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PM Declares March 11th As National Day Of Observance

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Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has declared March 11th, as a National Day of Observance for those whose lives have been impacted by COVID-19.

The Prime Minister says on March 11th, 2020, lives around the world were forever changed by the emergence of this virus.

On the one year anniversary of the first death in Canada to COVID-19, Justin Trudeau says the country now mourns the tragic loss of more than 22, 000 people.

He adds COVID-19 has infected over 864, 000 other Canadians and had an impact on how we work, learn and connect with others, as well as live our daily lives.

Trudeau says we all have a role to play in ending this pandemic. In recognition, he invites all Canadians to join together and pay tribute to those who continue to work hard and make incredible sacrifices in the fight against the virus.

“Our health care and other essential workers have put themselves at risk, working long hours, so we could get the services and care we needed. And as efforts continue to get vaccines to every Canadian as quickly as possible, we thank them now more than ever,” Trudeau says.

“We all have a role to play in ending this pandemic, and the crisis is not over yet. In recognition of how far we have come and how far we still have to go, the Government of Canada is designating March 11, 2021, as a National Day of Observance. On this day, I invite all Canadians to join together in honouring the memory of those we have lost, and the people they left behind. We will also recognize everyone who has been impacted by COVID-19, and pay tribute to all those who continue to work hard and make incredible sacrifices in our fight against the virus. Together, we will beat COVID-19.”

One year ago, we marked the first known death caused by COVID-19 in Canada – and three days later, the disease was…

Posted by Justin Trudeau on Monday, March 8, 2021

 

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Two COVID Programs To Remain Until June

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The federal government’s two major COVID-19 support programs will remain in place.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says the government will extend the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy and the Canada Emergency Rent Subsidy until June.

“In other words, we’re making sure the wage and rent subsidies continue through the spring and that the amount of support remains consistent,” explained the prime minister

Trudeau adds this is not the time to pull back on support for workers or business owners “It’s a time to see people through what is hopefully, the final stretch of this crisis.”

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NWHU Reports Seven New Cases

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The Northwestern Health Unit is reporting seven new confirmed cases of COVID-19.

Five are from the Kenora region, while there is one each from the Sioux Lookout and Dryden/Red Lake regions.

The NWHU says that follow-up with close contacts is now underway and that if you are a close contact they will contact you directly.

Despite the new cases, the Health Unit says that as of Wednesday morning there are 39 active cases in their catchment area. That number is down from the 41 reported on Tuesday.

Of those cases, 23 are in the Kenora area, 15 in the Sioux Lookout region and one in Dryden/Red Lake.

Since the start of the pandemic there have been 71,708 tests conducted for the NWHU, with 71,221 (99.32 per-cent) coming back as negative.

From the 487 confirmed cases, 448 are considered resolved.

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UPDATED: AstraZeneca Vaccines Get Health Canada Approval

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Canada will soon have two more vaccines to combat the COVID-19 virus.

Health Canada has approved the AstraZeneca vaccine along with a related shot by the Serum Institue of India.

Dr. Supriya Sharma, a senior medical advisor with Health Canada, provided details about the vaccines during a briefing Friday morning.

Sharma said unlike the Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna vaccines, which are m-R-N-A based, these new vaccines are viral-vector-based.

“Viral-vector vaccines use a harmless modified version of a different virus, the vector, to deliver instructions to our cells,” said Sharma. “The cells begin to make proteins from the virus that causes COVID-19, which then prompts the body to develop an immune response.”

Sharma said the virus used in these vaccines are adenoviruses, which have been used in vaccines for decades.

She said the adenoviruses can cause common cold-like symptoms but do not cause illness.

“These are two-dose vaccines with the second dose being given between four and 12 weeks after the first. Evidence suggests that efficacy increases with longer dosing intervals,” said Sharma.

Sharma said the vaccines are about 62 per cent effective in preventing symptomatic cases of COVID-19, much lower than the Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna vaccines.

But she said there is “emerging, promising evidence” that is beginning to be reported from real-world use of the vaccine.

Sharma said two other vaccine submissions remain under review by Health Canada.

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Canada Secures More COVID-19 Vaccines

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The federal government has secured millions of more doses of COVID-19 vaccine for Canadians, the prime minister announced Tuesday.

Justin Trudeau said they have reached a deal with Pfizer to buy an additional 20 million doses of their vaccine.

That is on top of the 20 million doses Canada has already secured through the pharmaceutical corporation.

“From our agreements with Moderna and Pfizer alone, we will now have 80 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines arriving this year,” Trudeau told reporters.

Trudeau said they are on track to have every Canadian who wants a vaccine receive one by September.

Meanwhile, the federal government has released a forecasted vaccine delivery schedule for provinces and territories through the end of February.

“This will make sure that they have the vaccines and the information they need to keep rolling out doses as quickly, as smoothly, and as efficiently as possible,” said Trudeau.

More than 2.7 million doses are expected to be distributed across the country over the next seven weeks, with distribution ramping up in February.

Ontario is expected to receive more than 1 million doses while Manitoba will get more than 101,000 doses.

New Brunswick is expected to get nearly 55,000 doses while Nova Scotia will receive more than 71,000 doses.

