Expert warns of food consumption habits amid rising prices
A new survey by Dalhousie University's Agri-Food Analytics Lab asked Canadians about their food consumption habits amid rising prices.
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 new survey by Dalhousie University's Agri-Food Analytics Lab asked Canadians about their food consumption habits amid rising prices.
Royal commentator Afua Hagan writes that when King Charles recently admitted Catherine to the Order of the Companions of Honour, it not only made history, but it reinforced the strong bond between the King and his beloved daughter-in-law.
Charlie Woods failed to advance in a U.S. Open local qualifying event Thursday, shooting a 9-over 81 at Legacy Golf & Tennis Club.
When it comes to cardiovascular fitness, you may tend to focus on activities that move you forward, such as walking, running and cycling.
Ashley Dickey and her mother rented part of the same Coquitlam duplex in three different decades under three different landlords.
A man who fell into a crevasse while leading a backcountry ski group deep in the Canadian Rockies has died.
MPP Sarah Jama was asked to leave the Legislative Assembly of Ontario by House Speaker Ted Arnott on Thursday for wearing a keffiyeh, a garment which has been banned at Queen’s Park.
After Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the federal government would still send Canada Carbon Rebate cheques to Saskatchewan residents, despite Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe's decision to stop collecting the carbon tax on natural gas or home heating, questions were raised about whether other provinces would follow suit. CTV News reached out across the country and here's what we found out.
As Donald Trump was running for president in 2016, his old friend at the National Enquirer was scooping up potentially damaging stories about the candidate and paying out tens of thousands of dollars to keep them from the public eye.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
A property tax bill is perplexing a small townhouse community in Fergus, Ont.
When identical twin sisters Kim and Michelle Krezonoski were invited to compete against some of the world’s most elite female runners at last week’s Boston Marathon, they were in disbelief.
The giant stone statues guarding the Lions Gate Bridge have been dressed in custom Vancouver Canucks jerseys as the NHL playoffs get underway.
A local Oilers fan is hoping to see his team cut through the postseason, so he can cut his hair.
A family from Laval, Que. is looking for answers... and their father's body. He died on vacation in Cuba and authorities sent someone else's body back to Canada.
A former educational assistant is calling attention to the rising violence in Alberta's classrooms.
The federal government says its plan to increase taxes on capital gains is aimed at wealthy Canadians to achieve “tax fairness.”
At 6'8" and 350 pounds, there is nothing typical about UBC offensive lineman Giovanni Manu, who was born in Tonga and went to high school in Pitt Meadows.