Coronavirus Update: Health Canada expected to approve vaccines for kids age 5-11 Friday, sources say

Good evening, here are the COVID-19 updates you need to know tonight.

Top headlines:

1. Health Canada is expected to approve the use of Pfizer-BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine for kids between the ages of five and 11 tomorrow, according to sources
2. New modelling suggests that a fifth wave in Saskatchewan could be the province’s worst yet
3. Ontario to allow people with symptoms to be tested at pharmacies and plans to distribute millions of rapid tests to schoolchildren for use over the holidays

In the past seven days, 17,599 cases were reported, up 5 per cent from the previous seven days. There were 197 deaths announced, up 31 per cent over the same period. At least 1,646 people are being treated in hospitals.

Canada’s inoculation rate is 15th among countries with a population of one million or more people.

Sources: Canada data is compiled from government websites, Johns Hopkins and COVID-19 Canada Open Data Working Group; international data is from Johns Hopkins University.

Coronavirus explainers: Coronavirus in maps and charts • Tracking vaccine doses • Lockdown rules and reopening

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Coronavirus in Canada

• Details of Ontario’s winter COVID-19 testing strategy have been unveiled. The plans include testing those who are symptomatic at up to 1,300 pharmacies across the province and distributing 11 million rapid tests to schoolchildren (five tests per student) for use over the holidays. Pharmacies will also be able to distribute take-home test kits. The province is reporting 711 new COVID-19 cases today – the highest number of new daily cases since September.
• Amid criticism for transferring patients from hospitals to understaffed and poorly equipped care homes, which were devastated during the first wave of COVID-19, Quebec’s former health minister told a coroner’s inquest that the province was not transferring patients on a large scale.
• New modelling in Saskatchewan suggests a combination of winter weather with indoor socializing and waning immunity could lead to the province’s worst wave of COVID-19.

Vaccines for kids aged five to 11 are expected to be approved by Health Canada on Friday, sources told The Globe and Mail.

• The decision to approve the Pfizer-BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine for kids comes just as data from the Public Health Agency of Canada shows the incidence of COVID-19 cases is now highest among children, who have not yet been able to get vaccinated.
• The government has previously said that shipments of the vaccines will follow soon after Health Canada’s regulatory decision on the use of the shot.

‘Three Amigos’ Summit: Prime Minister Justin Trudeau joined the Three Amigos summit with U.S. President Joe Biden and Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador today. Among the topics the leaders will be discussing are trade irritants, economic co-operation and pandemic preparedness. Yesterday, Trudeau promised U.S. lawmakers that Canada is planning a three-phased approach to loosening COVID-19 testing requirements at the Canadian border.

Vaccination for parliamentarians: Beginning Monday, vaccines will be mandatory for anyone entering Parliament. The Conservatives are the only party with seats in the House that hasn’t confirmed how many of its members are fully immunized against COVID-19. Now, the Opposition House leader is encouraging his colleagues to get vaccinated.

Coronavirus around the world

• British-Swedish pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca reported that its preventative antibody treatment offered 83 per cent protection over six months
• Countries across Europe, including Greece, Germany, Slovakia and the Czech Republic are imposing more restrictions on those unvaccinated against COVID-19 following a surge in infections in recent weeks.

Coronavirus and business

The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits fell close to pre-pandemic levels last week as the labour market recovery continued.

• A report from the U.S. Labor Department on Thursday showed jobless benefits rolls declining to a 20-month low in early November.
• However, a shortage of workers remains an obstacle to faster job growth.

Also today: The art-rental market is surging as the pandemic pushes Canadians to reimagine their interior spaces

Globe opinion

• Anmol Irfan: Pandemic restrictions made me reconsider social interactions – and helped me prioritize myself

Information centre

• Everything you need to know about Canada’s travel restrictions for vaccinated and unvaccinated people
• Waiting for a second dose? We answer your COVID-19 vaccine questions
• What is and isn’t ‘paid sick leave’ in Canada? A short primer
• Got a vaccine ‘hangover’? Here’s why

Sources: Canada data are compiled from government websites, Johns Hopkins University and COVID-19 Canada Open Data Working Group; international data are from Johns Hopkins.

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