[Toronto Star]Today’s coronavirus news: Ottawa cancels CERB clawbacks for self-employed recipients; Ontario reports 1,022 more cases, 17 more deaths; Temporary layoffs at Air Canada

The latest coronavirus news from Canada and around the world Tuesday. This file will be updated throughout the day. Web links to longer stories if available.

8:45 p.m.: Two members of Alberta Premier Jason Kenney’s caucus are challenging the province’s COVID-19 economic restrictions and have joined a national coalition pushing against lockdowns.

Drew Barnes, the United Conservative legislature member for Cypress-Medicine Hat, and Angela Pitt, the deputy speaker of the house and chair of committees, say Albertans have not been given adequate evidence to justify the rules and real hardship and harm is resulting.

“Down here in Medicine Hat our mental health crisis is as big as our COVID crisis,” said Barnes in an interview Tuesday.

“Let’s give people more freedoms.”

He said the province should take a more regional approach to restrictions, as was done for a while last year.

Read the full story here: Two of Premier Kenney’s caucus members join coalition fighting COVID-19 restrictions

8:30 p.m.: British Columbia health officials say progress is being made in the efforts to push back the COVID-19 virus and get to the days of fewer restrictions in the province.

Health Minister Adrian Dix and provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry say in a joint statement Tuesday that there are 435 new cases of the virus, for a total of 4,393 active cases.

Some 241 people are in hospital, of whom 68 are in intensive care, and the remaining people with COVID-19 are recovering at home in self-isolation.

There have been four new COVID-19-related deaths, for a total of 1,263 fatalities linked to the virus, but there are no new health facility outbreaks and just one new community outbreak at the Highridge/Singh group home in Kamloops.

Dix and Henry are urging residents to keep this “positive, forward momentum” going and help keep the province safe through the small efforts they make every day.

By saving socializing and travel for another time, the statement says, B.C. residents are protecting the people they know and care for most, as well as those they may not know, such as an elderly neighbour, a grocery store clerk or front-line workers.

“Fewer cases, outbreaks or unchecked transmission is what we need to give us all a clear path forward. Let’s support each other today, this weekend and the next to help make that happen.”

8:21 p.m.: With new and more contagious variants of COVID-19 escalating in Canada, provincial governments lifting lockdown restrictions must be ready to slam them back into place at a moment’s notice, Canada’s chief public health doctor said Tuesday.

At the same time, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau took another step toward trying to keep more variants from getting into the country, with a plan to start making people arriving in Canada by land show recent negative COVID-19 tests.

Chief public health officer Dr. Theresa Tam said Canada’s COVID-19 picture is getting better, with daily case counts less than half of what they were a month ago and hospitalizations dropping.

About 100 people are still dying of COVID-19 every day but that’s down from almost 150 people a day in the last week of January.

Read the full story here: Threat from variants means provinces must be ready to lock down again quickly: Tam

8:15 p.m.: Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is urging provinces not to leave COVID-19 rapid tests languishing on their shelves while vaccinations are being administered.

Some provinces have yet to deploy the rapid tests, four million of which were delivered to them by the federal government in November.

“There’s real need for this testing,” Trudeau told a news conference on Tuesday.

“Tests must be deployed. They can’t be allowed to expire.”

After pledging again that every Canadian who wants a COVID-19 vaccination will get one by the end of September, Trudeau said rapid testing and contact tracing must be used in addition to the mass vaccination campaign underway.

So far, Canada has sent 19.6 million rapid tests to the provinces and territories, Trudeau said.

Read the full story here: Make more use of COVID-19 rapid tests, Justin Trudeau urges provinces

8:00 p.m.: The head of a health authority in British Columbia is no longer with the organization following allegations related to misspending on various items including $7 million for respirators that didn’t meet provincial standards.

Benoit Morin’s departure was announced by the Provincial Health Services Authority hours after the government released a report it commissioned into the allegations about decisions and spending.

