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When Canada said it had signed a $32.5-million agreement to buy thousands of doses of an antibody treatment for COVID-19, it was expected to be a rare success. So why is the promised wonder drug falling flat?
Some experts are rejecting the Bamlanivimab treatment, saying the scientific evidence is too thin and the intravenous delivery method too difficult to manage. None of the 17,000 doses (at nearly $1,600 a dose) has been administered.
Yesterday, the Canadian Agency for Drugs and Technologies in Health said Bamlanivimab should not be given to patients as part of routine care for COVID-19 until there is more proof it works.
Other stories to catch up on
- B.C. looks to create its own pandemic bubble
- Canadians did not respond to tighter government measures by reducing risky behaviours, poll shows
- Ontario stay-at-home order won’t allow police to stop cars, ask where people are going
- Alberta eases some restrictions, hair salons can open, outside groups allowed
- Quebec further delaying second dose of COVID-19 vaccines
Tamara Rumsey, a registered pharmacy technician gently mixes a vial of the Pfizer BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine at a UHN pilot site in downtown Toronto on Dec 15 2020.Fred Lum/The Globe and Mail
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AGO returns painting looted during war to family but restitution group says it may have gone to wrong heirs
The painting in question, showing a basket of colourful flowers and attributed to the Flemish artist Jan van Kessel the Elder, was donated to the AGO in 1995.
Approached by a group seeking art lost to the Holocaust, Toronto’s AGO responded promptly last year and handed over the 1660 painting. The AGO says it reviewed the file carefully and acted quickly to reunite the painting with the elderly daughter of its original owners.
Today, the Max Stern Art Restitution Project at Concordia University is calling for more transparency about therestitution, saying the AGO may have returned the painting to the wrong heirs.
Still Life with Flowers, c. 1660 Attributed to: Jan van Kessel II (Flemish, 1626 - 1679) Painting, oil on canvas, 44.4 x 51.3 cm Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Henry F. Davis, in memory of his mother, 1995AGO
Biden’s $1.9-trillion stimulus package
Called the “American Rescue Plan,” the legislative proposal would meet President-elect Joe Biden’s goal of administering 100 million vaccines by the 100th day of his administration, and advance his objective of reopening most schools by the spring. The plan also aims to pump out financial help to those struggling with the pandemic’s prolonged economic fallout.
Meanwhile, the number of National Guard troops coming to Washington to assist law enforcement with security ahead of the Jan. 20 inauguration has grown to about 26,000, officials said. The FBI is also tracking an “extensive amount of concerning online chatter,” including calls for armed protests at the coming event.
- Konrad Yakabuski: Donald Trump may have met his Waterloo, but Trumpism will live on
- Robyn Urback: When a mob has threatened to hang the VP, voting for impeachment takes genuine courage
National Guard troops await to arrival of Vice President Mike Pence, outside the Capitol in Washington on Thursday, Jan. 14, 2021.JASON ANDREW/The New York Times News Service
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ALSO ON OUR RADAR
Critics decry reading list issued by Alberta energy inquiry commissioner: The commissioner overseeing Alberta’s public inquiry into the funding of environmental charities hand-picked and sent to participants a swath of papers, books and documents that one contributor has labelled “textbook examples of climate change denialism,” asking groups to comment on them as part of his investigation.
Mexico doubles down on austerity amid pandemic: The number of dead has topped 137,000 and the economy has crashed. Yet the country spends little on testing and has put scant new funds into the health budget – even as President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador pushes ahead with a fully funded suite of megaprojects such as a train running around the Yucatan Peninsula.
Toronto, Montreal see exodus pick up pace: The migration of fleeing the two cities for nearby regions is a complicated trend, aggravated by the pandemic. It has driven up housing costs in places that were once immune to big-city prices.
China allows Michael Spavor to call home over Christmas: After forbidding him from speaking with his family for more than two years, the Chinese government granted Michael Spavor a call home. Michael Kovrig, a second Canadian detained, had previously been allowed to speak briefly with his ill father by phone.
MORNING MARKETS
World markets falter: Global shares stumbled on Friday as hopes of a fiscal boost provided by a US$1.9-trillion U.S. stimulus plan were offset by the prospect of stricter lockdowns in France and Germany and a resurgence of COVID-19 cases in China. Just before 6 a.m. ET, Britain’s FTSE 100 was down 0.72 per cent, Germany’s DAX fell 0.60 per cent and France’s CAC 40 was off 0.76 per cent. In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei closed down 0.62 per cent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng edged up 0.27 per cent. New York futures were weaker. The Canadian dollar was trading at 78.83 US cents.
WHAT EVERYONE’S TALKING ABOUT
Ontario is celebrating Mike Harris, even as the greatest stain on his legacy persists
Tanya Talaga: “Ipperwash is still unresolved, and the issue that Dudley George died for has not been settled. Need we say more?”
A decade after the Arab Spring, we can see how we failed it
Doug Saunders: “The Arab Spring had ground to a halt by 2014 precisely because established democracies did so little to champion it in 2011. Now that many more of us are in the same boat, we might be more understanding when the Arab people rise again.”
TODAY’S EDITORIAL CARTOON
Brian GableBrian Gable/The Globe and Mail
LIVING BETTER
People leave after shopping at a mall in Ottawa, on Christmas Eve, Thursday, Dec. 24, 2020.Justin Tang/The Canadian Press
Retailers are changing their COVID-19 return policies
If you weren’t happy with some of the holiday gifts or changed your mind after making a purchase, it might be troublesome when trying to get your money back. Scores of retailers across the country have changed their return policies to quell the spread of COVID-19, making it trickier to get an exchange or refund, depending on the store.
“This is truly customer beware territory,” said Joanne McNeish, a Ryerson University professor specializing in marketing.
MOMENT IN TIME: Jan. 15, 1968
Bill Masterton #19 of the Minnesota North Stars poses for a portrait c. September, 1967 at the Met Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Masterton would die January 15, 1968, two days after sustaining a head injury during a game against the Oakland Seals.Bruce Bennett / Getty Images
NHL player Bill Masterton dies from injuries sustained on the ice
Bill Masterton very nearly never played in the NHL. After a standout NCAA career, the Winnipeg native had all but given up on professional hockey after two years in the minor leagues. He took a position with a Minneapolis-based technology company and started a family. But the NHL’s expansion to 12 teams for the 1967-68 season changed all that. Not only did Masterton ace his tryout for the Minnesota North Stars, he scored the first goal in franchise history. The day before a Jan. 13 game against the Oakland Seals, the North Stars centre complained to teammate Cesare Maniago about experiencing migraines following a particularly hard check. Masterton hadn’t missed a game all season, and was back in uniform the following night. The decision was to prove fateful. He was checked while off-balance, falling backwards and hitting his helmetless head against the ice. After arriving at hospital, the swelling on his brain was so severe – owing to what is now known as second-impact syndrome – that doctors decided against operating, and 30 hours after the impact, his life-support machine was switched off. Masterton, the only player to die from injuries suffered during an NHL game, was dead at 29. Paul Attfield
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