Minggu, 31 Januari 2021

Novavax submits vaccine for approval as Ottawa seeks EU reassurances on exports rules - Canada News - Castanet.net

Canada’s hopes of speeding up COVID-19 vaccinations brightened slightly over the weekend as regulators began work to approve a new inoculation, even as the federal government sought to head off any restrictions on vaccine shipments from Europe.

Pharmaceutical company Novavax quietly submitted its COVID-19 vaccine to Health Canada for regulatory approval on Friday, less than two weeks after Ottawa finalized a deal with the Maryland-based company for 52 million doses of the shot.

Because of the emergency nature of the pandemic Health Canada is accepting applications for vaccines before the final trial data is ready, allowing the review team to start poring over the documents on an ongoing basis, rather than waiting until everything is finished.

The rolling review allows for much faster approval once the final results from clinical trials are complete.

"Health Canada is expediting the review of all COVID-19 vaccines," Health Canada spokesman Andre Gagnon said in an email. "This is being done through rolling submissions, where data is being reviewed as it becomes available from the manufacturer."

Novavax is the fifth vaccine maker to submit an application for rolling review. AstraZeneca, Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna all submitted in early October, and Johnson and Johnson followed suit at the end of November.

Health Canada approved the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine on Dec. 9 and gave Moderna the green light on Dec. 23, both about three weeks after the companies completed their Phase 3 trials. A decision on AstraZeneca is expected in the next couple of weeks.

Johnson and Johnson reported results from its Phase 3 trial just last week.

Novavax also reported results Thursday from a trial in the United Kingdom, but a large trial in the U.S. is still at least a month or two away from yielding final results.

The company has said its vaccine was 89 per cent effective in the U.K. trial. It also touts its product as very effective against the new British and South African strains of COVID-19, and says it could start delivering doses in the spring once it has received regulatory approval.

"The doses that will ultimately be sent to Canada are being made outside the U.S.," Novavax spokeswoman Amy Speak said in an email.

Novavax’s application comes as the federal Liberal government faces withering criticism for the pace of vaccinations across the country, with opposition parties and some provincial governments complaining about a lack of shots.

Those critiques have come as Pfizer slows delivery of its vaccines to Canada so it can expand a production plant in Belgium. The European pharmaceutical giant is also pressing Canada to allow six shots per vial of vaccine instead of the current five.

Moderna has also said that it will deliver fewer doses than originally promised, though the Liberal government insists the slowdowns are temporary and that both companies will make good on their promised deliveries over the coming months.

There are also concerns that Canada’s troubled vaccine supplies will be further affected by new controls on vaccine exports that have been imposed by the European Union, which is also struggling with delivery shortfalls from manufacturers.

The measures allow the European Union to deny vaccine exports if the manufacturer has not fulfilled its promised deliveries to the 27-country bloc, which is where most of Canada’s shots are being made.

Ottawa has been working to head off any impact on Canada’s supply, with International Trade Minister Mary Ng speaking by phone to her EU counterpart on Saturday for the second time in three days.

That follows Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s own phone call with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen late last week, after which Trudeau asserted that the new export controls would not affect vaccines destined for Canada.

Ng was told the same thing during her phone call with Valdis Dombrovskis, the European Commission’s commissioner for trade, according to a summary of their conversation provided by Global Affairs Canada.

The federal department said Ng’s call was “part of a broader ongoing engagement across government ... to minimize any impact of the EU’s Transparency and Authorization Mechanism on vaccines manufactured in Europe destined for Canada,” the summary read.

Former Canadian diplomat Colin Robertson, who is now vice-president of the Canadian Global Affairs Institute, said the number of calls between the government and European officials — and the fact they have been revealed publicly — is unusual and "is the kind of thing you would do if you're concerned."

Robertson nonetheless expressed his hopes that Ottawa's close relationship with the EU, formalized in various trade and political agreements, along with the contracts between Ottawa and the drug companies would prevent the Europeans from curtailing shipments to Canada.

Von der Leyen said Friday the commission is following through on a threat to force COVID-19 vaccine makers to show them what vaccines they are producing in Europe and where those are going.

She said the export transparency rule is temporary but has to be done as the continent is in an ongoing battle with vaccine-makers about slow deliveries.

Both Pfizer-BioNTech and AstraZeneca are behind on their scheduled deliveries to European nations, but it is the latter with which Europe is having the loudest fight.

The EU is demanding the company ship doses made in the United Kingdom to make up for shortfalls due to production issues in its European plants.

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2021-02-01 02:31:00Z
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Novavax submits vaccine for approval as Ottawa seeks EU reassurances on exports rules - CBC.ca

Canada's hopes of speeding up COVID-19 vaccinations brightened slightly over the weekend as regulators began work to approve a new inoculation, even as the federal government sought to head off any restrictions on vaccine shipments from Europe.

Pharmaceutical company Novavax quietly submitted its COVID-19 vaccine to Health Canada for regulatory approval on Friday, less than two weeks after Ottawa finalized a deal with the Maryland-based company for 52 million doses of the shot.

Because of the emergency nature of the pandemic, Health Canada is accepting applications for vaccines before the final trial data is ready, allowing the review team to start poring over the documents on an ongoing basis rather than waiting until everything is finished.

The rolling review allows for much faster approval once the final results from clinical trials are complete.

Novavax is the fifth vaccine maker to submit an application for rolling review. AstraZeneca, Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna all submitted in early October; Johnson and Johnson followed suit at the end of November.

Health Canada approved the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine on Dec. 9 and gave Moderna the green light on Dec. 23, both about three weeks after the companies completed their Phase 3 trials. A decision on AstraZeneca is expected in the next couple of weeks.

Johnson and Johnson reported results from its Phase 3 trial just last week.

Novavax also reported results Thursday from a trial in the United Kingdom, but a large trial in the U.S. is still at least a month or two away from yielding final results.

Novavax has said its vaccine was 89 per cent effective in the U.K. trial. It also touts its product as very effective against the two coronavirus variants first detected in the U.K. and South Africa.

Johnson and Johnson's long-awaited COVID-19 vaccine appears to protect against symptomatic illness with just one shot, although it's not as strong as some two-shot rivals. (AP)

Application comes as Ottawa faces criticism over vaccine rollout

Novavax's application comes as the federal Liberal government faces withering criticism for the pace of vaccinations across the country, with opposition parties and some provincial governments complaining about a lack of shots.

Those critiques have come as Pfizer slows delivery of its vaccines to Canada so it can expand a production plant in Belgium. The European pharmaceutical giant is also pressing Canada to allow six shots per vial of vaccine instead of the current five.

Moderna has also said that it will deliver fewer doses than originally promised, though the Liberal government insists the slowdowns are temporary and that both companies will make good on their promised deliveries over the coming months.

There are also concerns that Canada's troubled vaccine supplies will be further affected by new controls on vaccine exports that have been imposed by the European Union, which is also struggling with delivery shortfalls from manufacturers.

The measures allow the European Union to deny vaccine exports if the manufacturer has not fulfilled its promised deliveries to the 27-country bloc, which is where most of Canada's shots are being made.

Ottawa receives assurances Canada won't be affected

Ottawa has been working to head off any impact on Canada's supply, with International Trade Minister Mary Ng speaking by phone to her EU counterpart on Saturday for the second time in three days.

That followed Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's own phone call with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen late last week, after which Trudeau asserted that the new export controls would not affect vaccines destined for Canada.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the export transparency rule is temporary but has to be done as the continent is in an ongoing battle with vaccine-makers about slow deliveries. (Francisco Seco/Associated Press)

Ng was told the same thing during her phone call with Valdis Dombrovskis, the European Commission's commissioner for trade, according to a summary of their conversation provided by Global Affairs Canada.

"I was really clear that Canada's expectation is that our purchase contracts with the vaccine makers are not disrupted," Ng said in a Sunday interview on Rosemary Barton Live. "I would note that in their regulation, there is absolutely consideration for advance purchase agreements that have been made, like that of Canada, with the vaccine makers, and our expectation is that there is no disruption or delay.

Ng also told CBC Chief Political Correspondent Rosemary Barton that Ottawa is taking a "whole of government approach" to tackle the issue.

