By Raf Casert
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

BRUSSELS (AP) – The European Union and China on Tuesday moved closer to a political standoff over the COVID-19 crisis, with Beijing vehemently rejecting travel restrictions some EU nations have started to impose that could well be expanded in coming days. An EU offer of help, including vaccine donations, was […]

By Hina Alam
THE CANADIAN PRESS

Canada’s requirement of a negative COVID-19 test of travellers from China will not help in preventing new variants or the spread of the virus, say experts. Kerry Bowman, assistant professor at the University of Toronto’s Temerty Faculty of Medicine, called the requirement “absolutely a political move, and not based on […]

By Kelly Geraldine Malone
THE CANADIAN PRESS

A study from the C.D. Howe Institute estimates Canada would have lost $156 billion in economic activity in 2021 had COVID-19 vaccines been rolled out six months later than they were. That would have been equivalent to about 12.5 per cent of Canada’s gross domestic product. “The results show that […]

By Mike Stobbe
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

NEW YORK (AP) — The number of U.S. deaths dropped this year, but there are still more than there were before the coronavirus hit. Preliminary data — through the first 11 months of the year — indicates 2022 will see fewer deaths than the previous two COVID-19 pandemic years. Current […]

THE CANADIAN PRESS

The Ontario government began notifying about 360,000 people on Friday that their personal information had been part of a COVID-19 vaccine database breach that took place more than a year ago. The breach happened on Nov. 16, 2021 and the Ontario Provincial Police charged two people, including an employee of […]

By Laura Osman
THE CANADIAN PRESS

OTTAWA – Health Canada approved a COVID-19 vaccine booster for children on Friday that targets more recent variants of the coronavirus, along with the original strain. The Pfizer-BioNTech “bivalent” shot protects against the most prevalent subvariants of Omicron, BA.4 and BA.5, and is the first approved for use in children […]

THE CANADIAN PRESS

Ontario will allow pharmacists to prescribe an antiviral drug used to reduce severe outcomes from COVID-19.  The government says starting Dec. 12 pharmacists will be able to prescribe Paxlovid to eligible people at no cost both in person and virtually.  Health Minister Sylvia Jones made the announcement this morning at […]

By Maria Cheng
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

The coronavirus pandemic interrupted efforts to control malaria, resulting in 63,000 additional deaths and 13 million more infections globally over two years, according to a report from the World Health Organization published Thursday. Cases of the parasitic disease went up in 2020 and continued to climb in 2021, though at […]

By Nojoud Al Mallees
THE CANADIAN PRESS

Canada’s auditor general says COVID-19 benefits were delivered quickly and helped mitigate economic suffering, however, the federal government hasn’t done enough to recover overpayments.   In a new report looking into the federal government’s delivery of pandemic benefits, Karen Hogan said the programs provided relief to workers and employers affected […]