The health authority says in a news release that Morin “left the organization” and has been replaced.

Ernst & Young says in its report that it looked into allegations of a conflict of interest due to a possible relationship between Morin and a Montreal company that sold respirators last spring.

It says some of the respirators were deemed counterfeit but findings suggested there was no pre-existing relationship between Morin or anyone at the company called Luminarie.

The report found Morin did not agree with his finance staff on whether a writeoff of about $7 million should be recorded in its financial statements for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2020.

The Health Ministry says the review also uncovered other concerns that were not directly within its scope, including the cost of renovations to executive offices and hiring and compensation decisions within Morin’s office.

“British Columbians need to have confidence in the health-care system and know that it is being funded responsibly, transparently and in their best interest,” Health Minister Adrian Dix said in a statement. “These were serious concerns, and I appreciate that they were raised to me.”

7:40 p.m.: British Columbia is reporting another 435 cases in what health officials say is progress on pushing back the COVID-19 virus.

A joint statement from provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry and Health Minister Adrian Dix says there were four more deaths, for a total of 1,263 fatalities since the pandemic started.

The statement says 155,585 doses of vaccine have been distributed and 12,802 of those are second doses.

There’s been one new community outbreak at the Highridge/Singh group home in Kamloops, within the Interior Health authority.

7:20 p.m.: Ottawa says it is footing a multi-billion-dollar bill for the provinces to buy personal protective equipment, rapid COVID-19 tests and vaccines and syringe supplies but now a senior cabinet minister is raising doubts about how long that can continue.

Procurement Minister Anita Anand told the Star’s editorial board that the COVID-19 response might become “an annual item” with “annual inoculations against COVID-19 and so our procurements need to address the possibility that we may need syringes, not to mention vaccines in the long term.”

“Now the question will arise, I am sure, as to whether the federal government will continue to carry the financial load of these procurements,” said Anand, calling the volume of various procurements over the past year “enormous.”

Read more here: Canada could be paying to fight COVID-19 for years to come, minister warns

6:56 p.m.: As Canada continue to face delays in COVID-19 vaccine shipments, Canada’s Procurement Minister Anita Anand says she knows she’s been in the “hot seat.”

“There have been three mountains to climb here,” Anand said. The first? PPE. Then came rapid testing. The third mountain is vaccines. She says the intent was to have a broad portfolio when signing multiple contracts with vaccine companies, to have “many irons in the fire” — noting they didn’t know which vaccines would be successful and when.

Vaccine news is moving fast. On Tuesday morning, Health Canada gave Pfizer-BioNTech the green light to count six doses of the COVID-19 vaccine per vial instead of five, meaning the company can ship fewer vials to Canada and still reach their deal to supply Canada with a total of 40 million.

To provide more information, Anand sat down with the Star Editorial Board to take questions from the newsroom and readers.

Questions and answers have been edited for length and clarity.

Read the full Q&A here: Canada’s procurement minister Anita Anand on being ‘in the hot seat’ on COVID vaccine delays and why she doesn’t need Trudeau to call Pfizer

6:49 p.m.: Saskatchewan’s health minister says the province has a plan for how people will be able to get vaccinated against COVID-19 and who will be among the first in line.

Paul Merriman says one detail, however, is still missing from the mass vaccination campaign: timelines.

“The ‘when’ is a little bit out of our hands right now — well, it’s not a little bit, it’s completely out of our hands,” he said during a briefing Tuesday.

Merriman said the province will use age to decide when members of the general public will get their shots against COVID-19 once it finishes inoculating the most vulnerable residents under the first phase of its immunization schedule.

He said he hopes the mass vaccination campaign begins in April. The focus will be on inoculating people with intellectual disabilities living in group homes and those in emergency shelters, as well as people with certain cancers and other medical conditions that make them vulnerable.