"Minister Garneau has already spoken to some of his counterparts and continues that work, as will Minister Hajdu," she said. "Minister Anand, of course, is in constant contact with the suppliers, and I have been speaking to my international counterparts."

Von der Leyen said Friday the commission is following through on a threat to force COVID-19 vaccine makers to show them what vaccines they are producing in Europe and where those are going.

She said the export transparency rule is temporary but has to be done as the continent is in an ongoing battle with vaccine-makers about slow deliveries.

Both Pfizer-BioNTech and AstraZeneca are behind on their scheduled deliveries to European nations, but it is the latter with which Europe is having the loudest fight.

The EU is demanding the company ship doses made in the U.K. to make up for shortfalls due to production issues in its European plants.

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2021-01-31 23:15:00Z
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Canada's death toll from COVID-19 surpasses 20000 - Canada News - Castanet.net

UPDATE: 11:35 a.m.

When Thelma Coward-Ince donned her uniform in 1954, she was believed to be the first Black reservist in the Royal Canadian Navy.

Decades later, the strong, hard-working great-grandmother moved into the Northwood long-term care facility in Halifax due to dementia. She lived there for five years among other navy veterans until a deadly virus began silently and rapidly spreading last spring.

Coward-Ince, a woman who spent her life breaking down racial barriers and became a pillar of the Black community in Halifax, died April 17 after testing positive for the novel coronavirus.

More than 20,000 Canadians have now died from COVID-19.

Since the first death last March, health officials across the country have shared the grim daily numbers of the pandemic’s fatal toll.

There have been grandparents, parents, single mothers and children. Some were health-care workers and others who worked to ensure Canadians had essential supplies.

Many who died, like Coward-Ince, were residents of crowded care homes, which served as fuel to the fire of the virus during the first and second waves of the pandemic.

Curtis Jonnie, better known as Shingoose, left behind a legacy that many have said set the course for generations of Indigenous musicians.

Jonnie, an Ojibway from Manitoba's Roseau River Anishinaabe First Nation, was a residential school and '60s Scoop survivor. He became a fixture of the folk music scene and was instrumental in pressuring the Juno Awards to establish a category for Indigenous music in the 1990s.

The 74-year-old lived in a Winnipeg care home when he tested positive for COVID-19. He died earlier this month.

“Through his pain and life experiences, he's made such a huge contribution,” his daughter, Nahanni Shingoose-Cagal, said at the time.

COVID-19 also blazed through meat-packing plants last year. Many of those infected were people who had come to Canada looking for a better life.

Benito Quesada worked at a large slaughterhouse south of Calgary. The 51-year-old from Mexico was a union shop steward at the Cargill plant in High River, Alta.

“He always told me how proud he was for having been able to bring his family to Canada,” said Michael Hughes with the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 401.

Quesada, described as a quiet, gentle and humble man, was one of two plant employees to die from COVID-19 when the virus infected nearly half of its 2,200 staff last spring.

Hiep Bui worked at the plant for 23 years. The 67-year-old met her husband on a refugee boat when they both fled the Vietnam War.

“I just want everyone to remember my wife ... was a wonderful lady, very generous and very compassionate,” Nga Nguyen, her husband, said at the time.

Many people who died spent their final weeks and months fighting on the front lines of the pandemic.

Maureen Ambersley was working at an Extendicare nursing home in Mississauga, Ont., when she tested positive in December. She died Jan. 5.

The 57-year-old was loved by her colleagues and worked as a registered practical nurse for more than 16 years, her union, SEIU Healthcare, said. She was the fourth union member to die from COVID-19.

An online fundraiser for Ambersley’s family said the grandmother was a maternal figure to many. She baked, cooked and knitted for family and friends, and loved helping people as much as she could.

Laurence Menard was a 33-year-old single mother who worked as a social work technician at a community health clinic in Drummond, Que., before her death last May. Most of her clients were in seniors' homes.

"Laurence had a lot of character, she had guts. She was frank and did not beat around the bush," said her sister, Virginie Menard.

Huy Hao Dao spent the weeks before his death working as a COVID-19 researcher and investigator, tracking down infected patients to learn how they caught the virus and tracing those who they came into contact with.

The 45-year-old Quebec doctor known for his perpetual smile died in April.

He was a pharmacist before he went to medical school to become a specialist in public health and preventive medicine. He was also a professor at the University of Sherbrooke.

The Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada said at the time that Dao had heroically served the medical profession during the global, life-changing pandemic.

“It is a startling reminder that the threat of COVID-19 is very real,” the college said.


UPDATE: 9 a.m.

Canada's official COVID-19 death toll surpassed 20,000 today, after dozens of deaths were reported in Quebec and Ontario.

The sobering figure emerged after Quebec reported 31 new fatalities related to the virus and Ontario reported 43.

Canada has now recorded 20,016 deaths since the first case of COVID-19 surfaced in the country just over a year ago.

An average of 138 people with COVID-19 have died each day over the past week.

Dr. Theresa Tam, Canada's chief public health officer, has said the number of new daily cases is trending downward.

But she's warned that it's still too soon to lift widespread public health restrictions, saying the virus is still spreading rapidly across parts of the country.

Quebec and Ontario together account for about 80 per cent of Canada's COVID-19 fatalities.

The new numbers were reported as new limits on travel were coming into effect in the hopes of slowing transmission and limiting the importation of potentially more transmissible COVID-19 variants.

As of Sunday, four of Canada's major airlines suspended service to Mexico and the Caribbean.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Friday that Air Canada, WestJet, Sunwing and Air Transat had agreed to the measure in a bid to slow the spread of COVID-19.

The restriction will last until April 30, and Trudeau said the airlines will help arrange the return of customers currently on a trip.

It's one of a suite of new government measures aimed at preventing Canadians from travelling abroad during the doldrums of February and throughout spring break.

As of this Thursday, all international passenger flights must land at one of four airports — Vancouver, Toronto, Calgary or Montreal.

And in the coming weeks, all air travellers arriving in Canada will have to stay at a government-approved hotel for three nights and take a COVID-19 test — all at their own expense.


ORIGINAL: 8:30 a.m.

More than 20,000 people have died due to COVID-19 in Canada.

The sobering figure emerged this morning after Quebec reported 31 new fatalities related to the virus.

Canada has now recorded 20,016 deaths since the first case of COVID-19 surfaced in the country just over a year ago.

An average of 138 people with COVID-19 have died each day over the past week.

Dr. Theresa Tam, Canada's chief public health officer, has said the number of new daily cases is trending down.

But she's warned that it's still too soon to lift widespread public health restrictions, saying the virus is still spreading rapidly across parts of the country.

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2021-01-31 19:35:00Z
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Canadian snowbirds abroad grapple with tough new travel rules that include a big hotel bill - CBC.ca

Despite Canada's advisory not to travel abroad during the pandemic, snowbirds have been able to easily book flights and head south.

But now those snowbirds face major hurdles returning home, thanks to tough new travel measures announced by the federal government on Friday. Soon, air passengers will be required to take a COVID-19 test upon arrival and spend up to three days of their 14-day quarantine in a designated hotel — which could cost them upwards of $2,000.

"I'm not going to pay $2,000 a person for three nights. That's ridiculous," said Canadian snowbird Claudine Durand, 50, of Lachine, Que., who's spending the winter in Florida.

Other snowbirds agree, which is why some of them are attempting to find ways around the rules — either by prolonging their stay or attempting to rush home before the new measures kick-in. 

Canadian snowbird Joe Lynn of Milton, Ont., is hoping to beat the clock.

He and his wife had planned to stay at their rented condo in Barra de Navidad, a small town on the western coast of Mexico, until the end of March. But a day after learning about the coming travel rules, they booked a flight home for Wednesday. 

Canadian snowbird Joe Lynn and his wife are staying in Mexico as they wait for the federal government to announce when it will implement a new hotel quarantine rule. (Submitted by Joe Lynn)

"Four-thousand dollars is a lot of money, and who knows if it stops there? Is it $4,000 plus HST?" Lynn, 68, said about the hotel fee, which he calculated for two people. "I'm on a pension."

Adding to Lynn's sense of urgency is the prospect of dwindling flights. Prompted by the government, Canada's major airlines have cancelled all flights to Mexico and the Caribbean beginning Sunday through to April 30.

