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Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Friday that Canada is getting millions of doses of Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine ahead of schedule, boosting the country’s vaccination drive as some provinces prepare for a wider reopening.
Speaking from Rideau Cottage in Ottawa, Trudeau said millions of doses will arrive this month that were supposed to appear over the summer.
The country is expected to top vaccine delivery targets again this quarter, according to the prime minister. By the end of June, more than 50 million vaccine doses will have arrived in total, and by the end of July, the total will have reached 68 million doses.
Trudeau also said more help is on the way to Cashchuan First Nation, which is currently dealing with the COVID-19 outbreak.
Canadian rangers, nurses and paramedics have already been dispatched to First Nation in northern Ontario, where nearly 200 people have contracted COVID-19. Officials said more than half of those infected were under 12 years old.
“Besides the community, they have worked very hard to keep people safe, but even so, cases are still very high,” Trudeau said. “That’s why we are agreeing to additional support from the Canadian Armed Forces for the First Nation of Kashchuan.”
Trudeau said the military would remain there “at least until the end of the month.”
At the same time AlbertaAll public health restrictions related to the novel coronavirus will be lifted On Canada Day, Prime Minister Jason Kenney announced Friday, the province prepares to enter the final phase of its COVID-19 reopening plan.
The vaccine threshold required for the final phase of the province’s three-step reopening plan was met Thursday, when more than 70 percent of eligible Albertans received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.
“Finally we have the upper hand on this virus and we can safely open our county,” Kenney said. “This is amazing progress and evidence of vaccines…and the efforts of millions of Albertans.”
The county reported 124 new cases and three related deaths on Friday.
— From The Canadian Press and CBC News, last updated at 5:50 p.m. ET
What’s happening all over Canada
As of 6:20 p.m. ET on Friday, Canada had reported 1,407,269 confirmed cases of COVID-19, with 12,797 considered active. CBC News’ death toll was 26,023. More than 31.2 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine have been administered so far across the country, according to the CBC Vaccine Tracker.
Ontario Friday passed a major vaccination benchmark to reopen with 345 new cases of COVID-19 and one new death.
The county reported that 210,638 rounds were fired Thursday, the most ever in a single day. More than 20 percent of adults now have two shots — one of the primary criteria the county has set for progressing to the next stage of reopening.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Doug Ford will be reinstated as Minister who resigned last year After violating the epidemiological travel guidelines.
Rod Phillips, who left his post as finance minister after traveling to St Barts for a Caribbean vacation in December, is back in the Cabinet as the new Minister for Long-Term Care. Phillips will replace Dr. Merrill Fullerton, who will become Minister for Children, Community and Social Services.
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in Atlantic Canada, Nova Scotia It reported 11 new cases on Friday, while new Brunswick Three new cases were reported and Newfoundland and labrador Report any new cases. Prince Edward Island Updated numbers are not yet provided.
in the north, Nunavut No new cases are reported on Friday. Yukon and the Northwest Territories Updated numbers are not yet provided.
Quebec On Friday, 127 new cases and two new deaths were recorded.
Manitoba I mentioned on Friday 189 new cases of covid-19 virus and four related deaths, as some doctors in the province urged Prime Minister Brian Pallister’s government to back off plans to reopen the economy on July 1 so that COVID-19 numbers fall much more.
A group of 11 doctors wrote to the Progressive Conservative government to say the county does not take into account the delta variable. Dr. Dan Roberts, a critical care specialist, said it was “completely irrational” to ease restrictions on the county’s current daily case count and test positivity rates.
Saskatchewan It reported 98 new cases and one related death on Friday. The county is set to move to Step 2 of its reopening strategy on Sunday, which means retail and personal care businesses will have no capacity limits, although employees and customers must stay two meters apart.
British Columbia mentioned 109 new cases and one related death on Friday.
— From CBC News and The Canadian Press, last updated at 6:20 p.m. ET
What is happening around the world
As of Friday evening, a database of COVID-19 cases showed more than 177.5 million cases reported worldwide. The Johns Hopkins University tracker The reported global death toll has been estimated at more than 3.8 million.
In the AmericasUS President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris urged Americans to get their COVID-19 shots on Friday, as the country likely misses White House vaccination targets next month.
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“Act now, act now,” Biden said in remarks at the White House, urging the unvaccinated to speak with their families and friends who had been shot.
Biden said deaths and hospitalizations are down significantly in places where people are vaccinated, but not in other areas. “They’re actually going up in some places.”
At the current pace, the United States appears unlikely to meet Biden’s goal of 70 percent of adults receiving at least one dose of the vaccine by July 4th, the Independence Day holiday. As of Friday, about 65.1 percent have had at least one shot, and that mark has increased by less than one percentage point in the past two weeks.
This pace should double over the next two weeks for the US to reach the target.
Top World Health Organization officials warned Friday of a rising number of coronavirus cases and deaths AfricaHe said that a “large number” of countries were forced to suspend the second doses of coronavirus vaccines due to lack of supplies.
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WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus noted a 52 percent rise in coronavirus cases and a 32 percent increase in deaths in Africa linked to the pandemic in the past week, “and we expect things to get worse.”
A growing number of wealthy nations have pledged to share billions of doses, but WHO officials say time is of the essence.
In the Asia Pacific RegionMore than 350 doctors and medical workers have contracted COVID-19 in Indonesia despite being vaccinated with Sinovac and dozens have been hospitalized, officials said, as concerns are growing about the effectiveness of some vaccines against infectious variants such as the delta variant first discovered in India.
Most of the workers were asymptomatic and self-isolating at home, but dozens were in hospital with a high temperature and low levels of oxygen saturation, said Badai Ismoyo, head of the Kudus district health office in Central Java.
In India, doctors protested outside hospitals on Friday as the Indian Medical Association decried incidents of attacks on health professionals and called for the health infrastructure to be intensified.
The protests come about a month after a doctor was attacked by relatives of a coronavirus patient who died in the northeastern state of Assam.
Watch | Indian doctors protest violent attacks by patients:
The Indian Medical Association said a violent attack in India by relatives of a patient who died of COVID-19 against the attending physician has focused attention on a perennial problem of threats and assaults against doctors. 1:00
In the Middle eastThe Palestinian Authority canceled an agreement under which Israel would transfer one million doses of COVID-19 vaccines to it in exchange for a similar number later this year, hours after the deal was announced on Friday.
The Palestinians said the doses, which Israel has begun shipping to the occupied West Bank, are very close to expiring and do not meet their standards. In announcing the agreement, Israel said that the vaccines “will expire soon,” without specifying a date.
There was no immediate comment from Israel, which largely shuts its doors on the weekly Sabbath.
at EuropeIn Moscow, confirmed COVID-19 cases hit a daily record on Friday with 9,056 new cases reported, nearly 30 percent more than the day before. Across Russia, 17,262 new infections were recorded on Friday, the highest daily toll since early February.
The German health minister said that the country had given the first vaccine against the Corona virus to more than half of the population. But authorities are urging people to be vigilant due to the potential for the spread of the more contagious delta variant.
— From The Associated Press and Reuters, last updated at 5:50 p.m. ET
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