A federal audit says the Trudeau government was able to get desperately needed medical equipment to provinces and territories last year despite long-standing stockpile issues. Auditor General Karen Hogan says before the COVID-19 pandemic, the Public Health Agency ignored warnings that its supply of emergency medical equipment wasn't properly managed. But she says when the pressure mounted, Ottawa got the supplies to the provinces anyway. The government spent more than seven-billion dollars on medical supplies and personal protective equipment last year. The federal auditor general says the gov

Canada's vaccine milestones continue today, with the country surpassing 20 million people getting at least their first dose. Ontario reports that 135,308 people got vaccinated yesterday, 81 per cent of them receiving their first dose. Those vaccinations put Canada up to 20.05 million people vaccinated. That is about 63 per cent of eligible Canadians over the age of 12, and almost 53 per cent of everyone, including children under the age of 12 who won't become eligible to be vaccinated for several more months. Chief Public Health Officer Dr. Theresa Tam has set a marker of 75 per cent of e

Procurement Minister Anita Anand says Moderna has assured her it will deliver millions of doses of its COVID-19 vaccine next month but still hasn't confirmed the exact amount or timing of deliveries. Anand says she has been on the phone to Moderna repeatedly, including this morning, to push for an actual delivery schedule for June and July. Moderna was originally supposed to ship 12.3 million doses between April and June. Later, that figure was revised to between 10 million and 12 million doses. However the company has only shipped 3.7 million since April 1 and has no confirmed deliveries in

The Department of National Defence says a military officer is facing charges after allegedly urging other members of the Canadian Armed Forces not to help with the distribution of COVID-19 vaccines. Officer Cadet Ladislas Kenderesi has been charged with one count of persuading another person to join in a mutiny and one count of behaving in a scandalous manner unbecoming of an officer. The charges follow a speech at an anti-lockdown rally in Toronto in December in which a man appeared in full military uniform and spoke out against what he called ``killer'' vaccines. The man, who is introduced a

Today, in an effort to support India’s COVID-19 response, senior executives from FreshCo and Chalo! FreschCo presented a cheque for $50,000 to the Canadian Red Cross at the Chalo! FreshCo Brampton store on Airport Road. These funds will directly support preparedness, response and recovery activities on the ground in India, helping communities that have been affected or are at risk of being affected by the deadly virus. Today’s donation cheque was presented by Tony McGrath, VP Operations, Discount Format, Sobeys Inc., Donny Sandher, National Chalo Operations District Operator, Discount Form

Four people in Canada have now died from a rare blood-clotting event linked to the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine. The latest person was in their 50s in New Brunswick. The province's chief medical officer of health, Dr. Jennifer Russell, says the person received a first dose of AstraZeneca on April 11th. They developed blood clot symptoms 17 days later and died recently. This latest death comes as Ontario is resuming use of the vaccine, but only as a second dose. More than 2.1-million Canadians have received at least one dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine.

Canada's deputy chief medical officer says the country's COVID-19 vaccination rates have doubled in five weeks, reaching nearly 20 million doses administered to date, while daily cases continue to decline. But Dr. Howard Njoo says Canadians should take care to maintain the country's progress this Victoria Day long weekend. Njoo is urging people choose lower-risk outdoor activities and follow the public health advice of their respective jurisdictions. Daily COVID-19 cases have dropped by 25 per cent over the past seven days. Njoo says, while hospitalizations, deaths and critical-care admission

Transport Canada is extending the ban on incoming flights from India and Pakistan for another month. The flight ban that began April 22 was set to expire on Saturday. A notice posted on the Nav Canada website says the extension is ordered by Transport Minister Omar Alghabra. It says the ministry believes barring flights from those two countries for another month is necessary to protect the public. Transport Minister Omar Alghabra says it will be extended until June 21st. The ban has cut down the number of international flights arriving in Canada with at least one passenger who later tests po

Health Canada says as of May 13th, 740 fully vaccinated people have contracted COVID-19. It also says 13-thousand, 461 who had received their first dose were infected. The department says the statistics come from nine provinces that submitted data. It takes about 14 days after the first dose, and seven-days after the second dose for the immunity it confers to take effect. Health Canada says 443 people were hospitalized with COVID-19, two weeks or more after they got their first dose, and 95 people in that group died. Health Canada says 32 were hospitalized at least a week after getting their