American pharmaceutical giant Johnson and Johnson says its vaccine is very good at preventing people from being hospitalized or dying from COVID-19.The vaccine is the first to use just a single dose and can be stored in a fridge for up to three months, making it a potential game changer in the COVID-19 vaccination campaign.The results aren't quite as good as those seen in the two vaccines Health Canada has already approved, with both Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna saying their vaccines showed 95 per cent efficacy against severe illness.Johnson and Johnson says it's single-dose vaccine is 85 per

Fashion mogul Peter Nygard's lawyers have told a judge they've hired a security company that will ensure their client follows rules for release if he is granted bail. The 79 year old was arrested last month in Winnipeg under the Extradition Act and is facing nine charges of sex trafficking and racketeering in the United States. Federal lawyers want Nygard to remain in custody and want to know how he'll pay for the security firm if his finances are in dire straits, as he has suggested. Peter Nygard will remain in jail for another week, despite his lawyers laying out an updated bail plan. Just

Preliminary lab tests suggest Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine produced a weaker immune response to the South African variant of the virus. So out of an abundance of caution, Moderna will test a possible booster dose against it. Vaccine manufacturers have been testing their shots against variants, including two that first emerged in Britain and South Africa. Pfizer has previously reported that its shot appears effective against the strain from Britain. Although some other research has raised questions about the vaccine's effectiveness on South African variant.

Someone hit it very big in a hard-luck Appalachian coal-mining community, where a jackpot-winning Powerball ticket worth $731 million was sold this week. The Maryland Lottery says the fifth-largest lottery prize in U.S. history was won by someone who bought a ticket at Coney Market in Lonaconing. That's in a remote corner of Maryland where jobs are few and poverty runs deep. Maryland is a state that allows lottery winners to remain anonymous. Shop owner Richard Ravenscroft told The Associated Press he hopes whoever won it will use it wisely and enable others to benefit as well.

President Joe Biden has signed a series of executive orders from the Oval Office hours after his inauguration. Biden wore a mask while seated behind the Resolute Desk with a stack of orders early Wednesday evening. He said there was "no time to start like today." The first order Biden signed was related to the coronavirus pandemic. He also signed an order reentering the U.S. into the Paris climate accord. While his predecessor Donald Trump broke long-standing practice by skipping Biden's inauguration, he did follow through on one tradition and left behind a letter for Biden. The new Democrati

People in a tiny Indian village surrounded by rice paddies have flocked to a Hindu temple, burst crackers and uttered prayers in celebration. Locals lit diyas at native village of Kamala Harris' mother in Thulasendrapuram on the day of her swearing-in ceremony for US Vice Presidential post. They watched on television as village descendant Kamala Harris took the oath to become US vice president. Harris' maternal grandfather was born in the village near the southern coastal city of Chennai. Harris, who is also Black, has often talked about her South Asian roots. Harris entered her new office bui

Kamala Harris has been sworn in as the nation's first female vice-president. The former U.S. senator from California is also the first Black person and the first person of South Asian descent elected to the vice presidency and becomes the highest-ranking woman ever to serve in government. She was sworn in Wednesday by Justice Sonia Sotomayor, the first Latina to serve on the Supreme Court. Vice-President Mike Pence, standing in for President Donald Trump, was sitting nearby as Lady Gaga sang the national anthem accompanied by the U.S. Marine Corps band. Multiple glass ceilings shattered in W

Joe Biden has officially become the 46th president of the United States. Biden took the oath of office just before noon Wednesday during a ceremony at the U.S. Capitol. The presidential oath was administered by U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts. President Joe Biden says ``democracy has prevailed'' in a country reeling amid a pandemic and a violent melee two weeks ago at the U.S. Capitol. In his first remarks as president, Biden said Wednesday that his swearing-in marks a day of ``history and hope.'' Biden said in his inaugural address that the country has ``learned again that dem

Before he boarded Air Force One this morning for Florida, Donald Trump claimed his administration laid the foundation for the incoming one.He did not mention Joe Biden by name, but told a small crowd of family members and supporters that he thinks the new administration has the foundation to do something really spectacular.He made brief farewell remarks at Maryland's Joint Base Andrews before he boarded Air Force One for a flight to his Florida home.Trump said he'll be watching from a distance and promised he will be back -- quote -- ``in some form.''He did follow one presidential tradition a