As of Jan. 7, nearly 550,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccine had been distributed across the country.

Trudeau says the federal government will continue to work to get more vaccines delivered as soon as possible.

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Health Canada Awaiting More Data From AstraZeneca

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Health Canada says it is too soon to say when AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine could be approved for use in our country.

The federal health agency issued a statement Wednesday after the United Kingdom authorized the company’s vaccine for use.

Health Canada says it has been reviewing AstraZeneca’s vaccine since it was submitted on Oct. 1 and is expediting the review of COVID-19 vaccines.

“There is still information and data to be provided by AstraZeneca for review. Health Canada cannot provide a definite timeline for the completion of the review at this time,” the agency said.

Health Canada said it is working closely with international regulators, including those in the U.K., to share information and data on vaccines currently under review.

Federal health officials have approved two vaccines for use in Canada to date — one by Pfizer-BioNTech and the other by Moderna.

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Health Canada Approves Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine

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Health Canada has approved a second COVID-19 vaccine for use in the country.

The agency gave the green light for the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine on Wednesday.

It comes two weeks to the day after the federal health agency approved the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.

“Today’s authorization is a critical step in ensuring additional COVID-19 vaccines are available to all Canadians in all parts of the country,” the agency said in a statement.

“The different storage and handling requirements of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine mean that it can be distributed to isolated and remote communities, including the territories.”

A high-level summary of evidence reviewed by Health Canada said Moderna’s vaccine efficacy was evaluated to be 94.1 per cent.

“There were no important safety issues identified and no life-threatening adverse events or deaths related to the vaccine,” the agency said in its overview.

Health Canada said the most frequently reported adverse reactions after any dose were pain at the injection site, fatigue, headache, myalgia and chills. Most were mild to moderate in severity and resolved within two to three days.

Adverse reactions were more common in younger adults as compared to older adults and most were reported following the second dose of the vaccine.

Last week, Ottawa announced it had reached an agreement with Moderna for up to 168,000 doses by the end of December. It is part of the guaranteed 40 million doses the government has secured from the company.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the vaccine can be distributed 48 hours after it receives Health Canada approval.

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Canada Temporarily Suspends Passenger Flights From U.K.

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Canada has temporarily suspended all commercial and private passenger flights from the United Kingdom.

It comes in response to a new strain of COVID-19 identified in the U.K. which officials say may be more transmissible.

The Public Health Agency of Canada said there is no evidence at this point that the mutations have any impact on symptom severity, antibody response or vaccine efficacy.

“While no cases linked to this new strain have been identified in Canada, work continues to identify if this variant is present or has been previously observed in Canada,” said the agency in a statement Sunday.

Health Minister Patty Hajdu said says the suspension will allow health officials time to gather more evidence and help reduce the spread of COVID-19.

The 72-hour flight suspension took effect at midnight Sunday night.

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First COVID-19 Vaccines Arrive In Canada

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The first batch of Pfizer-BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine has arrived on Canadian soil.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau tweeted a photo of the plane carrying the vaccine on Sunday evening.

“This is good news,” Trudeau wrote in a tweet. “But our fight against COVID-19 is not over. Now more than ever, let’s keep up our vigilance.”

Trudeau encouraged Canadians to keep wearing masks, washing their hands, avoiding gatherings, and using the COVID Alert app.

More of the 30,000 initial doses are expected to arrive in the country on Monday.

The vaccines will be shipped to 14 distribution sites across all 10 provinces.

Canada is expected to receive 249,000 doses of vaccine by the end of the year.

Trudeau has said that most Canadians should be vaccinated by September.

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Federal Gov’t Updates COVID-19 Projections

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Canada could have up to 577,000 cases of COVID-19 and nearly 15,000 deaths by Christmas Day.

That is according to new federal projections released Friday by Canada’s top doctor.

“The resurgence of COVID-19 in Canada clearly shows that the current daily case count far exceeded the peak of the first wave … and there’s little indication this upward trajectory will change without further intensifying public health measures,” said Dr. Theresa Tam.

Tam, the country’s chief public health officer, said the continued rapid growth is being driven primarily by provinces outside of Atlantic Canada.

More than half of the country’s health regions are now reporting more than 100 cases per 100,000 population, with the highest rates being in Alberta, Manitoba and Saskatchewan, she said.

“Community-level public health measures have been strengthened but we have yet to see the kind of sustained decline in daily case counts that would indicate we are bringing the pandemic under control,” said Tam.

Over the past week, Canada has averaged more than 6,500 new cases and nearly 100 deaths daily.

Tam said COVID-19 cases are highest and continue to escalate among adults 80 years and older, who are at high risk of severe outcomes, including death. She noted the country continues to see an increasing number of outbreaks in long-term care facilities.

The number of hospitalizations has also increased, she said, with an average of 2,900 people in hospital on any given day over the past week, including 565 people in an intensive care unit.

Tam said unless we all do our part to get the virus under control, the number of cases will continue to climb.

“We are forecast to have 12,000 daily cases by the beginning of January with increased hospitalizations and death following this rise unless significant reductions in contact rates are achieved,” said Tam.

She urged all Canadians to reduce their close contacts, maintain physical distancing, wash their hands and wear masks.

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