At the same time, officials plan for other people to get vaccinated, starting with those aged 60 to 69 and then moving into the younger generations by age decade.

Merriman said age was chosen as the deciding factor for sequencing because it’s the main risk factor for severe illness from COVID-19, and it’s also the fastest way to get vaccines into people’s arms.

“I’ve heard from all groups that are lobbying to be prioritized within the sequence and they’re all valid points,” he said.

“What we’re looking at right now is getting a large quantity of vaccines in a short amount of time, so the best way to distribute that and get it across our province as fast as possible and as safe as possible is to look at age categories.”

Residents 70 and older are eligible to be vaccinated under the current phase of the province’s vaccine rollout, and for adults living in remote northern communities, the age limit drops to 50.

Besides these two groups, shots are also presently reserved for critical health-care workers and seniors living in long-term care.

To date, the province has administered around 43,000 vaccine doses of the required 380,000 shots to immunize the most vulnerable.

Merriman said he’s relying on Ottawa’s commitment that the vaccine supply will improve to achieve the province’s goal of starting its mass vaccination campaign in April, but admitted it could be pushed back to June.

“I’ve heard from a lot of people, they want to know what’s going on, what is it going to look like, how are we going to be informed and when can we get in,” he said.

The Saskatchewan Health Authority says residents will be able to access their shots through more than 200 immunization and drive-thru clinics that will set up around the province.

It will also rely on community pharmacies.

Authority CEO Scott Livingstone said residents will also receive a paper card to say they have been inoculated against COVID-19.

“I don’t think we can talk about vaccination enough and prepare people for what’s coming.”

6:02 p.m.: New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said that roughly 10 per cent of state residents received their first dose as the state has administered more than 2.5 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine since December.

The state will be getting an additional five per cent bump in COVID-19 vaccine shipments from the federal government in the coming weeks, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced Tuesday.

Cuomo said states have made clear to federal officials that the lack of supply is the only thing hampering efforts to inoculate more people.

“We now have 10 million New Yorkers waiting on 300,000 doses,” the governor said during a call with reporters.

5:32 p.m.: Hamilton public health has declared outbreaks at a long-term-care home and a residential care facility over.

Grace Villa on the east Mountain went back into outbreak Jan. 31 after its previous outbreak — the city’s worst with 234 cases and 44 deaths — was declared over on Jan. 19.

The Lockton Crescent home had a single staff case in its latest outbreak, which ended with no deaths. Both the outbreaks at Grace Villa and residential care facility Victoria Manor were declared over as of Feb. 8.

Victoria Manor, near downtown, had 24 cases, including in 19 residents and five staff. The Martino-owned home reported no deaths in the outbreak.

5:11 p.m.: The top doctor in an Ontario region hit with deadly outbreaks driven by a COVID-19 variant says residents should still limit their movement after the province’s stay-at-home order lifts for the area next week.

The government is gradually rolling back its order as regions move to a colour-coded restrictions system in the coming days as part of a plan to reopen Ontario’s economy.

Dr. Charles Gardner, medical officer of health for Simcoe-Muskoka, said he would have preferred to see the order extended.

“I’d rather that we’d waited until it was less precarious,” he said Tuesday.

“I’m concerned that we’re losing a very effective control measure.”

4:32 p.m.: Saskatchewan says it will use age to determine who in the general public will be first in line to be vaccinated against COVID-19 once more supply becomes available.

The health ministry has released its plan for a mass vaccination campaign slated to start between April and June.

The province is currently working on immunizing those considered most at risk from the novel coronavirus, including seniors in long-term care, critical health-care workers and those over 70.

Officials say the next phase of the plan will inoculate people with intellectual disabilities in group homes and those in emergency shelters.

At the same time, it will begin giving shots to those in the general population who are 60 to 69.

4:25 p.m.: Whether it was the power of her prayers or her T-cells that did it, 116-year-old French nun Lucile Randon has survived COVID-19.

