2-hour wildfire evacuation notice issued for some Fort McMurray neighbourhoods
A wildfire evacuation alert for some Fort McMurray residents has been updated to a two-hour evacuation notice.
As researchers continue to study the new COVID-19 variant Omicron stoking fears around the globe, vaccine manufacturers are issuing guidance on their shots’ effectiveness.
Here’s a look at what vaccine manufacturers have said so far.
The CEO of Moderna says the company’s COVID-19 Spikevax vaccine is unlikely to be as effective against the Omicron variant as it has been against others.
Speaking to the Financial Times, Moderna CEO Stephane Bancel said he thinks there will be a “material drop.”
“I just don’t know how much because we need to wait for the data,” he said. “But all the scientists I’ve talked to… are like ‘this is not going to be good.”
Bancel said the current vaccines will likely need to be modified, due to the high number of mutations to the spike protein in the Omicron variant.
What’s more, on Monday, Bancel told CNBC that it could be “months” before the company develops and ships a vaccine that specifically targets the Omicron variant.
He told the outlet it will take at least two weeks to determine how much the Omicron mutations have impacted the vaccine’s efficacy.
Meanwhile, BioNTech’s chief executive told Reuters the company’s COVID-19 vaccine manufactured with pharmaceutical giant Pfizer, will likely offer strong protection against the Omicron variant.
Ugur Sahin told the outlet that “it’s likely that people will have substantial protection against severe disease caused by Omicron.”
He said, in the next two weeks, lab tests will analyze the blood of people who have received two or three doses of the Comirnaty vaccine to determine if new vaccines are required.
He said BioNTech is working to upgrade the vaccine, but added that they are not sure it will be necessary.
Sahin said he doesn’t think there is a reason to be “particularly worried.”
“The only thing that worries me at the moment is the fact that there are people that have not been vaccinated at all,” he told Reuters.
In a statement on Tuesday, the University of Oxford, which developed the Vaxzevria COVID-19 vaccine alongside AstraZeneca, said there was no evidence that the shot would not prevent severe disease from the Omicron variant.
The University said it has the “necessary tools and processes in place” for “rapid development of an updated COVID-19 vaccine” if necessary.
In a statement issued on Monday, Johnson & Johnson said it has been “closely monitoring newly emerging COVID-19 variants” and has been “evaluating the effectiveness of its COVID-19 vaccine across variants” including Omicron.
“The company is testing blood serum from participants in completed and ongoing booster studies to look for neutralizing activity against the Omicron variant,” the release reads.
Johnson & Johnson said the company is also “pursuing” an Omicron-specific vaccine and will “progress it as needed.”
Speaking at a press conference on Friday, Canada’s Chief Public Health Officer Dr. Theresa Tam, said the Omicron variant is “unusual” because it has a high number of mutations in two key areas of the virus’s spike protein.
“One area of mutations is in the spike receptor binding domain,” she said. “Where the virus attaches itself and invades our cells.”
She said this could signify a “potential for increased transmissibility of the virus.”
The other area of mutation is in the antigenic supersite, Tam said, “because it is a target for our body’s defensive or neutralizing antibodies.”
“Due to the potential for increased transmissibility and the possibility of increased resistance to vaccine induced protection, we’re concerned about this new variant and are closely monitoring the evolving situation,” she told reporters.
The variant was first reported in South Africa. On Friday, Canada implemented a travel ban, barring foreign travellers from seven countries in southern Africa in a bid to stave off cases of Omicron.
Two days later, on Sunday, the first cases of the Omicron variant were detected in Ontario.
With files from Reuters
A wildfire evacuation alert for some Fort McMurray residents has been updated to a two-hour evacuation notice.
Saskatchewan RCMP are set to provide an update on what the service calls a 'significant' sexual assault and internet child exploitation investigation.
Canadian LifeLabs customers who filed an application for a class-action settlement began receiving their payments this week, though at a much lower amount than initially expected.
Nobel laureate Alice Munro, the Canadian literary giant who became one of the world's most esteemed contemporary authors and one of history's most honoured short story writers, has died at age 92.
Wildfires have led Environment Canada to issue air quality advisories for parts of B.C., Alberta, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and the Northwest Territories, as forecasters warn the smoke could drift farther east.
An American accused of sexually assaulting a Pennsylvania college student in 2013 and later sending her a Facebook message that said, 'So I raped you,' has been detained in France after a three-year search.
The annual list of Canada's top restaurants in the country was just released and here are the places that made the 2024 cut.
Ontario Provincial Police are responding to a fatal collision involving two vehicles on Highway 417 in Ottawa's west end on Tuesday morning.
The Israeli flag is flying at Ottawa City Hall today to mark the country's national day, with plans to hold a private ceremony to mark Israel's Independence Day. There is a significant police presence at City Hall, including security barriers outside the main doors.
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.
YES Theatre Young Company opened its acclaimed kids’ show, One Small Step, at Sudbury Theatre Centre on Saturday.
An Ottawa pizzeria is being recognized as one of the top 20 deep-dish pizzas in the world.
A family of fifth generation farmers from Ituna, Sask. are trying to find answers after discovering several strange objects lying on their land.
A Listowel, Ont. man, drafted by the Hamilton Tigercats last week, is also getting looks from the NFL, despite only playing 27 games of football in his life.
The threat of zebra mussels has prompted the federal government to temporarily ban watercraft from a Manitoba lake popular with tourists.