Feb. 14: A variant of concern has now been identified in all 10 provinces, just as Canada’s top doctor warned yet again of the dangers of lifting public-health restrictions at this stage of the pandemic
Feb. 11: While Ottawa faces problems in getting steady supplies of the existing international Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines, the Manitoba government has signed a deal with Canadian company Providence Therapeutics
Alberta, two members of Premier Jason Kenney’s caucus have joined a national coalition against lockdowns.
Pandemic warning: An independent panel commissioned by the World Health Organization to investigate the failures of the global response to COVID-19 is calling for better circuit breaker systems, similar to Canada’s Global Public Health Intelligence Network, which was curtailed just before the COVID-19 pandemic.
COVID-19 vaccines: Ottawa says the vaccine-tracking system it acquired from Deloitte is up and running, but has yet to release details of the system, such as what gaps it will address, in Canada’s inconsistent vaccine-tracking protocols.
Coronavirus around the world
Mark Lennihan/The Associated Press
Coronavirus in Canada
Last May,
B.C. announced front-line workers would receive a “financial boost” of $4 an hour during the first four months of the pandemic. Months later, some workers are still waiting. Meanwhile, the province is aiming to increase its capacity to screen new COVID-19-positive samples for variants. Also in B.C., the province’s ombudsperson is calling for fair and consistent policy on long-term care visits.
Ontario announced plans for a gradual easing of its COVID-19 restrictions while maintaining shutdowns in Toronto and other hot spots for another two weeks.
In
Quebec, there were