The nun, whose religious name is Sister André, is the second-oldest known living person in the world, according to the Gerontology Research Group, which validates details of people believed to be aged 110 or older.

French media report that the nun, whose religious name is Sister André, tested positive for the virus in mid-January in the southern French city of Toulon. But just three weeks later she is considered recovered. She is even healthy enough to look forward to her 117th birthday on Thursday.

“I didn’t even realize I had it,” the nun told French newspaper Var-Matin.

Sister André, who is blind and uses a wheelchair, did not even worry when she heard the news of diagnosis. Not all shared her luck: In January, 81 of the 88 residents of the facility tested positive and about 10 died, according to the newspaper.

4:20 p.m.: Health officials in Nova Scotia are imposing new restrictions on travellers from Newfoundland and Labrador following a jump in COVID-19 infections in St. John’s.

Officials say travellers to the province from Newfoundland and Labrador will have to immediately isolate for 14 days.

Nova Scotia Premier Stephen McNeil says the decision comes after health officials in the Atlantic province reported 30 new COVID-19 infections today — the highest daily case count since late March.

Officials in Nova Scotia reported one new case of COVID-19 Tuesday and said the province had nine active known infections.

1:50 p.m.: Public health officials have declared a COVID-19 outbreak at a North Bay, Ont., apartment building where at least two people have likely been infected with a variant of the virus.

The North Bay Parry Sound District Health Unit says 17 residents at the building had tested positive for COVID-19 as of Monday.

The unit says more than 100 residents were tested over the weekend after two people with no connection other than living in the same building tested positive for COVID-19.

The outbreak represents approximately 80 per cent of the total 21 active COVID-19 cases in the health unit.

Two people in the outbreak have screened as positive for a variant, with further testing to determine the exact strain.

Public Health Ontario is currently screening for three COVID-19 variants that are believed to be more infectious and potentially cause more severe illness.

1:40 p.m. Peru began a rollout of Sinopharm’s COVID-19 vaccine on Tuesday, with the government seeking to raise public awareness in a nation where polls suggest close to half of the population opposes inoculation.

Doctors at hospitals in Lima received their first shots of the Sinopharm vaccine following the arrival of 300,000 doses from China on Sunday. President Francisco Sagasti is set to receive his first shot in the coming hours. A further 700,000 doses are scheduled to arrive on Feb. 14.

Peru becomes the first Latin American nation to use the Chinese vaccine, which is central to its plan to inoculate as much as half its 33-million population during the first half of this year. The government has signed agreements for 85 million doses from Sinopharm, Pfizer, AstraZeneca and the Covax alliance, though so far just 2 million have been confirmed to arrive by April.

1:35 p.m. Newfoundland and Labrador health officials are reporting 30 new cases of COVID-19 and introducing a suite of heightened public health restrictions in St. John’s.

Chief medical officer of health Dr. Janice Fitzgerald says community transmission has been confirmed in the capital city and authorities expect to confirm more infections in the coming days.

Fitzgerald says bars, lounges, gyms, cinemas and fitness studios in the metro region must close for the next two weeks.

She says retail stores and restaurants can remain open at reduced capacity as long as social distancing and mask protocols are in place.

1 p.m. Public health officials have declared a COVID-19 outbreak at a North Bay, Ont., apartment building where at least two people have likely been infected with a variant of the virus.

The North Bay Parry Sound District Health Unit says 17 residents at the building had tested positive for COVID-19 as of Monday.

The unit says more than 100 residents were tested over the weekend after two people with no connection other than living in the same building tested positive for COVID-19.

The outbreak represents approximately 80 per cent of the total 21 active COVID-19 cases in the health unit.

Two people in the outbreak have screened as positive for a variant, with further testing to determine the exact strain.

Public Health Ontario is currently screening for three COVID-19 variants that are believed to be more infectious and potentially cause more severe illness.

