Cases of COVID-19 variants on the rise in Canada, fuelling concerns over third wave

Cases of COVID-19 variants are on the rise, with Alberta, Ontario, British Columbia and Quebec reporting the highest numbers of the new, more contagious strains.

Chief public health officer Doctor Theresa Tam says there have been more than 5,100 confirmed variant cases, the majority involving the strain first identified in the United Kingdom.

The majority of those cases involve the B.1.1.7 variant first identified in the United Kingdom, which Tam says is responsible for 638 of the 655 cases of variants confirmed since March 18.

The growing number is prompting concerns of a third wave of the pandemic, even as vaccination programs ramp up across Canada.

The majority of those cases involve the B.1.1.7 variant first identified in the United Kingdom, which Tam says is responsible for 638 of the 655 cases of variants confirmed since March 18.

Nearly 1.2 million doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine are set to arrive this week, alongside 846-thousand shots from Moderna.