More than 15,000 Canadians have now died of COVID-19. The death toll reached 15,001 this morning as Quebec reported another 2,265 infections and 37 deaths. But it is likely higher than that because Ontario did not report its latest numbers today. Quebec has reported 8,060 deaths since the start of the pandemic. The rollout of vaccines is continuing across the country, with doses of the Moderna shots due to be delivered in Yukon, the Northwest Territories and Nunuvut today.

Citizen journalist Zhang Zhan, who was detained in May for her live stream reporting from Wuhan over COVID-19, has been sentenced to four years of imprisonment on Monday, Hong Kong Free Press (HKFP) reported.She has been convicted of "picking quarrels and provoking trouble" for her reporting in the chaotic initial stages of the outbreak. Dozens of her supporters and diplomats gathered outside Shanghai Pudong New District People's Court on Monday morning before the trial began, according to HKFP. The police, however, pushed journalists and observers away from the entrance. The New York Times re

A huge study of the Novavax COVID-19 vaccine candidate is getting underway in the US today. This is the fifth drug to reach final-stage testing south of the border. About 30,000 volunteers are needed to prove if this vaccine, which is a different kind than its Pfizer and Moderna competitors, really works and is safe. "If you want to have enough vaccine to vaccinate all the people in the U.S. who you'd like to vaccinate, up to 85% or more of the population, you're going to need more than two companies,'' Dr. Anthony Fauci, the top U.S. infectious disease expert, told The Associated Press.The N

British Columbia health officials are reporting the province's first knowncase of the U.K. COVID-19 variant. The affected individual returned from the U.K. on Dec. 15 to their home in the Island Health authority. The person tested positive four days later after developing symptoms during their quarantine. Health Minister Adrian Dix and provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry say in a joint statement that the variant strain was detected through testing by the B.C. Centre for Disease Control. They say it's important to note that although the U.K. variant can spread faster, there's no ind

Representatives of around 25 farmer organisations on Monday gave a memorandum to Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar in support of the new farm laws.Today representatives from different farmers organizations from all over the country gave memorandum in support of the new farm bills and said these are in the interest of farmers and should not be taken back. They also thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The farmer delegations met Tomar to convey support for the laws ahead of the next round of talks between the government and protesting farmers on December 30.The protesting farmers

In the ongoing farmers' protest against the new agri reform laws, volunteers are serving food to farmers in the large numbers at the Singhu border. The farmers' agitation has entered the second month. Adamant protesting farmers are still settled in and around Delhi border areas, despite severe cold.The farmers mainly from Punjab and Haryana are against the new farm laws. Centre's likely to hold sixth round of talks with the farmer unions soon.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says the first doses of Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine have landed in Canada. He tweeted the news with a photo of border agents watching workers preparing to unload a Federal Express cargo plane. Health Canada authorized the use of the vaccine just yesterday, making it the second vaccine to receive the regulator's approval after the Pfizer-BioNtech offering was approved on Dec. 9. Moderna is expected to deliver 168,000 doses by the end of next week. The federal government has ordered 40 million doses overall from Moderna, enough to vaccinate 20 million Canadians. Whi

California eclipsed two-million COVID-19 cases today as the US heads into a holiday season of travel and family gatherings that threaten to fuel the pandemic. It took 292 days for California to get to one-million confirmed infections. The next million were reported over a period of 44 days. Despite warnings from public health experts to stay home, more than 1.19 million travellers passed through US airport security checkpoints yesterday. COVID-19 has killed more than 327,000 Americans, at a rate of 3,000 per day for the past two weeks.

Both Quebec and Ontario set new records today for COVID-19 infections. Quebec reported 2,349 new cases and Ontario reported 2,447 cases. Ontario Premier Doug Ford sent out a tweet urging everyone to go out only if it's necessary, even before the entire province goes into lockdown on Saturday. Quebec is closing all non-essential businesses from tomorrow through January 11th. And Alberta is banning indoor and outdoor social gatherings in the face of rising infections and hospitalizations.