Coronavirus Update: Vaccines for kids will begin to arrive Sunday following Health Canada approval

Good evening, here are the COVID-19 updates you need to know tonight.

Top headlines:

1. Health Canada announced today that it has approved the first COVID-19 vaccine for children aged 5-11. Here’s what you need to know about its efficacy, side effects and expected shipment and delivery dates
2. Pre-departure COVID-19 tests will no longer be required for fully vaccinated Canadians and permanent residents who are returning from abroad on trips of less than 72 hours, the government announced Friday
3. Austria will become the first country in Western Europe to reimpose a full COVID-19 lockdown as Europe has again become the epicentre of the pandemic, accounting for half of global cases and deaths

In the past seven days, 17,078 cases were reported, down three per cent from the previous seven days. There were 171 deaths announced, down three per cent over the same period. At least 1,631 people are being treated in hospitals.

Canada’s inoculation rate is 15th among countries with a population of one million or more people.

Open this photo in gallery:

Sources: Canada data is compiled from government websites, Johns Hopkins and COVID-19 Canada Open Data Working Group; international data is from Johns Hopkins University.

Coronavirus explainers: Coronavirus in maps and charts • Tracking vaccine doses • Lockdown rules and reopening

Photo of the day

Open this photo in gallery:

Coronavirus in Canada

• Quebec is aiming to have 700,000 children aged five to 11 in the province vaccinated with one dose of COVID-19 vaccine by Christmas, Health Minister Christian Dubé said. And an inquest into the massive death toll in Quebec nursing homes heard that sickened residents were refused transfers to hospitals and remained in poorly equipped nursing homes without intravenous rehydration or supplemental oxygen.
• Saskatchewan has released modelling showing that winter weather, indoor socializing and waning immunity could lead to the province’s worst wave of COVID-19. Government officials say they will be ready to start giving Pfizer-BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine to children as soon as doses arrive in the province, but won’t allow vaccine mandates for schools or extracurricular activities.
• In Manitoba, a pilot project in the province aims to help the unhoused get an alternative version of Manitoba’s vaccine immunization card.
• Ontario’s high-school students will return to a regular semester system for the winter term ― pivoting from the revised schedules that schools have been following, which were designed to limit the spread of COVID-19.

Health Canada has approved the first COVID-19 vaccine for children aged five to 11 in Canada.

• The government says the Pfizer vaccines for kids will start arriving on Sunday and all 2.9 million first doses will be delivered by the end of next week.
• The National Advisory Committee on Immunization recommended an eight-week interval between shots. In its application to Health Canada, Pfizer-BioNTech requested a three-week interval.

Relaxed rules for travellers: Starting Nov. 30, fully vaccinated travellers at Canada’s air and land borders won’t need a COVID-19 test for trips that are less than 72-hours long, Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos said Friday.

Doses thrown out: At least one million doses of Canada’s COVID-19 vaccine supply have gone to waste, according to a survey.

Coronavirus around the world

• The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved booster doses of COVID-19 vaccines for all adults who were vaccinated with the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines.
• Austria will become the first country in Western Europe to reimpose a full COVID-19 lockdown, while also announcing it would require the whole population to be vaccinated starting Feb. 1.
• According to a U.S. study, the first known COVID-19 case was a market vendor in the Chinese city of Wuhan.
• Scientists say there is something “mysterious” going on in Africa. Fewer than six per cent of people in on the continent are vaccinated. But for months, the World Health Organization has described Africa as “one of the least affected regions in the world” in its weekly pandemic reports.

Coronavirus and business

Air Canada is pulling out of the government bailout program. The carrier says it will use $1.4-billion in government aid to provide customer refunds, but is walking away from the unused portion of the government package, worth $3.975-billion.

• $5.375-billion in loans were approved for Canada’s largest airline, amid a pandemic that closed borders and halted most air travel.
• In a statement, Air Canada said its recovery from the pandemic continues, adding routes and recalling laid-off employees.

Bay Street: Manulife’s plan for January return to offices signals busier Bay Street

Oil: Oil dives more than 2 per cent, to below US$80, on resurgent COVID-19 pandemic in Europe

Europe: COVID-19 resurgence threatens fresh setback for European market bulls

Globe opinion

• Corey Mintz: There are still reasons to be hopeful about the future of restaurants – if diners and workers unite
• Doug Saunders: Europe’s preventable outbreak has one cause: politicians pandering to the unvaccinated
• Denise Hruby: Will Austria’s dramatic steps against COVID-19 work?
• Robyn Urback: Canadians should avoid extreme measures to coerce the unvaccinated

Information centre

• Everything you need to know about Canada’s travel restrictions for vaccinated and unvaccinated people
• What parents need to know about the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine for kids aged 5-11
• Waiting for a second dose? We answer your COVID-19 vaccine questions
• What is and isn’t ‘paid sick leave’ in Canada? A short primer
• Got a vaccine ‘hangover’? Here’s why

Sources: Canada data are compiled from government websites, Johns Hopkins University and COVID-19 Canada Open Data Working Group; international data are from Johns Hopkins.

What are we missing? E-mail us: audience@globeandmail.com. Do you know someone who needs this newsletter? Send them to our Newsletters page.