Although he managed to book a flight home with a Mexican airline, Lynn is still unsure if he's in the clear, as he doesn't know when the hotel quarantine rule will take effect. The federal government only offered a vague timeline on Friday, stating that the rule will be implemented "as soon as possible in the coming weeks."

"No idea what's going to happen. ... They could put me straight into a hotel" after arriving in Canada, said Lynn.

He said he understands why Ottawa has imposed strict new rules to discourage travel, as highly contagious variant COVID-19 strains continue their global spread.

But Lynn feels it's unfair to impose those rules on travellers who left the country before they were announced. He argues that the added hotel stay should apply only to people who choose to travel abroad now and are aware of the repercussions.

"Why not just pick a date and say, 'These are the rules from this date?'" Lynn said. "If you want to go out and you want to come back and pay two grand or more, at least you know in advance."

Should I stay or should I go?

Not all snowbirds are rushing home. Some instead plan to extend their stay at their sun destination, in hopes that the new travel rules will be lifted by the time they return to Canada. Typically, Canadian snowbirds can spend about six months abroad without facing repercussions, such as losing their provincial health coverage. 

Travel insurance broker Martin Firestone said the majority of his snowbird clients who travelled to the U.S. Sunbelt this winter have contacted him to extend their medical insurance so they can stay longer at their destination.

"They have no desire to stay in a Motel 6 for three days at $2,000 per person," said Firestone, of Travel Secure in Toronto. "Their attitude was, 'Wouldn't it be wiser to stay down and walk on the beach?'"

That's the attitude of Canadian snowbird Claudine Durand, who's spending the winter with her husband in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. They came to Florida in December and shipped their RV across the border with plans to drive it home at the end of March. 

WATCH | Ottawa brings in new quarantine rules to discourage international travel:

Ottawa isn't banning non-essential travel; it's making it as inconvenient and expensive as possible. Now, in addition to existing requirements, returning travellers will need to quarantine in a hotel for three days at their own expense, at a likely cost of at least $2,000. 2:33

At this point, it's unclear if the federal government will also impose a hotel stay for travellers entering Canada by land.

But if it does, Durand said she and her husband will remain in Florida for as long as they can, in the hopes of avoiding the hotel fee.

"Two-thousand dollars per person in a hotel room? I'll pay that to stay in Florida for an extra month."

Durand suggested that instead of making travellers stay in hotels, the government should charge them a much smaller entry fee, which could be used to ensure people are quarantining at home.

"It would be a lot less work for the government," she said.

Derek and Susan Houghton of Ottawa plan to stay put in Florida until they can travel home without having to face hurdles, such as a pricey quarantine stay in a hotel back in Canada. (Submitted by Derek Houghton)

Canadian snowbird Derek Houghton of Ottawa is also in no rush to get home.

He and his wife, Susan, are scheduled to fly home in March for medical appointments and then return to their winter home in Sarasota, Fla. But now that the couple face a looming hotel bill among other travel measures, they've decided to remain in Florida for now.

"That's too big a hill to climb," said Houghton, who's set to return home for good in April. But if the hotel rule is still in place by then, he said he can extend his trip by another month, in the hopes that he's in the clear by then.

"It's like being confined in paradise for an extra month."

Houghton said he also hopes that Canada's strict travel restrictions will be lifted at an earlier date for someone like him, who already received the COVID-19 vaccine in Florida.

"People like us who have a vaccination certificate from the [U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention], why wouldn't we get a break on some of these onerous regulations?"

Currently, travellers who have been vaccinated abroad are still subject to Canada's quarantine rules.

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2021-01-31 19:20:00Z
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Canada surpasses 20000 deaths due to COVID-19 - CTV News

TORONTO -- Canada has now recorded more than 20,000 deaths connected to COVID-19, marking another grim milestone in the country's fight against the novel coronavirus.

The death tally surpassed 20,000 when Quebec reported 31 more deaths on Sunday. Quebec's announcement brought the national total to 20,016.

Across Canada, there are currently more than 52,000 active cases of COVID-19, with approximately 703,000 patients having recovered.

Ontario and Quebec have recorded the most deaths amid the pandemic with nearly 16,000 deaths logged between the two provinces. More than 6,180 people have died in Ontario so far, while more than 9,700 have died in Quebec.

The first Canadian death was reported on March 9, 2020, six weeks after the very first case of COVID-19 was confirmed in Toronto on Jan. 27.

Despite surpassing the grim milestone, some provincial leaders say they are considering easing COVID-19 restrictions. However, Canada's top doctor warned Saturday against the move.

Chief Public Health Officer Dr. Theresa Tam said that even though daily cases of the novel coronavirus are trending down, it's still too soon to lift lockdowns and other protective measures if the country hopes to bring the pandemic under control.

"With still elevated daily case counts and high rates of infection across all age groups, the risk remains that trends could reverse quickly and some areas of the country are seeing increased activity," Tam said in a news release.

While some provinces are looking at relaxing measures, the federal government announced on Friday further travel restrictions to help limit the spread of COVID-19 and its more infectious variants.

On Sunday, Air Canada, WestJet, Sunwing and Air Transat agreed to suspend service to Mexico and the Caribbean until April 30 in an effort to discourage non-essential travel.

Additionally, starting Thursday, all international passenger flights can only land at airports in Vancouver, Toronto, Calgary, and Montreal.

In the coming weeks, all air travellers arriving in Canada will also have to stay at a government-approved hotel for three nights and take a COVID-19 test at their own cost.

With files from The Canadian Press

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2021-01-31 16:05:00Z
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COVID-19 in Ottawa: Fast Facts for Jan. 31, 2021 - CTV Edmonton

OTTAWA -- Good morning. Here is the latest news on COVID-19 and its impact on Ottawa.

Fast Facts:

  • Ottawa Public Health reported 74 new cases of COVID-19 in Ottawa on Saturday.
  • Four Ottawa emergency shelters stopped accepting new admissions in a bid to reduce the spread of COVID-19
  • Quebec's premier will announce changes to COVID-19 restrictions on Tuesday

COVID-19 by the numbers in Ottawa (Ottawa Public Health data):

  • New COVID-19 cases: 74 new cases on Saturday
  • Total COVID-19 cases: 13,290
  • COVID-19 cases per 100,000 (previous seven days): 42.5
  • Positivity rate in Ottawa: 2.4 per cent (Jan. 22 – Jan. 28)
  • Reproduction Number: 0.90 (seven day average)

Testing:

Who should get a test?

Ottawa Public Health says there are five reasons to seek testing for COVID-19:

  • You are showing COVID-19 symptoms. OR
  • You have been exposed to a confirmed case of the virus, as informed by Ottawa Public Health or exposure notification through the COVID Alert app. OR
  • You are a resident or work in a setting that has a COVID-19 outbreak, as identified and informed by Ottawa Public Health. OR
  • You are eligible for testing as part of a targeted testing initiative directed by the Ministry of Health or the Ministry of Long-Term Care OR
  • You have traveled to the U.K., or have come into contact with someone who recently traveled to the U.K., please go get tested immediately (even if you have no symptoms).

Where to get tested for COVID-19 in Ottawa:

There are several sites for COVID-19 testing in Ottawa. To book an appointment, visit https://www.ottawapublichealth.ca/en/shared-content/assessment-centres.aspx

  • The Brewer Ottawa Hospital/CHEO Assessment Centre: Open Monday to Thursday from 8:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. and Friday to Sunday from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
  • COVID-19 Drive-thru assessment centre at National Arts Centre: Open seven days a week from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
  • The Moodie Care and Testing Centre: Open Monday to Friday from 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
  • The Heron Care and Testing Centre: Open Monday to Friday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
  • The Ray Friel Care and Testing Centre: Open Monday to Friday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
  • The COVID-19 Assessment Centre at McNabb Community Centre: Open Monday to Friday from 10:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.

Symptoms:

Classic Symptoms: fever, new or worsening cough, shortness of breath

Other symptoms: sore throat, difficulty swallow, new loss of taste or smell, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pain, pneumonia, new or unexplained runny nose or nasal congestion

Less common symptoms: unexplained fatigue, muscle aches, headache, delirium, chills, red/inflamed eyes, croup

Ottawa Public Health reported 74 new cases of COVID-19 in Ottawa on Saturday, the ninth straight day with fewer than 100 cases of novel coronavirus in the capital.

