Coronavirus Update: Vaccine to fight all coronaviruses back in spotlight as variants take hold

Good evening, here are the coronavirus updates you need to know tonight.

Top headlines:

1. A labour advocate in Alberta is demanding a meeting with the premier and the provincial labour minister after hundreds were infected and one person died in connection with an outbreak at a hog slaughterhouse
2. Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland is appealing to the Conservatives to advance a COVID-19 relief bill through the House of Commons
3. Biopharmaceutical company VBI Vaccines is working on a “multivalent” vaccine – a vaccine that works against multiple viruses

In the last 7 days, 20,776 cases were reported, down 15 per cent from the previous 7 days. There were 488 deaths announced, down 30 per cent over the same period. At least 2,387 people are being treated in hospitals and 776,213 others are considered recovered.

About 90 per cent of the 1,447,600 doses of vaccine distributed to provinces have been administered. That’s 3.4 doses for every 100 people in Canada.

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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 • Lockdown rules and reopening • Canada’s vaccine distribution plan • Developing/approved vaccines • Pfizer’s vaccine, explained • Essential resources

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Coronavirus in Canada

• Newfoundland and Labrador, which offers a cautionary tale about the threat of new coronavirus variants, reported seven new cases today – a sharp downturn compared to 100 new daily infections last week. Meanwhile, concerns are rising that the province’s election results – where voting is now exclusively by mail because of the coronavirus – could end up in court.
• Following an outbreak at a pork plant in central Alberta – which has been linked to hundreds of infections and one death – a labour group is demanding a meeting with the provincial government to ensure workplaces with outbreaks are shut down.
• Quebec’s daily coronavirus infection numbers continue to decline, with 669 new infections and 20 more COVID-19-related deaths reported today. Meanwhile, the province’s coroner postponed public hearings into pandemic-related deaths at nursing homes in Montreal.
• In Ontario, Premier Doug Ford defended lifting the province’s stay-home order in 27 regions in the province despite warnings it could lead to a third wave. Meanwhile, snow disrupted the return to in-person learning in three hot spots in the province.
• The top doctor at British Columbia’s First Nations Health Authority says delivering the vaccine to all Indigenous communities by the end of next month is still possible.

In Ottawa, Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland pressed Conservative Leader Erin O’Toole to hasten passage of a COVID-19 relief bill through the House of Commons.

• At a news conference, O’Toole suggested part of the impetus for Bill C-14 was the Liberal government’s need to fix errors in previous, hastily passed COVID-19 relief bills.
• The Liberal government introduced the proposed legislation at the beginning of December, to enact spending measures proposed in its fall economic statement. Almost two months later, the bill has made little progress through the legislative process.

COVID-19 and education: Being kept apart from teachers and friends has had a measurable impact on student performance, some initial findings show. But the damage varies along regional, economic and racial lines – and there’s no large-scale plan to get everyone back on track.

COVID-19 and vaccines: A group of Canadians scientists is on a mission to develop a vaccine that will work against all types of coronavirus.

Coronavirus around the world

• Health experts fear the British variant of COVID-19, known as the variante inglese in Italian, could trigger a surge in infections and fatalities in Italy unless a strategy is implemented.
• Experts are trying to determine what’s behind the dramatic drop of coronavirus cases in India.
• Britain’s Prime Minister Boris Johnson has praised the early success of the country’s COVID-19 vaccination program.

Coronavirus and business

Tim Hortons has scratched “the rim” from their popular contest, instead taking it digital: Roll Up To Win is now done through loyalty card or app.

• Last year’s campaign kicked off just as the pandemic started, and was quickly shifted to digital to prevent staff from having to collect the rims of used coffee cups.
• However, Tim Hortons customers are having mixed reactions to the switch.

Also today: Stocks at Canada’s Big Six banks have returned to around pre-pandemic levels. How is that possible?

And: Newly released federal data provides the most detailed picture yet of where billions of dollars in CERB money went last year.

Globe opinion

• Jonathan Goodman: Early indications show that the COVID-19 pandemic is deepening income inequality. The ability to work from home is a blessing bestowed on mostly the wealthy and educated.
• Linda Nazareth: We need to think of the pandemic timeline as something that will indeed cast a long shadow on work and earnings for years to come and plan accordingly to offset the damage, especially for today’s graduates.
• André Picard: The news that tens of thousands of nursing jobs are unfilled across Canada should come as no surprise. Nurses are fleeing hospitals, long-term care facilities, home-care agencies and public-health agencies – and who can blame them?
• Anna Taddio and Noni Macdonald: Nationally, public health agencies have strong relationships with school officials and need to work with educators to develop curriculum content about vaccines.

More reporting

• Canadian Armed Forces deploys recon teams to the border as the federal government prepares border-testing sites
• Negotiations over a government resources plan for airlines is at a critical stage, sources say
• New guidance suggests that racialized adults should be prioritized for COVID-19 vaccination
• The federal government needs to address postsecondary funding and problems of access that have been aggravated by pandemic, says a coalition of university faculty, student and labour groups
• Sixty-nine per cent of Canadians blame the federal government for vaccine delays, according to a new poll
• Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says he spoke with the head of Moderna and Canada is on track to receive two million doses of its vaccine by the end of March
• Hundreds of ice fishing shacks are set up on Sylvan Lake, just outside Red Deer, Alta., as ice fishing gains popularity
• It’s been a year since one Italian photographer began taking pictures of Italy’s lockdown

Information centre

• How well do vaccines work? Here’s what you need to know.
• Rob Carrick’s 10-point checklist of things you should have done by now to protect or improve your money situation. Tips for minimizing damage to your credit score; how to manage retirement anxiety during difficult times; and things to think about if you’re considering home delivery.
• Here are the expectations for self-isolation; tips for managing anxiety and protecting your mental health; and what to do if you think you have the virus. Wash your hands. How to break a bad habit (like touching your face). Is flying safe?
• The best foods to eat to maintain an immune system-friendly diet; and how to keep a healthy diet while working from home; four eating tips when working from home; and five mistakes that might cause you to gain unwanted weight. Here are the essentials to stock up on and how to shop safely for groceries; the best pantry staples and how to stop stress-eating.
• Find answers to your coronavirus and employment questions.

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