12:45 p.m. The chief medical health officer in Prince Edward Island says she hopes the Atlantic travel bubble could reopen as early as April 1.

Dr. Heather Morrison said today the final decision rests with the region’s premiers, adding that a jump in COVID-19 cases could halt plans to reopen provincial boundaries.

Low case numbers last summer led to the travel bubble, permitting Atlantic residents to enter into the region’s four provinces without having to isolate for two weeks.

Prince Edward Island is reporting one new case of COVID-19 Tuesday.

12:25 p.m.: Quebec’s workplace safety board is requiring health-care workers wear N95 masks in areas where there are patients who have tested positive for COVID-19.

Linda Lapointe, vice-president at Quebec’s largest nurses’ union, says she’s pleased with the decision announced today but wants the government to require those masks also be worn in areas where patients are waiting for COVID-19 test results.

Her union, the Federation interprofessionnelle de la sante, is suing the government to have N95 masks — designed to have a close fit and to filter 95 per cent of very small particles — issued more widely among health-care workers.

But McMaster University professor of pathology and molecular medicine Dr. Mark Loeb says it’s unclear whether N95 masks offer more protection against COVID-19 than surgical masks.

Loeb said previous studies, which analyzed transmission of other respiratory illnesses, showed no difference in infection rates between nurses who wore surgical masks and those who wore N95s.

Montreal Jewish General Hospital infectious disease specialist Dr. Leighanne Parkes says she worries the focus on mask distracts from bigger issues such as health-care facilities that don’t allow for proper distancing or with poor ventilation.

12:45 p.m.: Newfoundland and Labrador health officials are reporting 30 new cases of COVID-19 and introducing a suite of heightened public health restrictions in St. John’s.

Chief medical officer of health Dr. Janice Fitzgerald says community transmission has been confirmed in the capital city and authorities expect to confirm more infections in the coming days.

Fitzgerald says bars, lounges, gyms, cinemas and fitness studios in the metro region must close for the next two weeks.

She says retail stores and restaurants can remain open at reduced capacity as long as social distancing and mask protocols are in place.

12:25 p.m.: The Manitoba government is easing some of its COVID-19 restrictions as case numbers continue to decline.

Starting Friday, restaurants will be allowed to open for in-person dining for the first time since November, at 25 per cent capacity.

Customers will only be allowed to sit with members of their household.

Gyms, indoor rinks, museums, libraries, tattoo parlours can also open at 25 per cent capacity.

Indoor religious services can resume at 10 per cent capacity or 50 people, which ever is lower.

Manitoba’s chief public health officer, Dr. Brent Roussin, says while case numbers have been dropping, the province has recorded its first case of the United Kingdom variant of COVID-19.

He says the case was linked directly to travel and there is no evidence of it spreading.

12 p.m.: Quebec’s opposition parties renewed their calls for a public inquiry into the government’s management of the pandemic after the province surpassed 10,000 COVID-19-related deaths over the weekend.

Liberal Leader Dominique Anglade said today Quebecers need to know why the province has so far accounted for nearly half of the country’s deaths attributed to the novel coronavirus.

Parti Quebecois Leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon said today an inquiry is the only way to shed light on the tragedy, noting that Quebec is reporting 116 deaths per 100,000 residents, compared to 45 in neighbouring Ontario.

Premier Francois Legault is holding a public COVID-19 briefing this afternoon as health officials are reporting 826 new COVID-19 cases and 32 more deaths attributed to the virus, including five in the previous 24 hours.

Officials say hospitalizations dropped by 29, to 940, and 145 people were in intensive care, a drop of 15.

The province says it administered 2,816 doses of COVID-19 vaccine Monday, for a total of 262,594.

11:45 a.m.: Air Canada will temporarily lay off 1,500 unionized employees and an unspecified number of management staff as it cuts more routes.

As of Feb. 18, Air Canada will temporarily suspend service on 17 routes to the U.S. and other international destinations until at least April 30, the company says.

