PARIS, FRANCE —
Reports that one of the vaccines for COVID-19 has shown highly promising results are a ray of hope for a world in the shadow of surging virus cases.
But does it mean the pandemic is coming to an end? Not so fast, experts say, with many questions remaining about who it will protect and for how long.
On Monday American pharmaceutical giant Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech said that their vaccine candidate has been 90 per cent effective in preventing COVID-19 infections in ongoing Phase 3 trials.
One of dozens in development, it is based on innovative technology that has never been approved for use before.
While its apparent efficacy sparked intense excitement, with only partial data so far released, we don’t yet know how long it will last, whether it will protect the most vulnerable and how it could be distributed across the world.
90 PER CENT
Pfizer and BioNTech are basing their announcement on interim results from the last step in their clinical trial before making an application for approval.
They said that the vaccine was found to be “more than 90 per cent effective” in preventing participants from being infected.
This was based on 94 COVID-19 cases being found at this stage in the trial, which has enrolled 43,538 people.
But the announcement does not break down those figures to show how many infected patients were in the group that received the vaccine and how many were in the one that was given a placebo.
This points to the deeper issue that the results were distributed in a press release — sending stock markets surging — rather than in a detailed peer reviewed paper in a scientific journal.
“These results are extremely interesting,” said French virologist Marie-Paule Kieny, who leads research at Inserm and is a former director at the World Health Organisation.
“But we need to wait to see the data, which is not yet available,” she told AFP.
Other data is still being collected, notably on safety, although the firms said “no serious safety concerns” have been raised.
LONG-TERM PROTECTION?
Another unknown is how long the vaccine’s protection may last.
Effectiveness was measured seven days after patients received the final injection of the two-dose vaccine, 28 days after the initial jab.
This means we cannot yet know the duration of protection, Penny Ward, Visiting Professor in Pharmaceutical Medicine at King’s College London, told the Science Media Centre.
“Longer periods of follow up are required during an ongoing outbreak to determine need for repeated booster doses.”
With a view to possible authorisation by the United States Drug Agency (FDA), the two companies have indicated they will also publish results measured 14 days after the second injection.
Bruno Pitard, of France’s CNRS national scientific research centre, told AFP that one of the challenges is knowing how the effectiveness of the vaccine changes over time.
“After three weeks, then a month, then two, then three, then four, we will see if the protection is still the same,” he said.
WHAT DOES IT DO?
Does this vaccine stop people from catching COVID-19, or does it just reduce the severity of their symptoms? And can it prevent someone from spreading the virus?
There is no published data to tell us either way.
This is a crucial point, said Ward, because if a vaccine can protect against infections then we could theoretically ease the restrictive measures put in place to halt the virus’ spread.
If, however, it mainly reduces the risk of disease but not infection, then restrictions would be needed “until sufficient numbers of individuals have been vaccinated to protect those at most risk of needing hospital care or of dying from disease from becoming very unwell by catching the infection from a vaccinated, asymptomatically infected person.”
WHO DOES IT PROTECT?
After ten months we have a better idea of who those most at risk are.
Older people, men and those who have obesity, diabetes or hypertension are among those more likely to develop serious illness.
But Pfizer and BioNTech do not reveal whether their vaccine is effective for these vulnerable groups.
“In scientific publications, we see stratification of individuals, according to their age, the presence of comorbidities (underlying medical conditions), ethnic origin, etc,” said Pitard.
“Here we have none of that.”
WHO CAN HAVE IT?
The vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech — along with another vaccine from U.S. firm Moderna — involves injecting the body with strands of genetic instructions called “messenger RNA”, which tell our cells how to fight the coronavirus.
One significant downside to these new messenger RNA vaccines is they must be stored at very low temperatures — in this case -70 degrees Celsius — although it can be kept in the fridge for up to five days.
The very low storage temperatures could pose a particular problem for poorer nations in the Global South, said Toby Peters, Professor of Cold Economy at the University of Birmingham.
“Nowhere on the planet does the logistical capacity exist to distribute vaccines at this temperature and volume without massive investment,” he said, adding that “we cannot allow this to become, by default, a divided solution” between haves and have-nots.
MONTREAL – Travel company Transat AT Inc. reported a loss in its latest quarter compared with a profit a year earlier as its revenue edged lower.
The parent company of Air Transat says it lost $39.9 million or $1.03 per diluted share in its quarter ended July 31.
The result compared with a profit of $57.3 million or $1.49 per diluted share a year earlier.
Revenue in what was the company’s third quarter totalled $736.2 million, down from $746.3 million in the same quarter last year.
On an adjusted basis, Transat says it lost $1.10 per share in its latest quarter compared with an adjusted profit of $1.10 per share a year earlier.