No new deaths linked to COVID-19 were reported in Ottawa on Saturday.

Since the first case of COVID-19 on March 11, there have been 13,290 laboratory-confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Ottawa, including 422 deaths.

The city of Ottawa continues to see positive trends in the key COVID-19 monitoring indicators. The COVID-19 rate per 100,000 people fell to 42.5 cases on Saturday, down from 44 cases per 100,000 on Friday.

All four of Ottawa's emergency shelters have temporarily stopped taking new admissions this weekend to help stop the spread of COVID-19.

The move comes as temperatures have dropped to minus 19C the past three nights, and a low of minus 26C is in the forecast Sunday morning.

A joint statement by Ottawa Emergency Shelters says the Shepherds of Good Hope, The Salvation Army Ottawa Booth Centre, Cornerstone Housing for Women and the Ottawa Mission are not currently taking new admissions, "in order to reduce the risk of COVID-19 transmission."

Speaking on Newstalk 580 CFRA's Ottawa Now with Kristy Cameron Friday afternoon, Coun. Mathieu Fleury said the shelters are using other facilities to make sure everyone can get out of the cold.

"The city has chosen to select the Jail Hostel (on Nicholas Street) as an additional shelter space during COVID, so they've opened the space and are continuing to permit distancing there. They're looking at other sites," said Fleury.

The Ottawa Mission

Quebec Premier Francois Legault will announce changes to the government's COVID-19 public health protocols on Tuesday, but cautions the current rules will remain in place for at least another week.

In a posting on Facebook, Legault said he's hopeful the announcement could include an easing of restrictions on retail stores and other businesses.

"I would like, if the situation permits, to be able to give some oxygen to retail stores," the premier wrote.

Quebec's "non-essential" businesses have been closed since Christmas Day, and the province has been under an 8 p.m. to 5 a.m. curfew since Jan. 9.

Quebec curfew during pandemic

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2021-01-31 09:00:00Z
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For GameStop day traders, the moment they've dreamed about - Yahoo Canada Finance

The Canadian Press

Chelsea beats Burnley 2-0 in EPL to give Tuchel 1st win

LONDON — Thomas Tuchel secured his first win as Chelsea manager as his team beat Burnley 2-0 in the Premier League thanks to goals by Cesar Azpilicueta and Marcos Alonso on Sunday. After beginning his tenure with a 0-0 draw against Wolverhampton at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday, Tuchel again saw his Chelsea players dominate possession against another team that struggles to score goals. They finally found a cutting edge this time, though, as Callum Hudson-Odoi ran at the Burnley defence on the right before setting up Azpilicueta — on the overlap — to smash a rising shot past goalkeeper Nick Pope in the 40th minute. Hudson-Odoi struck a deflected effort against the post early in the second half as Burnley struggled to get out of its own half, before Alonso collected a short pass from substitute Christian Pulisic and powered a volley in off the underside of the crossbar in the 84th. Chelsea climbed to seventh place but the opposition will get tougher for Tuchel, with his next game at Tottenham on Thursday. Tuchel, who replaced the fired Frank Lampard on Tuesday, appears ready to give every member of Chelsea’s large squad a chance to stake a claim for a starting spot. After making a raft of changes against Wolves — and also switching formation to 3-4-2-1 — he tinkered again by restoring Timo Werner, Mason Mount, Alonso and Tammy Abraham to the lineup and leaving out playmaker Hakim Ziyech from the matchday squad altogether. The German coach seems settled on a three-man backline of Azpilicueta, Thiago Silva and Antonio Rudiger, while Jorginho and Mateo Kovacic have started both games under Tuchel. The other places in the team look up for grabs, though. ___ More AP soccer: https://apnews.com/Soccer and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports The Associated Press

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2021-01-31 07:52:52Z
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For GameStop day traders, the moment they've dreamed about - Yahoo Canada Finance

The Canadian Press

The latest numbers on COVID-19 in Canada for Sunday, Jan. 31, 2021

The latest numbers of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Canada as of 400 a.m. ET on Sunday Jan. 31, 2021. There are 775,048 confirmed cases in Canada. _ Canada: 775,048 confirmed cases (54,186 active, 700,920 resolved, 19,942 deaths).*The total case count includes 13 confirmed cases among repatriated travellers. There were 4,255 new cases Saturday from 63,080 completed tests, for a positivity rate of 6.7 per cent. The rate of active cases is 142.58 per 100,000 people. Over the past seven days, there have been a total of 31,990 new cases. The seven-day rolling average of new cases is 4,570. There were 141 new reported deaths Saturday. Over the past seven days there have been a total of 968 new reported deaths. The seven-day rolling average of new reported deaths is 138. The seven-day rolling average of the death rate is 0.36 per 100,000 people. The overall death rate is 52.47 per 100,000 people. There have been 17,433,226 tests completed. _ Newfoundland and Labrador: 408 confirmed cases (16 active, 388 resolved, four deaths). There were zero new cases Saturday from 506 completed tests, for a positivity rate of 0.0 per cent. The rate of active cases is 3.06 per 100,000 people. Over the past seven days, there have been a total of 10 new cases. The seven-day rolling average of new cases is one. There have been no deaths reported over the past week. The overall death rate is 0.77 per 100,000 people. There have been 79,795 tests completed. _ Prince Edward Island: 111 confirmed cases (six active, 105 resolved, zero deaths). There were zero new cases Saturday from 517 completed tests, for a positivity rate of 0.0 per cent. The rate of active cases is 3.76 per 100,000 people. Over the past seven days, there have been a total of one new cases. The seven-day rolling average of new cases is zero. There have been no deaths reported over the past week. The overall death rate is zero per 100,000 people. There have been 90,603 tests completed. _ Nova Scotia: 1,580 confirmed cases (11 active, 1,504 resolved, 65 deaths). There were three new cases Saturday. The rate of active cases is 1.12 per 100,000 people. Over the past seven days, there have been a total of 10 new cases. The seven-day rolling average of new cases is one. There have been no deaths reported over the past week. The overall death rate is 6.64 per 100,000 people. There have been 203,766 tests completed. _ New Brunswick: 1,230 confirmed cases (284 active, 928 resolved, 18 deaths). There were 12 new cases Saturday from 2,055 completed tests, for a positivity rate of 0.58 per cent. The rate of active cases is 36.34 per 100,000 people. Over the past seven days, there have been a total of 126 new cases. The seven-day rolling average of new cases is 18. There was one new reported death Saturday. Over the past seven days there have been a total of five new reported deaths. The seven-day rolling average of new reported deaths is one. The seven-day rolling average of the death rate is 0.09 per 100,000 people. The overall death rate is 2.3 per 100,000 people. There have been 140,624 tests completed. _ Quebec: 261,360 confirmed cases (14,509 active, 237,088 resolved, 9,763 deaths). There were 1,367 new cases Saturday. The rate of active cases is 169.21 per 100,000 people. Over the past seven days, there have been a total of 9,184 new cases. The seven-day rolling average of new cases is 1,312. There were 46 new reported deaths Saturday. Over the past seven days there have been a total of 326 new reported deaths. The seven-day rolling average of new reported deaths is 47. The seven-day rolling average of the death rate is 0.54 per 100,000 people. The overall death rate is 113.86 per 100,000 people. There have been 2,695,925 tests completed. _ Ontario: 266,363 confirmed cases (19,724 active, 240,494 resolved, 6,145 deaths). There were 2,063 new cases Saturday from 57,646 completed tests, for a positivity rate of 3.6 per cent. The rate of active cases is 133.87 per 100,000 people. Over the past seven days, there have been a total of 13,778 new cases. The seven-day rolling average of new cases is 1,968. There were 73 new reported deaths Saturday. Over the past seven days there have been a total of 392 new reported deaths. The seven-day rolling average of new reported deaths is 56. The seven-day rolling average of the death rate is 0.38 per 100,000 people. The overall death rate is 41.71 per 100,000 people. There have been 9,248,077 tests completed. _ Manitoba: 29,446 confirmed cases (3,526 active, 25,095 resolved, 825 deaths). There were 166 new cases Saturday. The rate of active cases is 255.64 per 100,000 people. Over the past seven days, there have been a total of 970 new cases. The seven-day rolling average of new cases is 139. There were two new reported deaths Saturday. Over the past seven days there have been a total of 28 new reported deaths. The seven-day rolling average of new reported deaths is four. The seven-day rolling average of the death rate is 0.29 per 100,000 people. The overall death rate is 59.81 per 100,000 people. There have been 452,461 tests completed. _ Saskatchewan: 23,626 confirmed cases (2,523 active, 20,803 resolved, 300 deaths). There were 260 new cases Saturday from 2,356 completed tests, for a positivity rate of 11 per cent. The rate of active cases is 214.05 per 100,000 people. Over the past seven days, there have been a total of 1,709 new cases. The seven-day rolling average of new cases is 244. There were eight new reported deaths Saturday. Over the past seven days there have been a total of 50 new reported deaths. The seven-day rolling average of new reported deaths is seven. The seven-day rolling average of the death rate is 0.61 per 100,000 people. The overall death rate is 25.45 per 100,000 people. There have been 335,890 tests completed. _ Alberta: 123,747 confirmed cases (7,530 active, 114,586 resolved, 1,631 deaths). There were 383 new cases Saturday. The rate of active cases is 170.29 per 100,000 people. Over the past seven days, there have been a total of 3,417 new cases. The seven-day rolling average of new cases is 488. There were 11 new reported deaths Saturday. Over the past seven days there have been a total of 106 new reported deaths. The seven-day rolling average of new reported deaths is 15. The seven-day rolling average of the death rate is 0.34 per 100,000 people. The overall death rate is 36.88 per 100,000 people. There have been 3,118,211 tests completed. _ British Columbia: 66,779 confirmed cases (6,039 active, 59,551 resolved, 1,189 deaths). There were zero new cases Saturday. The rate of active cases is 117.31 per 100,000 people. Over the past seven days, there have been a total of 2,768 new cases. The seven-day rolling average of new cases is 395. There were zero new reported deaths Saturday. Over the past seven days there have been a total of 61 new reported deaths. The seven-day rolling average of new reported deaths is nine. The seven-day rolling average of the death rate is 0.17 per 100,000 people. The overall death rate is 23.1 per 100,000 people. There have been 1,044,931 tests completed. _ Yukon: 70 confirmed cases (zero active, 69 resolved, one deaths). There were zero new cases Saturday. Over the past seven days, there have been a total of zero new cases. The seven-day rolling average of new cases is zero. There have been no deaths reported over the past week. The overall death rate is 2.38 per 100,000 people. There have been 6,273 tests completed. _ Northwest Territories: 31 confirmed cases (zero active, 31 resolved, zero deaths). There were zero new cases Saturday. Over the past seven days, there have been a total of zero new cases. The seven-day rolling average of new cases is zero. There have been no deaths reported over the past week. The overall death rate is zero per 100,000 people. There have been 9,064 tests completed. _ Nunavut: 284 confirmed cases (18 active, 265 resolved, one deaths). There was one new case Saturday. The rate of active cases is 45.74 per 100,000 people. Over the past seven days, there has been 17 new case. The seven-day rolling average of new cases is two. There have been no deaths reported over the past week. The overall death rate is 2.54 per 100,000 people. There have been 7,530 tests completed. This report was automatically generated by The Canadian Press Digital Data Desk and was first published Jan. 31, 2021. The Canadian Press

