OTTAWA —
Amid questions about when the 20 million AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine doses Canada has a contract for will begin arriving in this country, Ambassador to the United States Kirsten Hillman said U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration isn’t holding back any shots destined for Canada.
“The U.S. absolutely did not hold up the release of any vaccines that were destined for Canada,” Hillman said in an interview on CTV’s Question Period, noting the U.S. is offering to send Canada 1.5 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine early, in a dose-sharing deal that’s still being solidified.
The 1.5 million doses would come from the U.S. stockpile, as the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) hasn’t approved the AstraZeneca vaccine for use in that country, and not as part of the contract Canada has with AstraZeneca for 20 million doses of the vaccine developed in partnership with Oxford University that’s being manufactured in the U.S.
However, the expectation is that as part of the agreement, Canada would pay the U.S. back with 1.5 million of those AstraZeneca doses in return, in the months ahead.
“The arrangement that we secured with the United States late last week was to provide to Canada 1.5 million doses, from the U.S. supply that they had. This is terrific news for us, because obviously it means that those doses are going to get into the arms of Canadians, much more quickly,” said the ambassador.
Hillman went on to say that the holdup on Canada’s contracted AstraZeneca-Oxford shots isn’t due to Biden seeking to practice vaccine nationalism, rather that: “the delivery schedule of those doses was such that we were expecting the first delivery of those doses in June, with more to follow over the course of the summer.”
APRIL, MAY, OR JUNE?
While Hillman said Canada wasn’t expecting these doses until June, Procurement Minister Anita Anand continues to say the delivery schedule has yet to be finalized with the pharmaceutical company. The contract details with this and the other vaccine producers have not been made public by the federal government.
To date, the government has said the vaccines through the AstraZeneca-Oxford deal are expected to arrive starting in Q2, at some point between April and the end of June, with more expected in the third quarter between July and the end of September.
Seeking clarity on whether the Q2 shipments aren’t expected until the last month of that quarter, Anand’s office referred to comments made in a separate interview on Sunday’s episode of CTV’s Question Period.
“We are negotiating with AstraZeneca right now, and I have stressed the importance of having a delivery schedule for those 20 million doses as soon as possible, so that the provinces and territories can continue their planning,” Anand said.
Health Canada authorized the AstraZeneca vaccine in February. In the cases of the approval of the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines, batches of doses from those contracts began trickling into Canada in the days and weeks following the federal health agency’s regulatory approval, at regular intervals.
In total, Canada is expecting to receive 23.9 million AstraZeneca doses. On top of the 20-million contract, a separate agreement will see two million doses come to Canada from the Serum Institute in India, as well as another 1.9 million doses that are expected to be sent to Canada through the COVAX program in the coming months.
So far, 500,000 AstraZeneca doses have arrived in Canada from the Serum Institute.
MORE U.S. DOSES?
Asked if Canada could expect to receive additional extra doses from the United States, Hillman said that the Biden administration’s priority remains ensuring the supply is there to vaccinate all American adults by the end of May, but it’s possible.
“I think they will supply what they can, when they’re confident they can meet their own needs, but as you know, just like our prime minister, the president here really has to put his people first,” said Hillman.
“We have been saying, and I think the Americans very much accept, that their country, here in the U.S., is not going to get back to full normalcy, and is not going to move towards economic recovery in a full way, if it cannot operate well with its neighbours. So, economic recovery is going to require both Canada and Mexico also being on a path to having the virus under control.”
MONTREAL – One expert says entry-level pay under the tentative deal between Air Canada and its pilots could be a stumbling block ahead of a union vote on the agreement.
Under their current contract, pilots earn far less in their first four years at the company before enjoying a big wage increase starting in year five.
The Air Line Pilots Association had been pushing to scrap the so-called “fixed rate” provision entirely.
But according to a copy of the contract summary obtained by The Canadian Press, the proposed deal announced Sunday would merely cut the four-year period of lower pay to two years.
John Gradek, who teaches aviation management at McGill University, says as many as 2,000 of Air Canada’s roughly 5,200 active pilots may earn entry-level wages following a recent hiring surge.
After the airline averted a strike this week, Gradek says the failure to ditch the pay grade restrictions could prompt pushback from rank-and-file flight crew and jeopardize the deal, which is up for a vote next month.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 18, 2024.
ROME (AP) — Salvatore “Totò” Schillaci, the Italy striker who was top scorer at its home World Cup in 1990, has died. He was 59.
Schillaci had been hospitalized in Palermo following treatment for colon cancer.
The Palermo Civico hospital said in a statement that Schillacci died on Wednesday morning after being admitted 11 days ago.
Schillaci scored six goals for Italy during the 1990 World Cup. He came on as a substitute during Italy’s opener against Austria, scored in a 1-0 victory, and went on to earn the Golden Boot awarded to the tournament’s top scorer. He only scored one other goal for Italy in his career.
Italian soccer federation president Gabriele Gravina announced that a minute of silence would be held in memory of Schillaci before all games in the country for the rest of the week.
“The uncontrollable celebrations, in which his face was the symbol of shared joy, will remain forever part of Italian soccer (history),” Gravina said. “Totò was a great player, a symbol of tenacious desire and redemption. … His soccer was full of passion. And that fearless spirit made everyone appreciate him and will make him immortal.”
Schillaci also won the Golden Ball award at the 1990 World Cup as the tournament’s top player ahead of Lothar Matthaus and Diego Maradona.
Schillaci played for Messina, Juventus, Inter Milan and Japanese team Jubilo Iwata during his club career.
“You made an entire nation dream during the Magical Nights of Italia ’90,” Inter said on its social media channels.
West Germany won the 1990 World Cup, beating Argentina in the final, while Italy beat England for third place with a winning penalty kick from Schillaci.
Roberto Baggio, who scored Italy’s opening goal in the third-place match, wrote on Instagram, “Ciao my dear friend.”
Having been born and raised in Palermo, the Palermo soccer team announced that it would hold a public viewing of Schillaci at its Renzo Barbera stadium ahead of the funeral, the Gazzetta dello Sport reported.
French soccer player Wissam Ben Yedder will stay free ahead of his trial on charges of sexual assault while intoxicated, one of his lawyers told The Associated Press on Wednesday.
Marie Roumiantseva said Ben Yedder will remain under strict judicial supervision after a woman filed a lawsuit for sexual assault earlier this month.
The 34-year-old Ben Yedder, a prolific striker in the French league, was briefly detained then released after the alleged incident in his car on the French Riviera. Ben Yedder had been stopped by police after he first refused to do so. He was then put in a jail cell.
After he was summoned to appear in court on Oct. 15 and placed under judicial supervision, the Nice prosecutor’s office appealed the decision not to remand the player in custody. The investigative chamber of the Court of Appeal of Aix-en-Provence did not grant this request and kept Ben Yedder under judicial supervision.
Ben Yedder attended a hearing Tuesday during which he offered to go to rehab. He has admitted he drove while under the influence of alcohol but has denied any sexual assault.
In a separate legal case last year, Ben Yedder was charged with “rape, attempted rape and sexual assault” over another alleged incident in the south of France.
Ben Yedder has been without a club since his contract with Monaco expired at the end of last season.
