'Tuesday is V-Day': COVID-19 vaccine task force leader says Ont. is ready to start inoculations - CTV News | Canada News Media
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'Tuesday is V-Day': COVID-19 vaccine task force leader says Ont. is ready to start inoculations – CTV News

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TORONTO —
The head of Ontario’s COVID-19 vaccine task force says the province is ready to begin its first COVID-19 vaccinations on Tuesday ahead of the arrival of 30,000 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine across the country.

Retired Canadian Armed Forces Gen. Rick Hillier told CTV News Channel on Sunday that Ontario has a plan in place to start vaccinating health-care workers immediately, while maintaining the second dose required for the vaccine’s efficacy.

“Tuesday is V-Day, Vaccination Day, and in Toronto and in Ottawa we’ll start with a vaccination of 1,500 people from those 3,000 doses and the reason we are doing it that way is to absolutely ensure that we have the second dose,” Hillier explained.

The first vaccines arriving in the province will be given at the Ottawa Hospital and the University Health Network in Toronto. The doses are going to health-care workers providing care in long-term care homes and other high-risk settings.

Hillier said the vaccine task force “would love” to vaccinated everyone in Ontario, but given the limited number of doses currently available, decided these areas hit hardest by the coronavirus should get the vaccines first.

“We are reacting to the delivery schedule when we get the vaccines, what quantities they arrive in, and that’s going to take place again throughout 2021,” he said. “We’ll get to the most vulnerable as quickly as we possibly can and then fan our work out from there.”

Despite only being able to vaccinate 1,500 of the 15 million people living in Ontario, Hillier said the first round of shots will help the province expand its vaccine rollout as more doses become available.

“What we want to do is really learn from this program, learn from the smaller doses, get more in December, learn from that, get through the speed bumps and be ready for the much greater numbers that we’ll see in January, February, right through to June, and later summer,” Hillier said.

He added that the province expects there to be some hiccups with the administering of the first doses such as communicating on vaccine storage and distribution, but said Ontario “will get through them.”

“This is a massive program; it’s the biggest vaccination program in history. There will be speed bumps, we’ll learn from them, and our commitment is on the other side of the bump we’ll be better and more efficient than we are on this side of the bump,” Hillier said.

VACCINE LOGISTICS

Hillier said the Ontario government will be setting aside the required second dose of the vaccine for those who are vaccinated first, but says it “comes down to the individual” to return after the 21 days for the second shot.

He explained that the first round of vaccinations are by appointment only, and those booked will automatically be scheduled for a follow-up appointment for the second dosage.

“When you leave you’ll have a piece of paper saying, ‘here is my second appointment to come back,’ and so then the individual has a responsibility to come back also,” Hillier said.

He added that these first doses are specifically for those in Ottawa and Toronto, and health-care workers from other regions will not be permitted to travel to these areas in hopes of getting a shot.

Hillier said Ontario is expected to receive 2.4 million vaccines in the first quarter of 2021 from Pfizer and Moderna allowing the province to expand its inoculations then, but the specific timing of the arrival of those doses is unknown.

With Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine candidate having yet to be approved, Hillier said the province does not yet know what to expect in administering and storing that vaccine. However, he acknowledged that distribution will be easier with the Moderna vaccine as it does not require freezing temperatures to maintain efficacy, unlike Pfizer’s.

“Moderna gives us flexibility, it will allow us to distribute much more widely, and as the numbers build up the doses that we receive, we’ll start getting out to the population,” he said.

Hillier said once Moderna’s vaccine is cleared by Health Canada, health-care workers will be able to go into long-term care homes and isolated communities to vaccinate residents. He said it is important that those who plan to administer inoculations in these vulnerable populations must first and foremost be vaccinated themselves.

“We want to ensure that anybody that goes in there has received a vaccination so we’re laying out our plan now for that in detail. We want to identify people, get them vaccinated so we don’t visit a tragedy upon one of those isolated communities accidentally by taking the COVID-19 virus with us,” Hillier said.

While the province has vaccine rollout plans in place, Hillier said the average Ontarian shouldn’t plan to get vaccinated anytime soon.

“The first quarter of 2021, we’re going to be focused on those in most vulnerable circumstances and the health-care workers,” Hillier said. “That’s 1.2 million people in Ontario in those categories, and we will not be able to do all of them, even in the first quarter as we see now with the delivery schedules.”

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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.

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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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