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2021-01-31 07:17:58Z
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For GameStop day traders, the moment they've dreamed about - Yahoo Canada Finance

Associated Press

AP PHOTOS: Venice has people in masks but no Carnival fun

In another year, masks would be a sign of the gaiety in Venice, an accessory worn for games and parties as big crowds parade about to show off their frivolous, fanciful costumes, especially ones with decorative face coverings. Last year, with fears over the new coronavirus mounting, authorities abruptly shut down the Venice Carnival on its third day, just before Italy became the first country in the West to face a outbreak. The day that Carnival shuddered to a stop last year, the confirmed coronavirus cases in all of Italy numbered only 133.

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2021-01-31 01:17:27Z
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Sabtu, 30 Januari 2021

For GameStop day traders, the moment they've dreamed about - CP24 Toronto's Breaking News


Paul Wiseman And Joseph Pisani, The Associated Press
Published Saturday, January 30, 2021 2:49PM EST

WASHINGTON - They've endured a financial crisis. Two deep recessions. Mounds of student debt. Stagnant pay. Costly health care. Dim job prospects.

They've seen the uber-rich grow richer while a pandemic threw tens of millions of people out of work and left many more isolated and vulnerable at home.

Now, they feel, it's payback time.

Nearly a decade after the Occupy protest movement left Wall Street more or less unscathed, the citadel of financial might faces a new assault.

Day traders, mobilized on a Reddit chatroom, have poured about all the money they can find into the stocks of a struggling video game retailer called GameStop and a few other beaten-down companies. Their buying has swollen those companies' share prices beyond anyone's imagination - and, not coincidentally, inflicted huge losses on the hedge funds of the super-rich, who had placed bets that the stocks would drop.

Their strategy, of course, is freighted with risk. The prices of the stocks they've bought are now multiples above any level justified by revenue, earnings or future prospects. The danger is that at any time, the stocks could collapse.

Maybe so. But as one Reddit user wrote Friday, asserting that hedge fund financiers would drink Champagne as they looked down upon Occupy Wall Street protesters in 2011:

“I'd rather lose it all than give them what they need to destroy me ... I'll burn it all down just to spite them.”

Their rage and hell-bent drive to pick on powerful Wall Street financiers have sent shivers through ordinary investors and heightened fears about the fragility of the markets in general after a prolonged period of stock gains fueled by ultra-low interest rates. Those fears just caused the S&P 500 index to suffer its worst week of losses since October.

GameStop shares? They rocketed nearly 70% on Friday. Over the past three weeks, they've delivered a stupefying 1,600% gain.

“They figured out how to play the way Wall Street has been playing for a long time,” said Robert Thompson, who has long tracked cultural trends as director of Syracuse University's Bleier Center for Television and Popular Culture. “I'm amazed it didn't happen earlier.”

Feeding the frenzy have been young traders like 27-year-old Zach Weir, who this week bought five shares of GameStop.

“I'm a college student, so that's basically a month's rent for me,” said Weir, who is pursuing a master's degree in marketing.

He did it, he said, because he believes in the cause: Protecting a cherished game store, where he would hang out as a teenager on Friday nights, from financial tycoons who want the company to fail.

And if he loses his investment?

“If my account goes to zero, it goes to zero,” Weir said. “At this point, it's not about the money. I think this is bigger than the money now”

Frustration and rage over widening financial inequities in the American economy have been mounting for years. The richest 1% of Americans collected about 19% of pre-tax income in 2019, up from less than 11% four decades earlier, according to the World Inequality Database, run by Emmanuel Saez and Gabriel Zucman, economists at the University of California, Berkeley, along with other researchers.

New York University economist Edward Wolff has found that the richest 10% of Americans own roughly 85% of stock wealth, a share that has grown steadily over time.

The financial crisis that ignited the Great Recession of 2007-2009 intensified resentment toward the bankers who had financed the dodgy loans behind the catastrophe and had ignored the obvious risks, only to receive bailouts from taxpayers and largely escape accountability. Rising outrage fueled the Occupy movement, in which protesters took over New York's Zuccotti Park and other public spaces and demanded far-reaching financial reforms that mainly didn't happen.

The coronavirus inflicted further pain, flattening the economy and causing more than 20 million Americans to lose jobs. This week, a report from the anti-poverty group Oxfam found that the world's 10 richest men have swollen their collective wealth by $500 billion since the pandemic erupted in March. In the meantime, nearly 10 million people who lost jobs to the pandemic remain unemployed.

The stock market, the chosen target of the Reddit day traders, has long stood as America's premier symbol of entrenched wealth. But technology, including forums like Reddit, has made it ever easier, faster and simpler for the aggrieved to mobilize, swap information and collectively plot strategy. And e-trading apps, notably Robinhood, allow amateur traders to buy commission-free stocks with one click.