11:45 a.m.: Canadians who show up at the land border without a COVID-19 test result in hand will still be allowed in the country.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says Canada can’t stop its citizens or permanent residents from coming into the country via car.

But he says the negative tests required at the land border as of next Monday will be mandatory.

He says fines of up to $3,000 could be put in place for those who don’t have the test.

Most non-essential travellers coming back to Canada do have to quarantine for 14 days.

11:40 a.m.: Nova Scotia is reporting one new case of COVID-19 today.

Public health officials say the case is in the Halifax area and related to travel outside Atlantic Canada.

The province says it has nine active reported infections.

Officials say they had administered 18,826 doses of COVID-19 vaccine as of Monday, 5,642 of which were second doses.

11:35 a.m.: Ottawa is tweaking financial support programs in place to help people through the pandemic.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says those who received emergency benefits and made up to $75,000 in taxable income won’t have to pay interest on 2020 tax debt until next year.

And he says people who applied for the Canada Emergency Response Benefit based on their gross income, rather than net income, won’t have to repay the benefit as long as they are otherwise eligible.

Thousands of Canadians received letters last year telling them they’d have to pay back the CERB because they were ineligible due to the way they’d calculated their income.

The Star’s Rosa Saba has more details on the cancelled CERB clawback.

11:30 a.m.: Starting next Monday, people entering Canada by car will have to have proof they’ve taken a COVID-19 test.

The test must have been taken within 72 hours of a return to Canada.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made the announcement during a briefing outside his Rideau Cottage home.

The decision to require tests at the land border as of Feb. 15 follows testing requirements already in place for air travellers.

11:10 a.m.: Prince Edward Island is reporting one new case of COVID-19 today.

Chief medical officer of health Dr. Heather Morrison says the latest case involves a man in his 30s who tested positive in another province.

She says that person will isolate outside P.E.I.

There are now four active reported cases of COVID-19 in Prince Edward Island.

11:10 a.m.: Quebec is reporting 826 new COVID-19 cases and 32 more deaths attributed to the novel coronavirus, including five in the previous 24 hours.

Health officials said today hospitalizations dropped by 29, to 940, and 145 people were in intensive care, a drop of 15.

The province says it administered 2,816 doses of COVID-19 vaccine Monday, for a total of 262,594.

Premier François Legault is scheduled to hold a COVID-19 briefing this afternoon alongside his health minister and the director of public health.

10:45 a.m. (corrected): Ontario is reporting a total of 3,668 residents in long-term care have died since the pandemic began, in the latest report released by the province. This is one less than the previous report, as one death was improperly reported, said the Ministry of Health.

There are eight fewer long-term-care homes in outbreak for a total of 205 or 32.7 per cent of LTC homes in the province.

10:30 a.m.: Ontario is reporting that 12,462 vaccine doses have been administered since its last daily update for a total of 398,633 as of 8 p.m. Monday.

The province says that 115,529 are fully vaccinated, meaning they have had both shots.

10:20 a.m. (updated): Ontario is reporting 1,022 cases and 17 more deaths.

The seven-day average is up to 1,367 cases daily or 66 weekly per 100,000, and up to 45.3 deaths per day.

The labs are reporting 30,798 completed tests, with a 3.3 per cent positivity rate.

Locally, there are 343 new cases in Toronto, 250 in Peel and 128 in York Region.

10:18 a.m.: Health Canada has given Pfizer/BioNTech the green light to count six doses of COVID-19 vaccine per vial instead of five, meaning the company can ship fewer vials to Canada and still reach their deal to supply Canada with a total of 40 million.

Dr. Supriya Sharma, the chief medical advisor to Canada’s regulator, told reporters Tuesday the initial approval was changed after new data clarified the change was warranted because a sixth dose could be obtained “reliably and consistently from each vial.”

