Grandparent scam: London, Ont., senior beats fraudsters not once, but twice
It was a typical Tuesday for Mabel Beharrell, 84, until she got the call that would turn her world upside down. Her teenaged grandson was in trouble and needed her help.
Further deliveries of COVID-19 vaccines to Canada are on pause because provinces already have more doses than they can currently use.
Canada was to get 95 million doses of vaccine from Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna by the end of September, but is about 20 million doses shy of that as of Wednesday.
But Canada is already sitting on a stockpile of 18.7 million doses and doesn't need any more to fully vaccinate eligible people over the age of 12. That includes 8.5 million doses shipped to provinces and not yet used and 10.2 million in a federal stockpile provinces can turn to if they need it.
As of Wednesday 80 per cent of eligible Canadians were fully vaccinated against COVID-19, and another seven per cent have their first shot. At most Canada would need 11 million doses to finish vaccinating everyone over 12.
As such all provinces stopped requesting new doses by the end of August, and Canada has told suppliers not to send any more shipments for the time being.
Canadian officials are currently in talks with suppliers and other countries that need vaccines working on plans to donate Canada's excess doses of Pfizer and Moderna.
Canada has already promised to donate 40 million doses it purchased but cannot use from AstraZeneca, Johnson & Johnson and the COVAX vaccine-sharing alliance.
It has to date shipped just 82,000 doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine directly to Trinidad and Tobago.
Vaccine donations are trickier than they might first sound, because of legal liabilities and vaccine dose expiration issues. Most countries won't accept doses if the expiration date is under eight weeks, to ensure they can be used in time.
The vaccine contracts with Pfizer and Moderna also did not specifically spell out how excess doses could be donated, while the contracts Canada signed with AstraZeneca and J&J did.
U.S. President Joe Biden called on countries like Canada to do more to help get the rest of the world vaccinated following a virtual vaccine summit at the United Nations General Assembly Wednesday.
Biden said the U.S. was doubling its donations to more than one billion and said "we need other high-income countries to deliver on their own ambitious vaccine donations and pledges." He said the goal should be to vaccinate 70 per cent of the world's population within 12 months.
Currently, 31 per cent of the world's population is fully vaccinated, but the rollout has been very lopsided. Wealthy countries snapped up the vast majority of available doses, leaving developing nations to wait.
Africa has only fully vaccinated four per cent of the population, compared with 51 per cent in Europe and 45 per cent in North America.
At least 13 countries are above 70 per cent fully vaccinated. Canada, with 69.5 per cent of the entire population fully vaccinated, is close.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau promised in the Liberal election platform that Canada will donate "at least" 200 million doses of vaccine through COVAX by the end of next year.
His spokeswoman said there were no new specific commitments made by Trudeau Wednesday at Biden's vaccine summit.
Canada is also preparing to start vaccinating children between five and 11, with Pfizer expected to request authorization for that age group imminently. The company said earlier this week a clinical trial showed the vaccine was safe and produced a robust antibody response in that age group.
The dose for children is one-third the size that given to adults and it's not clear yet whether Canada could simply draw out smaller doses from each vial of vaccine already shipped.
A spokeswoman for the company said Wednesday Pfizer was preparing a "different presentation for pediatric use" but would not confirm if that meant none of the doses Canada already has could be repurposed for kids.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 22, 2021.
It was a typical Tuesday for Mabel Beharrell, 84, until she got the call that would turn her world upside down. Her teenaged grandson was in trouble and needed her help.
The deaths of four people on a farm near the Saskatchewan village of Neudorf have been confirmed a murder-suicide.
The Canada Revenue Agency announced Thursday it will not require 'bare trust' reporting from Canadians that it introduced for the 2024 tax season, just four days before the April 2 deadline.
The Parole Board of Canada has granted full parole to one of three men convicted in the brutal murders of three McDonald's restaurant workers in Cape Breton more than 30 years ago.
Nearly 20 hours after a man climbed and remained perched on top of the Reconciliation Bridge in downtown Calgary, the situation came to a peaceful resolution.
Ontario released its annual sunshine list Thursday afternoon, noting that the largest year-over-year increases were in hospitals, municipalities, and post-secondary sectors.
Genetic analysis has shed light on a long-standing mystery surrounding the fates of U.S. President George Washington's younger brother Samuel and his kin.
A spokesman for a regional Muslim advocacy group says Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre's stance on the Israel-Hamas war could complicate his party's relationship with Muslim Canadians.
Former U.S. President Donald Trump is officially selling a copy of the Bible themed to Lee Greenwood’s famous song, 'God Bless the USA.' But the concept of a Bible covered in the American flag has raised concern among religious circles.
B.C. conservation officers recently seized a nine-foot-long Burmese python from a home in Chilliwack.
A New Brunswicker will go to bed Thursday night much richer than he was Wednesday after collecting on a winning lottery ticket he let sit on his bedroom dresser for nearly a year.
The Ontario government is introducing changes to auto-insurance, but some experts say the move is ill-advised.
A Toronto restaurant introduced a surprising new rule that reduced the cost of a meal and raised the salaries of staff.
Newfoundland’s unique version of the Pine Marten has grown out of its threatened designation.
A Toronto man is out $12,000 after falling victim to a deepfake cryptocurrency scam that appeared to involve Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
It started small with a little pop tab collection to simply raise some money for charity and help someone — but it didn’t take long for word to get out that 10-year-old Jace Weber from Mildmay, Ont. was quickly building up a large supply of aluminum pop tabs.
There’s a group of people in Saskatoon that proudly call themselves dumpster divers, and they’re turning the city’s trash into treasure.
Ontario is facing a larger than anticipated deficit but the Doug Ford government still plans to balance its books before the next provincial election.