Transat chief executive Annick Guérard says demand for leisure travel remains healthy, as evidenced by higher traffic, but consumers are increasingly price conscious given the current economic uncertainty.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
Dollarama Inc.’s food aisles may have expanded far beyond sweet treats or piles of gum by the checkout counter in recent years, but its chief executive maintains his company is “not in the grocery business,” even if it’s keeping an eye on the sector.
“It’s just one small part of our store,” Neil Rossy told analysts on a Wednesday call, where he was questioned about the company’s food merchandise and rivals playing in the same space.
“We will keep an eye on all retailers — like all retailers keep an eye on us — to make sure that we’re competitive and we understand what’s out there.”
Over the last decade and as consumers have more recently sought deals, Dollarama’s food merchandise has expanded to include bread and pantry staples like cereal, rice and pasta sold at prices on par or below supermarkets.
However, the competition in the discount segment of the market Dollarama operates in intensified recently when the country’s biggest grocery chain began piloting a new ultra-discount store.
The No Name stores being tested by Loblaw Cos. Ltd. in Windsor, St. Catharines and Brockville, Ont., are billed as 20 per cent cheaper than discount retail competitors including No Frills. The grocery giant is able to offer such cost savings by relying on a smaller store footprint, fewer chilled products and a hearty range of No Name merchandise.
Though Rossy brushed off notions that his company is a supermarket challenger, grocers aren’t off his radar.
“All retailers in Canada are realistic about the fact that everyone is everyone’s competition on any given item or category,” he said.
Rossy declined to reveal how much of the chain’s sales would overlap with Loblaw or the food category, arguing the vast variety of items Dollarama sells is its strength rather than its grocery products alone.
“What makes Dollarama Dollarama is a very wide assortment of different departments that somewhat represent the old five-and-dime local convenience store,” he said.
The breadth of Dollarama’s offerings helped carry the company to a second-quarter profit of $285.9 million, up from $245.8 million in the same quarter last year as its sales rose 7.4 per cent.
The retailer said Wednesday the profit amounted to $1.02 per diluted share for the 13-week period ended July 28, up from 86 cents per diluted share a year earlier.
The period the quarter covers includes the start of summer, when Rossy said the weather was “terrible.”
“The weather got slightly better towards the end of the summer and our sales certainly increased, but not enough to make up for the season’s horrible start,” he said.
Sales totalled $1.56 billion for the quarter, up from $1.46 billion in the same quarter last year.
Comparable store sales, a key metric for retailers, increased 4.7 per cent, while the average transaction was down2.2 per cent and traffic was up seven per cent, RBC analyst Irene Nattel pointed out.
She told investors in a note that the numbers reflect “solid demand as cautious consumers focus on core consumables and everyday essentials.”
Analysts have attributed such behaviour to interest rates that have been slow to drop and high prices of key consumer goods, which are weighing on household budgets.
To cope, many Canadians have spent more time seeking deals, trading down to more affordable brands and forgoing small luxuries they would treat themselves to in better economic times.
“When people feel squeezed, they tend to shy away from discretionary, focus on the basics,” Rossy said. “When people are feeling good about their wallet, they tend to be more lax about the basics and more willing to spend on discretionary.”
The current economic situation has drawn in not just the average Canadian looking to save a buck or two, but also wealthier consumers.
“When the entire economy is feeling slightly squeezed, we get more consumers who might not have to or want to shop at a Dollarama generally or who enjoy shopping at a Dollarama but have the luxury of not having to worry about the price in some other store that they happen to be standing in that has those goods,” Rossy said.
“Well, when times are tougher, they’ll consider the extra five minutes to go to the store next door.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 11, 2024.
TORONTO – The U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has ordered TD Bank Group to pay US$28 million for repeatedly sharing inaccurate, negative information about its customers to consumer reporting companies.
The agency says TD has to pay US$7.76 million in total to tens of thousands of victims of its illegal actions, along with a US$20 million civil penalty.
It says TD shared information that contained systemic errors about credit card and bank deposit accounts to consumer reporting companies, which can include credit reports as well as screening reports for tenants and employees and other background checks.
CFPB director Rohit Chopra says in a statement that TD threatened the consumer reports of customers with fraudulent information then “barely lifted a finger to fix it,” and that regulators will need to “focus major attention” on TD Bank to change its course.
TD says in a statement it self-identified these issues and proactively worked to improve its practices, and that it is committed to delivering on its responsibilities to its customers.
The bank also faces scrutiny in the U.S. over its anti-money laundering program where it expects to pay more than US$3 billion in monetary penalties to resolve.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 11, 2024.