They spotted a vulnerability in the market: The so-called short squeeze.

When hedge funds and other investors want to bet that a stock price will fall, they arrange a short sale: They borrow shares of, say, GameStop. Then they sell those borrowed shares, planning to buy back the stock later at a lower price and pocket the gain.

But shorting can backfire disastrously if the stock surges instead of falling. Then the short sellers can be forced to bail out of their bets by buying the target stock. Their buying, in turn, can send the stock price ever higher and makes things even worse for the short sellers in an intensifying feedback loop.

GameStop, its future imperiled by e-commerce and a pandemic that has kept customers away, is among the most heavily shorted stocks. Some of the Reddit rebels are gamers who want to protect the retailer from the predations of Wall Street. Or just deliver a righteous blow to hedge funds and financiers who have lived large as others have suffered hardships.

Not all the day traders are inflamed by anger. They just see an opportunity to make money and pay bills.

“A lot of people are having trouble paying rent,” said Alexis Goldstein, a veteran of the Occupy movement. “A lot of people are at risk of eviction. A lot of people are very desperate, quite frankly, for new ways to make money.”

Yet Goldstein worries that the revolt will ultimately fail.

For one thing, some of the Wall Street firms that are targets of the Redditers actually profit from the very volatility that the Redditers' assault has whipped up.

And the most sophisticated professional traders are no doubt calculating how to capitalize on the chaos. Normally, they have to work hard and invest heavily to determine what their competitors are doing and to profit from that information. By contrast, the Reddit day traders are announcing their intentions, brazenly and publicly.

“I suspect it's not Robinhood investors and Redditers who are making money,” Goldstein said.

She would like to see a different slate of reforms - reforms to rein in Wall Street's excesses while helping those who've been left behind.

“Hopefully, we can ask fundamental questions about whether we want our markets to be speculation-driven or do we want them to create innovation and jobs,” she said. “Stop hustling so hard for a buck and instead rebuild the social safety net.”

Tom Osran, a 59-year-old Chicago lawyer, has been reading the WallStreetBets forum on Reddit for years. But it was only last week that he decided to act for the first time, buying into GameStop. His investment, he said, is up 1,000% from last week, though he declined to reveal the dollar amount.

Osran said he figures that its astronomical stock rise can save GameStop from hedge funds that are betting that a company with 40,000 employees will fail.

“It's fun being part of a movement,” Osran said.

He knows he could lose everything he put into GameStop shares. Yet he's philosophical.

“We're all adults, we all know stocks can go up and down,” Osran said. “It's been insanely lucrative so far, but it could be all gone tomorrow.”

Pisani reported from New York.

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2021-01-30 19:49:00Z
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A fight between the EU and U.K. reveals the ugly truth about vaccine nationalism - CTV News

The UN General Assembly in September last year was a pivotal moment in the pandemic, when leaders began to show some unity as global deaths approached a million. They had learned hard lessons from the damage that hoarding protective equipment had done, they said. When a vaccine was developed, the world's most vulnerable would be first in line, they claimed.

The vaccines are now here and that solidarity has frayed.

Between the United Kingdom and the European Union, it has disappeared entirely and given way to an all-out battle over who is more entitled to tens of millions of doses produced by British-Swedish drugmaker AstraZeneca. Meanwhile, many countries in the global south have yet to administer a single vaccine.

The ugly vaccine nationalism that the World Health Organization and other public health advocates feared is here. And it's beginning in Europe, the region that usually boasts the world's greatest levels of equality by many measures.

The spat revolves around the EU's deal with AstraZeneca, which recently informed the bloc it would not be able to supply the number of vaccines the EU had hoped for by the end of March. EU leaders are furious that the company appears to be fulfilling its deliveries for the U.K. market and not theirs.

And while the EU's complaints are largely directed at AstraZeneca, the dispute has triggered animosity on both sides of the Channel, the two sides having only just emerged from four years of bickering over the terms of their Brexit divorce.

On Friday, Brussels imposed controls on vaccine exports to keep track of how many doses were leaving the continent and where they were going, in what leaders called a transparency measure but what looks like a targeted export ban.

"The measure is not targeting any specific country," European Commission Executive Vice-President Valdis Dombrovskis said during a press briefing in Brussels. But as he announced the measure, he also released a list of dozens of countries exempt from the controls, including many low-income nations. Unsurprisingly, the United Kingdom was not on it.

"The U.K. has legally-binding agreements with vaccine suppliers and it would not expect the EU, as a friend and ally, to do anything to disrupt the fulfillment of these contracts," a 10 Downing Street spokesperson said.

The EU also said it would invoke a clause in the Brexit deal to impose controls on exports to Northern Ireland to ensure doses wouldn't funnel through the region into the rest of the UK. It then backed down from the threat in the late hours of Friday night after UK and Irish leaders sought urgent clarification from Brussels over the highly controversial move.

WHO SHOULD GET U.K.-MADE DOSES?

EU leaders say AstraZeneca is prioritizing the U.K. in its deliveries. In response, it conducted a spot inspection of an AstraZeneca plant in Belgium on Thursday to ensure it was telling the truth about low supplies there. Some Brexit hardliners have lashed back at the moves, branding the EU as slow and incompetent.

Peter Bone, a Conservative British lawmaker, said EU leaders were "bullies" for inspecting the Belgian plant. In an interview with talkRADIO on Friday, he accused them of "trying to cover up for their own failures" and reversed the EU's accusation, saying Brussels was trying to divert U.K.-made vaccines to its own people.

But the EU's contract with AstraZeneca -- which Brussels published on Friday -- states that doses for the bloc could indeed come from a supply chain that includes UK-based plants. Equally, the U.K. is receiving doses from Europe as well -- a person familiar with the matter said that the U.K. is still receiving small numbers of vaccines made in European plants, and that its initial doses had come from Europe too.

The U.K. government, which is miles ahead of the EU in vaccinating its population, has not released its contract with the company and has repeatedly declined to disclose to CNN how many doses it has in hand, citing "security reasons."

The U.K.'s Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) told CNN that a "majority" of doses in the country came from within the UK, admitting some came from elsewhere.

Redactions of the published contract make it impossible to know just how badly the bloc has been hit, but AstraZeneca confirmed Friday it was aiming to ship at least 31 million doses to the EU by the end of March. Reuters had earlier reported the company had slashed the first quarter amount from 80 million doses to 31 million.

What the EU wants to know is why it isn't receiving doses from the U.K.. BEIS did not answer CNN's question on whether the U.K. had asked to be prioritized in its contract with AstraZeneca, saying only that it had ordered 100 million doses and had agreed timescales for delivery.

AstraZeneca CEO Pascal Soriot, however, said openly that the company was supplying the U.K. first.

"The contract with the U.K. was signed first and the U.K., of course, said 'you supply us first,' and this is fair enough," he told Italy's la Republicca on Wednesday. The EU contract, on the other hand, did not legally bind the company to a particular schedule, he said.

EU Health Commissioner Stella Kyriakides denied that claim.

"We reject the logic of first come, first served," she said at a press briefing on Wednesday. "That may work at the neighborhood butcher's but not in contracts and not in our advanced purchase agreements."

Much of the problem appears to come down the use of the term "Best Reasonable Efforts." In its agreement with the EU, AstraZeneca agreed to making its best efforts in building capacity to produce the doses the EU had ordered. Any legal challenge would involve a decision on whether the company had indeed tried its reasonable best to produce and deliver.

At an AstraZeneca briefing on Friday, Soriot did not reveal any new details of its arrangement with the EU, saying only that the issue was "very unfortunate" and that the company was "working 24/7" to source new materials and improve supply.

"The manufacturing of vaccines is extremely complicated, it's not like doing an orange juice, it's extremely complicated and the teams that are manufacturing those products have to be trained and they have to master the process," he said, adding that the U.K. had a head start in addressing inevitable teething issues.

JOHNSON WARNED AGAINST VACCINE NATIONALISM

It is understandable that the EU and U.K. would want to secure as many doses as possible in this early stage of their vaccination programs. The pandemic has hit both the U.K. and the bloc profoundly.

Of the world's worst-affected countries, the U.K. now has one of the highest confirmed Covid deaths proportionate to its population. EU nations too have struggled with devastating waves that have ripped through its elderly and vulnerable citizens.

