Good evening, here are the COVID-19 updates you need to know tonight.
Top headlines:
- WHO rejects Medicago COVID-19 vaccine over Canadian company’s ties to tobacco industry
- Quebec Premier Francois Legault tests positive for COVID-19
- Messaging around masks will be debated after COVID-19: experts
Due to changes in the prevalence of testing, case counts alone are no longer a reliable indicator of the spread of COVID-19. Going forward, we will only be including the weekly death rates and hospitalizations in the newsletter. For a snapshot of COVID-19 data in Canada, go to the coronavirus tracker.
In the past seven days, there were 249 deaths announced, down 16 per cent over the same period. At least 3,628 people are being treated in hospitals.
Canada’s inoculation rate is 15th among countries with a population of one million or more people.
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
A nurse prepares to vaccinate children at a school on the outskirts of the capital, Harare, Zimbabwe on March 24.Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi/The Associated Press
Coronavirus in Canada
- British Columbia says COVID-19 test kits, each containing five rapid antigen tests, are now available at participating pharmacies. Meanwhile, the province said hospitalizations have increased by four, for a total of 258 patients.
- Quebec Premier François Legault says he has tested positive for COVID-19, and is feeling good while experiencing minor symptoms. The province’s immunization committee is suggesting the province will plan mass vaccination clinics for second doses of COVID-19 boosters in the fall. Beginning next week, those most vulnerable to serious consequences from the disease can begin booking fourth doses – or their second boosters.
The World Health Organization has rejected the Canadian-made Medicago COVID-19 vaccine because of the company’s ties to the tobacco industry, a major blow that will substantially limit the vaccine’s availability around the world.
- The WHO ruling raises new questions about the federal government’s decision to invest $173-million investment in Medicago, given that Philip Morris Investments, a subsidiary of tobacco giant Philip Morris, has a one-third ownership stake in the Quebec City-based company.
- A WHO spokesperson told the Globe and Mail that Medicago’s request for an emergency-use listing was denied “because of the linkage with the tobacco industry and WHO’s strict policy on not engaging with companies that promote tobacco.”
Masks messaging: Experts say that the message around mask wearing could have been better communicated during the pandemic. Roger McIntyre, a professor of psychiatry and pharmacology at the University of Toronto, said masks have been politicized and there has been an erosion in trust in public health officials.
Trudeau criticism: Several members of the European Parliament used Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s visit to Brussels as a chance to harshly criticize his handling of the trucker convoy protests in Ottawa.
Coronavirus around the world
- In the United States, the mayor of New York City exempted some athletes and performers from the city’s sweeping vaccine mandate, while keeping it in place for countless other workers. Critics of Mayor Eric Adams’ decision, including several public employee unions whose members were fired for not getting vaccinated, blasted the mayor for seeming to lift the rule only for wealthy and famous athletes.
- The World Health Organization reported that the highly contagious Omicron subvariant, BA.2 is the dominant version of Omicron globally – responsible for 86 per cent of cases reported to the WHO from Feb. 16 to March 17 – and is driving another surge of infections.
Coronavirus and business
Moderna raised its full-year forecast for sales of its COVID-19 vaccine to roughly $21-billion from $19-billion.
- The company in February forecast sales of $19-billion from its signed contracts, and option for $3-billion in additional purchases.
- Moderna on Thursday forecast additional purchases of roughly $500-million.
Also today: Unifor alleges former union boss Jerry Dias took money from supplier of COVID-19 rapid-test kits
More reporting
- New applications for pandemic-era innovation may lead rebound in challenging health care, biotech sectors
Information centre
- Everything you need to know about Canada’s travel restrictions for vaccinated and unvaccinated people
- Where do I book a COVID-19 booster or a vaccine appointment for my kids? Latest rules by province
- 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.
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