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Doctors are urging provincial governments to speed up COVID-19 vaccine campaigns and are warning that slow rollouts across the country could hurt efforts to save lives in nursing homes and stay ahead of more transmissible variants of the coronavirus.
No province has administered more than 50 per cent of the doses it has received so far, according to government figures compiled by the COVID-19 Canada Open Data Working Group.
Despite being one of the first countries to start authorizing vaccines, Canada trails Israel, Britain, the United States and Germany, which have all inoculated a larger share of their populations than Canada.
Read more:
André Picard: Where’s the urgency in Canada’s vaccine rollout?
COVID-19 testing rates in some provinces dropped in late December, raising concerns
A healthcare worker administers the second dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine to personal support worker Anita Quidangen, who is the first person in Ontario to receive both doses, at The Michener Institute, in Toronto, Canada January 4, 2021. REUTERS/Carlos OsorioCARLOS OSORIO/Reuters
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Ontario rejects extension for probe into LTC homes after commission blames province for ‘significant delays’
An independent commission examining the impact of the pandemic on long-term care homes in Ontario says it is facing “significant delays” from the provincial government in getting information that is crucial to its investigation.
The government has also rejected the commission’s request for an eight-month extension to complete its work.
Ontario reported yesterday that a record 219 long-term care homes have active outbreaks of COVID-19, accounting for 35 per cent of the sector. Since the onset of the pandemic, 2,795 nursing-home residents have died of the virus.
Jason Kenney reverses course on holiday travel as minister, top aide resign
Alberta Premier Jason Kenney reversed course yesterday and announced the resignation of his chief of staff and municipal affairs minister along with demotions to five other MLAs for travelling abroad during the holidays against public-health warnings.
Last week, Kenney said it would be unfair to punish caucus members for travelling because travel was not illegal and could be done safely.
The resignations happened amid more revelations about politicians who went abroad despite travel advisories from federal and provincial governments.
Read more:
Alberta mother angry over travel scandal after Make-A-Wish trip postponed for sick son
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ALSO ON OUR RADAR
British judge rejects U.S. request to extradite WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange: A British judge has thrown U.S. prosecutors’ efforts to put Julian Assange on trial into disarray by blocking his extradition to the United States to face a host of criminal charges, including espionage.
Suncor takes $425-million impairment charge on White Rose project in Newfoundland: The future of the West White Rose oil expansion off the shore of Newfoundland and Labrador remains in jeopardy, Suncor Energy Inc. said yesterday as it announced it would take a $425-million impairment on the project and the field in which it is located.
U.K. scientists worried COVID-19 vaccines may not work on South African variant: British scientists expressed concern yesterday that COVID-19 vaccines being rolled out in Britain may not be able to protect against a new variant of the novel coronavirus that emerged in South Africa and has spread internationally.
Tim Hortons launches new dark roast coffee: Tim Hortons is hoping the third time’s a charm as it rolls out its latest iteration of a dark roast coffee this week, a key part of the chain’s back-to-basics plan that will focus on its core offerings of coffee, doughnuts and breakfast in 2021.
Canada to play for gold after blanking Russia 5-0: Canada will play for gold at the world junior hockey championship after beating Russia 5-0 in the semifinals yesterday.
MORNING MARKETS
World shares struggled on Tuesday amid new COVID lockdowns in Europe and Senate runoff races in Georgia that will affect incoming U.S. President Joe Biden’s ability to pursue his preferred economic policies. Wall Street suffered its worst start to a year since 2016 on Monday and with volatility gauges up, the euro up and Germany expected to follow Britain with a lockdown extension, European equities were under pressure.
Markets were also watching to see whether Tuesday’s Georgia run-off election enable the Democrats to flip both U.S. Senate seats and disrupt what markets view as a delicate political balance in Washington.
WHAT EVERYONE’S TALKING ABOUT
Editorial Board: “Mr. Trump’s exit from the White House brings relief to many Canadians. But to imagine Mr. Biden as Canada’s pal, some sort of opposite of Mr. Trump, is not accurate, on climate or in general”
Lawrence Martin: “He saved his worst for last. It’s stunning that an American president’s actions could draw comparisons to a Mafia don. But in blatantly strong-arming Georgia’s top election official in a bid to change the vote count, Donald Trump has done just that, plunging to a new nadir.”
TODAY’S EDITORIAL CARTOON
Brian GableBrian Gable/The Globe and Mail
LIVING BETTER
Four food and wellness trends to watch for in 2021
The COVID-19 pandemic shifted our eating, drinking, cooking and shopping habits, and it made us focus more on our personal health. We relearned how to cook, shared meals with family and gained a new understanding of how what we eat and drink can support physical and mental health – all positive effects that will shape food trends for the year ahead. Here’s a peek at what 2021 holds in store.
MOMENT IN TIME: JAN. 5, 1967
Musician Jesse Winchester in concert, c. August 1977.Supplied
U.S. folk singer Jesse Winchester moves to Canada
Fifty-four years ago today, with American involvement in the Vietnam War escalating, a university-educated son of a serviceman and unknown Memphis-raised singer-songwriter avoided military service by moving to Montreal. The gaunt 22-year-old musician had $300 to his name and no significant affiliations with the city. After meeting Jesse Winchester in the basement of a monastery in Ottawa in 1970, Robbie Robertson of the Band produced the fledgling artist’s self-titled debut album. The country-rock LP included songs that reflected Winchester’s love of the American South and the despondency caused by leaving. The Brand New Tennessee Waltz was a lament about a woman: “I imagine that she’s back in Tennessee, and by God, I should be there too – I’ve a sadness too sad to be true.” In absentia, he became an anti-war icon in his home country while achieving a cult-level fandom and the respect of fellow songwriters for his humane, thoughtful, often-covered compositions. He became a Canadian citizen in 1973 and, although pardoned via president Jimmy Carter’s draft dodger amnesty in 1977, he would not return to the United States to live until 2002. He had finally made it back to Tennessee. Brad Wheeler
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