In a statement announcing the change to the vaccine’s regulatory approval, Health Canada said the agency had “previously acknowledged that with the right technique and syringe it is possible to obtain a sixth dose from the vial.

The Star’s Tonda MacCharles has the story.

9:55 a.m. South Africa captain Heinrich Klaasen says he underestimated the effect of being infected by the coronavirus.

“COVID hit me quite hard,” Klaasen said in an online new conference in Lahore on Tuesday, on the eve of a three-match Twenty20 series against Pakistan.

He’d played two T20s against England in late November, then was withdrawn from the third and last match on Dec. 1 in Cape Town and isolated.

Three weeks ago, Klaasen warned fans on social media that COVID-19 was the real deal and he didn’t think it would be “this hard to come back.”

“It’s been a different season for me, I’ve played four games so far which has been very frustrating,” he said. “It’s been a tough two months since I tested positive on Dec. 3.

9 a.m. Teachers will get a hand bringing conversations and lessons about anti-Asian racism into the classroom with a new resource guide released Tuesday.

“Addressing anti-Asian Racism: A Resource for Educators” was created as a collaboration between the Toronto District School Board (TDSB) and Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario (ETFO), to help broach the topic with students of all grade levels — from K to 12.

The resource contains four sections and walks teachers through the context around Asian Canadian identities, concepts such as the “model minority myth” and the history of anti-Asian racism in Canada. From there it provides strategies for addressing and advocating for an anti-oppressive learning environment, and plenty of resources for teachers and administration to keep the conversation going.

Read the full story from the Star’s Angelyn Francis

8:35 a.m. At the start of the pandemic, there was some speculation that COVID-19 might spark some sort of a sexual revolution.

Couples stuck at home might ease the stress and boredom by having all of the sex. Single people might hook up with anyone in their bubble just because they were there. And since “sex tech” was already buzzing at the Consumers Electronics Show in January 2020, everything was lining up perfectly for smart vibrators, networked dildos and, of course, plenty of virtual reality sex.

New research from the Kinsey Institute at Indiana University, however, suggests that the pandemic has had an impact on sex but not in the way people thought it might. The study, “Less sex, but more sexual diversity,” details how, in the United States, about 40 per cent of people surveyed reported they were having less sex. And, although there’s a small subset of folks who are more satisfied (we’ll get to them), most reported they were less satisfied with their sex lives.

Read the full story from Christine Sismondo

8:30 a.m. The British variant of the coronavirus is causing problems for a second-division soccer club in France.

FC Chambly says nine of its players have been infected with the more contagious COVID-19 variant. Three staff members and one management official have also tested positive at the club.

The club says it is “worried about what will happen next” because the rest of the team continues to train and risks being contaminated.

Chambly says further testing will be carried out ahead of its league match at Clermont on Saturday.

8:10 a.m. The Star has invited Anita Anand, the federal minister in charge of procuring vaccines, to meet with its editorial board Tuesday afternoon.

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8:05 a.m. Moderna’s delivery of COVID-19 vaccines to Canada has hit delays because the company has encountered problems with its European supply chain and restrictions on exports of vaccine supplies, the Star has learned.

A senior federal source with knowledge of the file told the Star that Moderna is trying to source the material needed to produce its vaccine, and to meet demand for materials needed to package the vaccines. The source said the company’s own supply for materials has been affected by the European Union’s attempt to control how much material is exported before its member states are supplied with vaccine.

In a written statement to the Star, Moderna’s country manager for Canada, Patricia Gauthier, confirmed the company’s effort to scale up production in Switzerland is a factor in delayed deliveries to countries outside of the United States.

Read the full story from the Star’s Tonda MacCharles and Alex Ballingall

7:55 a.m. On Sunday evening, as millions of Americans watched the Super Bowl, Harriet Diamantidis sat down at her computer to continue her endless search for COVID vaccine slots.