But as the U.K. continues to give hundreds of thousands of Covid-19 shots by the day, Spain had to partly suspend its vaccination program this week, so low are its vaccine supplies. Germany has delayed its program and France says its program too is under threat.

There is a lot riding politically on a successful vaccine program. U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson's government has been lambasted by much of the media and public for a shambolic Covid-19 response. But the country's leadership in developing, approving and now distributing vaccines is being widely celebrated. It's a political win Johnson sorely needs.

The European Union too is determined to appear strong and functional after the U.K. officially left the bloc on December 31. Brussels will not want to make its decision to centralize vaccine procurement and distribution, in the name of equality and fairness, appear like a failure.

What appears not to be happening is any kind of civilized discourse between the U.K. and EU over what to do about the vaccine shortfall. Contracts aside, the unprecedented challenge of scaling up vaccine doses in the tens of millions could be an opportunity to coordinate to ensure the most vulnerable are vaccinated first.

It was only in September at the UN General Assembly that Johnson said "it would be futile to treat the quest for a vaccine as a contest for narrow national advantage."

"The health of every country depends on the whole world having access to a safe and effective vaccine, wherever a breakthrough might occur; and, the U.K., we will do everything in our power to bring this about."

Terje Andreas Eikemo, director of the Centre for Global Health Inequalities Research at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, said that vaccines should be shared among the world's most vulnerable people first, regardless of where they live.

"It's natural for governments to want to put their own populations first, and this is something that happens when there is a good that is limited. When you have that in a society, it will very often result in what we're seeing with the EU and U.K.," he told CNN.

"Everyone's trying to gain what's best for their populations, but we need to stay inclusive. This is a global problem, this is not a national problem."

THE GLOBAL SOUTH WAITS

There is a huge sense of nervousness in much of the developing world: people there are watching some of the richest nations scramble for doses after buying up huge numbers of vaccines in advanced purchase agreements before they were even proven effective.

Dr. Nashwa Ahmad from the South City Hospital in Karachi, Pakistan, told CNN that she and her colleagues have been waiting for weeks to hear of news of access to vaccines.

"That means our healthcare workers still have to continue to do their jobs for endless hours without the protection of the vaccines. It's very difficult," she said.

Meanwhile, rich nations are continuing to expand their already large advance purchase agreements. The U.K. has secured more than 360 million doses in advance and plans to buy more than 150 million between from Johnson & Johnson and Valneva. That would be enough to cover nearly four times its entire population.

The EU has secured almost 1.6 billion doses, enough to cover the population three times. Other countries are also overstocking. Canada, for example, has purchased enough to cover its population almost four times its size.

At the World Economic Forum hosted remotely from Davos, Switzerland last week, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa slammed rich nations for hoarding, and urged them to share them with the world's most vulnerable.

"Some countries have even gone beyond and acquired up to four times what their population needs, and that was aimed at hoarding these vaccines. And now this is being done to the exclusion of other countries in the world that most need this," he said.

In anticipation of this problem, the COVAX initiative was established in June last year with the aim of making 2 billion vaccine doses available to be distributed to parts of the world where there were gaps, largely in the global south. Even that will only cover around 20 pre cent of people in each eligible country. Indeed, the same rich nations accused of hoarding are donating to the scheme, with the U.K. being the largest single-country donor.

The tussles for supplies have renewed calls for all countries to work within a centralized system to avoid this uneven distribution of COVID-19 shots.

"While many have commendably contributed large sums of money to COVAX, they undermine its effectiveness, and the overall effort to end the pandemic as rapidly as possible for everyone, when they simultaneously engage in vaccine hoarding," Obiora Okafor, the UN's independent expert on human rights and international solidarity, said in a statement recently.

But there appears to be little hope of that actually happening. Even the WHO -- whose chief in September said initial vaccines should reach "some people in all countries, rather than all people in some countries" -- appears to have lost hope of a truly collaborative response.

When asked by CNN at a press briefing whether the U.K. should be allowed to oblige AstraZeneca to provide it with vaccine doses first, WHO Regional Director for Europe Hans Kluge said that "solidarity does not necessarily mean that each country in the world starts at exactly at the same moment."

The-CNN-Wire
™ & © 2021 Cable News Network, Inc., a WarnerMedia Company. All rights reserved.

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2021-01-30 14:09:00Z
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BlackBerry Stock: Is it Headed to $50? - The Motley Fool Canada

At first glance, it looks like the wait is over for shareholders of BlackBerry (TSX:BB)(NYSE:BB). Shares in the tech stock have been on a tear as of late, more than doubling in the last month alone! But is this just a momentum trap for investors? Or could shareholders reach $50 before the year is out by holding BlackBerry stock?

The shift

Let’s first dig into what’s happened. To do that, we need to look back at to when things really changed for BlackBerry stock. The company shifted from creating smartphones to creating software. Its big purchase was for QNX software, which is used in autonomous vehicles, and Cylance, which is to be used as defence in cybersecurity.

But these additions, while it helped the floundering company, weren’t what made today’s jump. BlackBerry stock soared after three giant changes in the last month. The company settled a 2018 patent infringement lawsuit regarding its messaging system with Facebook. It then signed a deal with Amazon Web Services to develop a way to improve data collection and cloud-connection with vehicles through its Intelligent Vehicle Data (IVY) platform. Finally, new United States president Joe Biden pledged US$2 trillion federal climate plan to bring in electric vehicles (EV), of which BlackBerry and Amazon’s IVY program would reap the benefits.

Will growth continue?

BlackBerry stock soared 175% as of writing from the news of these changes. Beyond the news, however, is where things get tricky. It’s true that BlackBerry stock has name recognition, and that’s enormous. Its software applications within the Internet of Things have made it a leader in the industry. It also has the top market share for automotive infotainment. But it has a ton of competition.

Companies like Microsoft are also in the business BlackBerry stock is trying to dig into. And while it’s been growing through acquisition, it has yet to prove that it can grow organically. Year-over-year revenue continues to drop, even from subscriptions, where most recently the company had a year-over-year loss of 4.74% in revenue. All that work to reach double-digit growth came to nothing when the pandemic hit.

Foolish takeaway

The problem I foresee with BlackBerry stock is too many hands in too many baskets. It has name recognition, sure, but not much else to offer investors. The company wants to be a part of EVs, of cybersecurity, of anything within software that could make it some cash. The problem is this dilutes its focus, and it doesn’t have the cash or revenue to compete against companies that do.

So, while momentum is great for now, it’s unlikely it will remain high for long. Investors might be wary to take returns and reinvest when the stock drops, which is likely to happen around earnings near the end of March. As for $50, it could happen. But it’s unlikely to happen anytime soon. It could take several tries before BlackBerry stock is successful in repeating its former glory, if ever. So, if you’re an investor willing to stick it out, patience will be your number one virtue.

Still worried about cash this year? Motley Fool experts are doubling down on this stock!

This Tiny TSX Stock Could Be the Next Shopify

One little-known Canadian IPO has doubled in value in a matter of months, and renowned Canadian stock picker Iain Butler sees a potential millionaire-maker in waiting...
Because he thinks this fast-growing company looks a lot like Shopify, a stock Iain officially recommended 3 years ago - before it skyrocketed by 1,211%!
Iain and his team just published a detailed report on this tiny TSX stock. Find out how you can access the NEXT Shopify today!

Click here to discover how!

John Mackey, CEO of Whole Foods Market, an Amazon subsidiary, is a member of The Motley Fool’s board of directors. Teresa Kersten, an employee of LinkedIn, a Microsoft subsidiary, is a member of The Motley Fool’s board of directors. Randi Zuckerberg, a former director of market development and spokeswoman for Facebook and sister to its CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. Fool contributor Amy Legate-Wolfe has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. David Gardner owns shares of Amazon and Facebook. Tom Gardner owns shares of Facebook. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Amazon, Facebook, and Microsoft. The Motley Fool recommends BlackBerry and BlackBerry and recommends the following options: long January 2022 $1920 calls on Amazon and short January 2022 $1940 calls on Amazon.

