Coronavirus Update: What you need to know about the AstraZeneca vaccine

Good evening,

Join the Globe’s health columnist André Picard and deputy national editor Nicole MacIntyre for a Facebook Live discussion on COVID-19 vaccines on Thursday, April 1 at 2 p.m. Send us your questions. Get a reminder on Facebook.

Here are the coronavirus updates you need to know tonight.

Top headlines:

1. Canada’s National Advisory Committee on Immunization recommended pausing AstraZeneca’s vaccine for people under the age of 55. Here’s what you need to know
2. A nearly 50-50 split of public/private investment in an influenza vaccine manufacturing facility in Toronto will ensure Canada has the capability to produce enough doses for the entire population, according to a government official
3. Alberta is warning that the province is seeing cases of COVID-19 transmission outside – believed to be driven by the variants

In the last 7 days, 35,747 cases were reported, up 32 per cent from the previous 7 days. There were 200 deaths announced, down 2 per cent over the same period. At least 2,433 people are being treated in hospitals and 911,296 others are considered recovered.

Canada’s inoculation rate is 34th among 84 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 • Vaccine distribution plan • Four vaccines approved in Canada • Essential resources

Photo of the day

Coronavirus in Canada

• Ontario Premier Doug Ford said he will make an announcement tomorrow about changes to COVID-19 restrictions as the number of people in intensive care in the province hit a new high.
• Outdoor transmission of COVID-19, believed to be driven by variants, is increasing in Alberta, the province’s top doctor said.
• Families involved in a lawsuit against Residence Herron, a Montreal-area long-term care home in Quebec, reached a $5.5-million settlement. Meanwhile, a Quebec City gym allegedly linked to 68 infections was ordered closed.
• New Brunswick Premier Blaine Higgs received his first dose of the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine today.
• In B.C., a health inspection report obtained by The Globe investigating one of the province’s most deadly outbreaks said staff shortages and poor infection control were to blame for the COVID-19 outbreak that killed 41 seniors at Vancouver’s Little Mountain Place.

In Ottawa, the federal government announced an almost billion-dollar investment to build an “end-to-end” influenza vaccine manufacturing facility. Funding for the project will be split almost 50-50 between Ottawa, Ontario and pharmaceutical giant Sanofi.

• The project will ensure that Canada has an operational domestic vaccine manufacturing plant by 2026 that can make enough vaccines for the entire population within about six months of the World Health Organization identifying a pandemic flu strain, the federal government said Wednesday.
• Sanofi will spend $455-million on the facility, the federal government is pledging $415-million and Ontario will kick-in $50-million. The facility will be used to make Sanofi’s Fluzone vaccine, a high-dose quadrivalent influenza shot.

COVID-19 vaccines

• Five million doses of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine are set to arrive in Canada earlier than expected this spring. Canada is now expecting to receive at least 44 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines by the end of June, up from the 36.5 million projected earlier.
• Why has Canada paused use of the AstraZeneca vaccine for people under the age of 55? Here’s what you need to know if you’re offered the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine.
• Pfizer said today its COVID-19 vaccine is safe and strongly protective in kids as young as 12.

Coronavirus around the world

• The President of France, Emmanuel Macron, ordered schools to close for three weeks and widened COVID-19 restrictions to cover the entire country as a third wave threatens to overwhelm hospitals.
• U.S. private employers hired a high number of staff in March as more Americans got vaccinated against COVID-19.
• China didn’t withhold data from the World Health Organization’s coronavirus origins investigation, a top Chinese medical expert said in response to a WHO report.

Coronavirus and business

Canada’s real gross domestic product rose 0.7 per cent in January, outrunning a previous estimate of 0.5 per cent, Statistics Canada said today.

• That leaves economic activity about 2.6 per cent lower than it was pre-pandemic. A further 0.5-per-cent expansion is estimated for February.

Also today: Canada’s Parliamentary Budget Officer projected a federal deficit of $363.4-billion, and questioned the need for $100-billion stimulus.

And: The World Trade Organization has raised its 2021 global trade growth outlook, but says COVID-19 remains a risk.

Globe opinion

• André Picard: In both Canada and Australia, elders have disproportionately suffered the most during the COVID-19 pandemic.
• The Editorial Board: AstraZeneca is safe. There’s never been a blood-clot case linked to the vaccine in Canada – and, now that the risk has been identified, anyone who develops symptoms can be safely treated.
• Gary Mason: The whole gig-economy business model relies on scaling up massive fleets of “independent contractors,” which firms like Uber and Lyft argue is the only way they can remain profitable while offering their services at the rates they do. Or so they want us to believe.
• Ubaka Ogbogu and Lorian Hardcastle: Many countries – including Canada – have acquired vaccine supplies that far exceed their needs and without consideration of global demand trends relative to available supply.
• Barry Hertz: During the pandemic, when it comes to figuring out how, when, and where to watch new movies, Canadians have every right to feel frustrated.
• Rob Carrick: If home ownership is the virtue so many Canadians believe it to be, then taking a hit to let the younger generation in seems a patriotic thing to do.

More reporting

• RioCan’s new CEO is betting on a big-city comeback in Toronto
• One economist says he does not see a Canadian household debt crisis in the near term despite the current real estate frenzy
• Vaccine mistrust and concern about accepting vaccines was part of the general Canadian population’s response to routine immunization well before COVID-19
• The flu season was almost non-existent this year

Information centre

• How well do vaccines work? Here’s what you need to know.
• Rob Carrick’s 10-point checklist of things you should have done by now to protect or improve your money situation. Tips for minimizing damage to your credit score; how to manage retirement anxiety during difficult times; and things to think about if you’re considering home delivery.
• Here are the expectations for self-isolation; tips for managing anxiety and protecting your mental health; and what to do if you think you have the virus. Wash your hands. How to break a bad habit (like touching your face). Is flying safe?
• The best foods to eat to maintain an immune system-friendly diet; and how to keep a healthy diet while working from home; four eating tips when working from home; and five mistakes that might cause you to gain unwanted weight. Here are the essentials to stock up on and how to shop safely for groceries; the best pantry staples and how to stop stress-eating.
• Find answers to your coronavirus and employment questions.

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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