Good afternoon, the coronavirus newsletter will be paused on Friday for Canada Day, and will return to your inbox Monday.
Top headlines:
- Health officials in Canada are bracing for a wave of COVID-19 this summer, and are urging those behind on their boosters to catch up now
- The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is asking vaccine manufacturers to change the formula of their booster shots to combat the dominant Omicron BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants
An increasing number of health agencies have changed how they’re reporting data on the coronavirus. A look at the current numbers in Canada for reported cases, deaths from COVID-19 and for hospitalizations can be found here.
COVID-19 updates from Canada and the world
- Canada’s chief public health officer Theresa Tam says a rise in COVID-19 cases is likely in the coming weeks, and encouraged Canadians who are eligible for boosters to get caught up now. Tam is also warning of a possible COVID-19 resurgence in the fall and winter, and says new guidance on a fall booster program should help reduce strain on the health-care system.
- The National Advisory Committee on Immunization advised jurisdictions to prepare to offer another round of shots to people at increased risk of severe COVID-19 illness, regardless of the number of booster doses they’ve already received. The committee also recommended that boosters be offered to individuals from 12 to 64 years of age regardless of the number of booster doses they have previously received.
- The federal government will extend current coronavirus measures for travellers entering Canada, including the use of the ArriveCan app, until at least Sept. 30, according to a release from the Public Health Agency of Canada yesterday.
- Conservative leadership candidate Pierre Poilievre joined the final leg of a march against COVID-19 vaccine requirements in Ottawa Thursday. The march signals a new round of protests starting Canada Day in the capital – setting residents on edge.
- The Université Laval faculty union in Quebec says it has filed a grievance over the suspension of Patrick Provost, a professor in the university’s department of microbiology and immunology, who says he was suspended for eight weeks for comments he made criticizing COVID-19 vaccines.
- The U.S. Food and Drug Administration recommended COVID-19 vaccine manufacturers change the design of their booster shots to include components tailored to combat the currently dominant Omicron BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants of the coronavirus.
- Shanghai is moving to allow in-person dining and reopening its Disney Resort theme park as COVID-19 cases in China’s largest city drop.
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Pandemic recovery
- Air Canada says it’s cancelling 154 flights per day in July and August, or 15 per cent of its schedule, due to “unprecedented strains.” Likewise, WestJet says it dropped 32 per cent of its flights out of Toronto Pearson Airport compared to 2019. As travellers returned to the skies in 2022 after two years of the COVID-19 pandemic, the world’s airline infrastructure struggled to keep up. Travellers to Toronto’s Pearson airport have fared poorly, with massive lineups at check-in, security and customs.
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More reading
- Calgary Stampede receives more than $10-million from Ottawa to aid recovery from COVID-19 pandemic
- Elmo got a COVID-19 vaccine yesterday, according to Sesame Workshop, the non-profit educational organization behind Sesame Street
Information centre
- Everything you need to know about Canada’s travel rules for vaccinated and unvaccinated people
- When will COVID-19 be endemic? The four factors that will shape the virus’s future
- Wastewater is filling the COVID-19 data gap
Thank you for subscribing to our Coronavirus Update Newsletter. As the pandemic eases, we plan to wind this down and eventually cease sending, but have many other newsletters to keep you informed, including Globe Climate, Carrick on Money and Breaking News.
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