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2021-01-30 15:05:50Z
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How the tale of Reddit, GameStop, Robinhood is really about 5 big trends - Yahoo Canada Finance

The New York Times

A Georgia Chicken Town Reels After a Plant Disaster

GAINESVILLE, Ga. — The morning after a nitrogen leak in a chicken plant killed six people in the self-proclaimed poultry capital of the world, nearly everyone in its big Latino community choked down their grief and fear and did what they had come to Gainesville to do. They woke up before sunrise Friday and went to work. On Catalina Drive, a tidy street of vinyl-sided houses near the scene of Thursday’s accident, workers pulled out of driveways in dusty pickup trucks or zipped off to the plants in little sedans with antiviral masks around their chins. Sign up for The Morning newsletter from the New York Times Up on the Atlanta highway, other workers were shuttled to the chicken plants by the armada of local taxis — with names like Taxi Quetzal, Taxi Solano’s, Fiesta Cab — that has become a crucial workaround for the many immigrants living in the country illegally who do not want to risk being pulled over and possibly deported. Nina Baca, 18, answered her door just after dawn, the habitual stench from the plants spoiling the crisp and cloud-free January morning. Baca had worked the overnight shift Thursday a short distance from the accident site. It was all business as usual, she said, except for the beginning. “We just gathered around to pray for the people who lost their family,” Baca said. Of the six people killed Thursday by the ruptured liquid nitrogen line at Gainesville’s Foundation Food Group plant, five were Latino; 11 more people were injured. A 3-year-old child lost both parents in the accident, according to Arturo Corso, a local lawyer who has worked with families from the plant. The accident left a punctuating sort of pain in Gainesville, a city of 43,000 that is about 40% Latino, underscoring the illness and economic hardship that have been ravaging the workforce in Georgia’s best-known chicken town as a result of the coronavirus. In much the same way some of Gainesville’s workers living in the country illegally have feared getting coronavirus treatment or testing in recent months, some of the 130 workers evacuated from the plant Thursday ducked out of the official rendezvous point before undergoing medical checks because they feared that being noticed by authorities might lead to their deportation, according to Jennifer McCall, a local immigration lawyer. That is the way of things in Gainesville, a city about 55 miles northeast of Atlanta where a post-World War II boom in the chicken business has been powered in recent decades by waves of immigrants. “It’s terrifying,” said Maria del Rosario Palacios, a local organizer. “Our folks are completely scared about whether they can go to the hospital to get checked out. They say, ‘I will have to give my name when I’m working under another name.’” According to a company spokesperson, Thursday’s accident was the result of a ruptured line carrying liquid nitrogen, a substance often used to chill or freeze processed chicken that when released can make air unbreathable. It occurred a little after 10 a.m., sending dozens of frightened and confused workers into the parking lot. One witness told an Atlanta TV station that he saw workers run out of the plant gasping for air, with two of them collapsing in the grass. In a nearby trailer park, Juana Paloblanco, 54, heard the wail of sirens from rushing emergency vehicles Thursday morning. A Spanish-language text appeared on her smartphone: “Stay inside of your trailer or stay away from the area of Memorial Park,” it said, warning of contaminants in the air. “I was pretty scared,” she said. Georgia is the nation’s top chicken producer, churning out more than 30 million pounds of chicken and 7 million eggs every day, according to the state’s poultry federation. The grueling, low-paying jobs are often eschewed by Americans, and large numbers of Latin American immigrants began settling in Gainesville in the 1990s to take up the work. Since then, they and their children have changed the face of the city. Gainesville’s Latino population has doubled since 2000. And nearly 12% of the city’s residents are in the country illegally, according to the Pew Research Center, one of the largest proportions in any metropolitan area. They don rubber boots and smocks and earn their livings in the plants. They relax and shop on a stretch of Atlanta highway that can feel closer to Michoacán than Macon, with tiendas and restaurants offering hyper-regionalized tastes of home. Strains of welcome and rejection run concurrently among the city’s non-Latino population. For years, the city’s pretty downtown, with its old square organized around a monument to the Confederate dead, has hosted a jubilant Latino festival. Downtown also features a small park celebrating the city’s poultry industry, with a small statue of a chicken on a two-story-high pedestal. A plaque honors the region’s midcentury poultry industry leaders who did for the chicken industry “what Henry Ford had done for automobile manufacturing.” On Friday morning, a nearby digital billboard flashed an advertisement from the Wayne Farms chicken company, with a photo of a smiling female worker in a smock and a hairnet. “WE ARE THE FRONT LINE FOR FEEDING THE WORLD,” it said. The hosts of a local English-language radio talk show spoke of their prayers for the families of the dead and injured. At the same time, the lack of legal status has made Gainesville’s immigrant workforce vulnerable to deportation. Hall County, a Republican stronghold where Donald Trump won 70% of the vote last year, participates in a controversial immigration enforcement program that enlists and trains local law enforcement to identify people living in the country illegally who were booked into jails. Under the program, the county routinely transfers those people to Immigration and Customs Enforcement after booking them for infractions like driving without a license or committing a traffic infraction, according to community advocates. More than 100 people were deported under the program last year, a number that went up significantly after Trump took office. Critics say that immigrants are also vulnerable to exploitation at work. “The Gainesville poultry industry preys on immigrant labor, recruiting undocumented workers and refugees to work in some of the most dangerous conditions of any sector in the economy,” said John Fossum, a researcher at the University of Texas who has studied the industry. “It is an industrywide problem but particularly acute in Gainesville.” Thursday’s accident is being investigated by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, which is no stranger to the plant. The Foundation Food Group facility was fined more than $140,000 for safety violations in 2015 and 2016, records show. The next year, two employees had multiple fingers amputated after they were caught in machinery. More fines were levied in 2019. The plant changed ownership in 2020. Then came the coronavirus. As elsewhere in the country, after being deemed essential by the federal government, poultry plants have striven to keep production at normal, pre-pandemic levels. In May 2020, when COVID-19 was rampaging through the poultry facilities, 56% of those who got sick were Latino workers, and Hall County had twice the infection rate of neighboring Gwinnett County. The Gainesville plants have not consistently provided adequate protective gear or ensured other safety measures are in place to protect the workers, according to community leaders. Palacios, the organizer, said she regularly supplied disposable masks to workers. “We have a high rate of COVID, and that plant is a plant where a lot of our folks have been getting sick,” she said. She said her mother caught COVID-19 at a chicken plant a few months ago from a man who had been coming to work visibly sick. The man later died. Palacios said her mother had a stroke while she was sick. Foundation Food Group said in a statement that it followed federal guidelines for sending home any employees who test positive for the virus, providing up to two weeks' paid sick leave, and that it had not been made aware of any coronavirus-related deaths at its facilities. “The Foundation Food Group policy highly recommends and encourages employees to wear masks,” which are provided by the company, the statement said. Responding to Thursday’s accident, Jerry Wilson, the company’s president and CEO, said it was reaching out to families of the affected workers. “Foundation Food Group is working diligently with governmental authorities in determining the cause of the accident,” he said. As of late Friday morning, Palacios said, she had spoken with 11 workers at the Foundation plant. A number of them were complaining of headaches. She was trying, she said, to persuade them to get over their fears and go to a hospital. Vanessa Sarazua, the founder and executive director of Hispanic Alliance GA, a support group, opened the group’s strip-mall storefront and directed a small group of volunteers to help both those who had somehow been affected by the accident — and might need help with burials, psychiatric care or rent — and others who were simply hungry. The latter have been growing in number, Sarazua said, because of the lack of work during the pandemic. Many other families have relied on food handouts because they were not guaranteed sick leave by their employers during quarantine and had to go without their salaries when they fell ill. A little after 10 a.m., a despondent family came in, including a woman whose sister was killed at the plant. Her face was grim and she held a phone to her ear as she trudged silently into Sarazua’s office. But throughout much of the city, work simply went on as usual. In front of La Flor de Jalisco #2, a popular supermarket, Alberto Ramirez, 54, stood with a large contingent of day workers. He said he was pained by the tragedy at the chicken plant. “People are going to be a lot more afraid to go to work in those places now,” he said. But he doubted if anyone would stay away. “We’ve got bills,” he said. “We’ve got the rent. We’ve got families to support.” This article originally appeared in The New York Times. © 2021 The New York Times Company

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2021-01-30 13:07:00Z
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