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“Its very unlikely that the current vaccine won’t be effective on the variants whether in Kent or other variants especially when it comes to severe illness and hospitalization,” Zahawi told Sky News.
“All manufacturers, Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, Oxford-AstraZeneca and others, are looking at how they can improve their vaccine to make sure that we are ready for any variant – there are about 4,000 variants around the world of COVID now.”
– Reuters
Thursday, 12:30 p.m. – Canada sees 30 per cent drop in active cases
The Public Health Agency of Canada says there’s been nearly a 30-per-cent drop in active COVID-19 cases across the country over the past two weeks.
The agency says there are currently 48,221 active cases in Canada, down from more than 68,400 cases two weeks ago.
National data suggest there’s also been a downward trend in daily case counts, with an average of 4,061 new infections reported per day over the past week.
Authorities say the slowdown has led to a gradual decline in severe COVID-19 outcomes, as provincial and territorial data show a seven-day average of 3,711 patients being treated in hospital each day.
– The Canadian Press
Thursday, 10 a.m. – COVID-19: Masks now mandatory for all middle and secondary students at B.C. schools
All middle and secondary students will now be required to wear non-medical masks in all indoor areas, the B.C. government announced Thursday.
All staff, from Kindergarten to Grade 12, will also have to wear masks but elementary school students will still have the choice whether to wear one in class.
