Helicopter carrying Iran's president found by rescue teams: Iran official
Rescuers on Monday found a helicopter that was carrying Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, which had crashed in the mountainous northwest reaches of Iran the day before.
The federal government is expecting to receive about 7.1 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines this week, as it adjusts its distribution strategy amid waning vaccination rates and substantial supply.
The new deliveries will include about 3.1 million doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine and four million doses of Moderna.
"In the coming weeks, we will cross a symbolic threshold of 66 million doses, signalling that there are enough doses in Canada to vaccinate every currently eligible Canadian," Brig.-Gen. Krista Brodie said Thursday at a virtual news conference from Ottawa.
Brodie, who is overseeing the distribution of COVID-19 vaccines across the country, said Canada is moving to a "more nuanced" approach as the supply of doses is on the verge of outstripping demand.
More than two million doses of vaccine are already being held back because provinces have said they can't use them yet, she said.
The move marks a shift away from the early strategy of sending doses around the country as quickly as possible after they arrive.
"As we pivot from limited supply to sufficient supply, we are implementing a more nuanced approach to ensure that the vaccines are stewarded in a manner that best supports Canada's enduring domestic needs, as well as optimizes options for supporting global vaccination efforts," Brodie said.
Provinces can draw more doses from the reserved amount when and if they need to do so.
Canada's vaccination rate remains among the highest in the world, but is starting to slow as the pool of people still looking for a first or second dose shrinks.
As of Friday, almost 79 per cent of eligible Canadians had received at least one dose of a vaccine and more than 50 per cent were fully vaccinated.
Canada has already said it plans to donate the remaining 17.7 million doses in expected shipments of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine to the COVAX global vaccine-sharing alliance.
Those doses will be shipped to developing countries that are nowhere close to the level of immunization Canada now enjoys. In Africa, about three per cent of the population has now received at least one dose, and 1.4 per cent are fully vaccinated.
Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of the World Health Organization, warned countries such as Canada, where vaccinations are high and case loads under control, to remember the pandemic is not over.
On Thursday, the WHO reported the number of COVID-19 deaths in Africa jumped 43 per cent over the last week, as the Delta variant continued its devastating spread.
Several provinces indicated Thursday that they've had to destroy some doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine that expired July 1 before they could be used. Health Canada had already extended the expiry date for those doses by one month.
Ontario's Ministry of Health said Thursday it had 3,190 doses of AstraZeneca that would be destroyed, Prince Edward Island said it was destroying 3,200 doses and New Brunswick 960.
Demand for AstraZeneca plummeted in May after the National Advisory Committee on Immunization said the mRNA vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna were preferred because they weren't associated with the rare but serious side-effect of blood clots potentially linked to AstraZeneca.
Canada has yet to say if or when it will donate any doses of Pfizer or Moderna.
Procurement Minister Anita Anand said 95 million doses of the two vaccines will be delivered by the end of September. That is at least 20 million doses more than Canada could use even if 100 per cent of Canadians chose to get fully vaccinated.
Most polls suggest about 80 per cent of Canadians will be vaccinated. Currently, the vaccines aren't authorized for kids under the age of 12, although there's hope that vaccine trials on younger children will be finished by the end of the summer.
Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Dominic LeBlanc said Thursday Canada will keep enough doses to ensure supply for younger children when they become eligible. There are about 4.8 million kids in Canada under the age of 12.
"We will never do anything that will jeopardize our ability to have, quickly and safely, access to all the vaccines necessary to immunize any eligible Canadian," LeBlanc said.
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This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 19, 2021.
This story was produced with the financial assistance of the Facebook and Canadian Press News Fellowship.
Rescuers on Monday found a helicopter that was carrying Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, which had crashed in the mountainous northwest reaches of Iran the day before.
A Saskatchewan man who had a sexual encounter with a 15-year-old girl he met on Tinder successfully appealed to shorten release conditions barring him from online dating.
Stittsville residents on Kearnsley Way are seeking answers after an unusual bylaw crackdown on Friday. Every home with a basketball net received a ticket instructing homeowners to remove their nets from the road.
Three people were killed and five others were injured Saturday night following a boat crash on the Buck Bay area of Bobs Lake, north of Kingston, Ont., the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) said.
The apparent crash of a helicopter carrying Iran's president and foreign minister on Sunday sent shock waves around the region.
Less than 24 hours after Montreal's 12th homicide investigation began, Montreal police confirmed that a 55-year-old woman's death in St. Michel is the island's 13th homicide. The woman's ex-spouse has been charged with first-degree murder.
Industry Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne says it's 'untenable' for 'smaller players' like Walmart and Costco to delay signing on to the government- and industry-led grocery code of conduct, now that industry giant Loblaw has agreed to do so.
A sanctuary dedicated to animals with disabilities is celebrating the third birthday of one of its most popular residents.
Canada’s largest First Nations police service, the Nishnawbe Aski Police Service issued a community safety alert as extremely toxic drugs are likely circulating in many of the communities it serves.
A B.C. woman says her service dog pulled her from a lake moments before she had a seizure, saving her life.
A Starbucks fan — whose name is Winter — is visiting Canada on a purposeful journey that began with a random idea at one of the coffee chain's stores in Texas.
Members of Piapot First Nation, students from the University of Winnipeg and various other professionals are learning new techniques that will hopefully be used for ground searches of potential unmarked grave sites in the future.
ALS patient Mathew Brown said he’s hopeful for future ALS patients after news this week of research at Western University of a potential cure for ALS.
When Adam Kirschner wrote 'Slap Shot,' he never imagined the song would be embraced by his favourite team.
A team is ready to help an entangled North Atlantic right whale in the Gulf of St. Lawrence.
A $200 reward is being offered by a North Vancouver family for the safe return of their beloved chicken, Snowflake.
Two daughters and a mother were reunited online 40 years later thanks to a DNA kit and a Zoom connection despite living on three separate continents and speaking different languages.
Mother's Day can be a difficult occasion for those who have lost or are estranged from their mom.