to just manage our business the way we see fit,” said French.

Asked how long that environment could last, he said that’s out of Telus’ hands.

“What I can control, though, is how we go to market and how we lead with our products,” he said.

“I think the conditions within the market will have to adjust accordingly over time. We’ve continued to focus on digitization, continued to bring our cost structure down to compete, irrespective of the price and the current market conditions.”

Still, Canada’s telecom regulator continues to warn providers about customers facing more charges on their cellphone and internet bills.

On Tuesday, CRTC vice-president of consumer, analytics and strategy Scott Hutton called on providers to ensure they clearly inform their customers of charges such as early cancellation fees.

That followed statements from the regulator in recent weeks cautioning against rising international roaming fees and “surprise” price increases being found on their bills.

Hutton said the CRTC plans to launch public consultations in the coming weeks that will focus “on ensuring that information is clear and consistent, making it easier to compare offers and switch services or providers.”

“The CRTC is concerned with recent trends, which suggest that Canadians may not be benefiting from the full protections of our codes,” he said.

“We will continue to monitor developments and will take further action if our codes are not being followed.”

French said any initiative to boost transparency is a step in the right direction.

“I can’t say we are perfect across the board, but what I can say is we are absolutely taking it under consideration and trying to be the best at communicating with our customers,” he said.

“I think everyone looking in the mirror would say there’s room for improvement.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.

Companies in this story: (TSX:T)

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TC Energy cuts cost estimate for Southeast Gateway pipeline project in Mexico

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CALGARY – TC Energy Corp. has lowered the estimated cost of its Southeast Gateway pipeline project in Mexico.

It says it now expects the project to cost between US$3.9 billion and US$4.1 billion compared with its original estimate of US$4.5 billion.

The change came as the company reported a third-quarter profit attributable to common shareholders of C$1.46 billion or $1.40 per share compared with a loss of C$197 million or 19 cents per share in the same quarter last year.

Revenue for the quarter ended Sept. 30 totalled C$4.08 billion, up from C$3.94 billion in the third quarter of 2023.

TC Energy says its comparable earnings for its latest quarter amounted to C$1.03 per share compared with C$1.00 per share a year earlier.

The average analyst estimate had been for a profit of 95 cents per share, according to LSEG Data & Analytics.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 7, 2024.

Companies in this story: (TSX:TRP)

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BCE reports Q3 loss on asset impairment charge, cuts revenue guidance

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BCE Inc. reported a loss in its latest quarter as it recorded $2.11 billion in asset impairment charges, mainly related to Bell Media’s TV and radio properties.

The company says its net loss attributable to common shareholders amounted to $1.24 billion or $1.36 per share for the quarter ended Sept. 30 compared with a profit of $640 million or 70 cents per share a year earlier.

On an adjusted basis, BCE says it earned 75 cents per share in its latest quarter compared with an adjusted profit of 81 cents per share in the same quarter last year.

“Bell’s results for the third quarter demonstrate that we are disciplined in our pursuit of profitable growth in an intensely competitive environment,” BCE chief executive Mirko Bibic said in a statement.

“Our focus this quarter, and throughout 2024, has been to attract higher-margin subscribers and reduce costs to help offset short-term revenue impacts from sustained competitive pricing pressures, slow economic growth and a media advertising market that is in transition.”

Operating revenue for the quarter totalled $5.97 billion, down from $6.08 billion in its third quarter of 2023.

BCE also said it now expects its revenue for 2024 to fall about 1.5 per cent compared with earlier guidance for an increase of zero to four per cent.

The company says the change comes as it faces lower-than-anticipated wireless product revenue and sustained pressure on wireless prices.

BCE added 33,111 net postpaid mobile phone subscribers, down 76.8 per cent from the same period last year, which was the company’s second-best performance on the metric since 2010.

It says the drop was driven by higher customer churn — a measure of subscribers who cancelled their service — amid greater competitive activity and promotional offer intensity. BCE’s monthly churn rate for the category was 1.28 per cent, up from 1.1 per cent during its previous third quarter.

The company also saw 11.6 per cent fewer gross subscriber activations “due to more targeted promotional offers and mobile device discounting compared to last year.”

Bell’s wireless mobile phone average revenue per user was $58.26, down 3.4 per cent from $60.28 in the third quarter of the prior year.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 7, 2024.

Companies in this story: (TSX:BCE)

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