“You’re competing with a lot of people, so you want to try to go online when other people are busy,” she told the Star of her strategy over the phone from Long Island, N.Y., “whether that’s at dinner time, 5 in the morning, or 2 a.m.”

The 36-year-old has been dubbed a vaccine angel by the U.S. media for helping hundreds of seniors get appointments that are harder to come by than a pair of tickets to a sold-out concert. She does this through a New York City web portal that’s clunky and difficult for older adults to navigate.

Ontario is building its own online booking portal for eventual mass vaccination. The Star has learned it will use the same scheduling software as a system in California, one that’s been criticized as cumbersome, with younger, whiter, wealthier and more tech-savvy people often ending up snagging appointments, even though they are the ones who are the least impacted by COVID-19.

Read the full story from the Star’s May Warren

7:30 a.m. The nursing home form asks new residents for end-of-life wishes: Stay comfortable in your room or go to hospital?

Those who choose to remain might never see an emergency department again — even if fighting COVID-19.

“Someone signs a form three years ago and the home takes it as, that’s what they want now,” said Jane Meadus, a lawyer with the Advocacy Centre for the Elderly.

“What if the question had been to the person, ‘if you get a very infectious disease which could infect the entire home and kill everybody, would you want to stay there?’ ” Meadus said.

“Or, ‘would you want to stay there even though the home is not going to provide you with proper palliative care, nutrition and hydration?’

“That is a different question.”

Read the full story from the Star’s Moira Welsh

6:54 a.m.: Dozens of asylum seekers and foreign workers in the Israeli city of Tel Aviv lined up to receive their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine on Tuesday as part of an initiative to inoculate the city’s foreign nationals.

Tel Aviv city hall and the Sourasky Medical Center started administering vaccines free of charge to the city’s foreign nationals, many of whom are undocumented asylum seekers.

On its first day of operation, the vaccination centre in southern Tel Aviv, which is home to a large migrant community, dispensed doses to dozens of foreign nationals who lined up outside the building. Posters provided information in English, Tigrinya, Russian and Arabic. Recipients included foreign workers from the Philippines, Moldova, and Nigeria, as well as Sudanese and Eritrean asylum seekers.

Garipelly Srinivas Goud, an Indian national who has worked in Israel for eight years, said that some foreign workers in Israel don’t have money or insurance to afford paying privately for the vaccine, and said the vaccine drive was a “very good decision. I am very happy.”

Eytan Halon, a Tel Aviv municipality spokesman, said it was the government’s responsibility “to vaccinate everybody within the nation’s borders” and that it would take the next step and start “to vaccinate the illegal or undocumented asylum seekers as well.”

Israel has pushed to inoculate most of its population since late December. Last week it made vaccines available to all citizens over the age of 16.

6:37 a.m.: Belgium will use the 443,000 doses of AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine the country will receive over the course of February to vaccinate people under the age of 55.

Regulators in the country of 11.5 million inhabitants have advised against the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine for older people due a lack of data about its efficacy, so Belgium’s vaccination task force has reshaped its strategy.

It decided that the doses will go in priority to health care workers under 55 as well as residents and staff in collective care institutions in that age group. Sabine Stordeur, who co-chairs the task force, said on Tuesday that people from high-risk groups with underlying conditions and police officers working in the field will also be offered AstraZeneca injections.

People over 55 will continue to receive the two other vaccines approved in the EU, Pfizer/BioNtech and Moderna.

6:11 a.m.: A World Health Organization expert says the coronavirus is unlikely to have leaked from a Chinese lab and most probably jumped to humans via an intermediary species. WHO food safety and animal diseases expert Peter Ben Embarek made the assesment in a summation Tuesday of a WHO team’s investigation into the possible origins of the coronavirus in the central Chinese city of Wuhan, where the first cases were discovered in December 2019.

6:05 a.m.: The tiny glass vaccine vials are delivered to Miami’s largest hospital and immediately whisked to a secret location, where they are placed inside a padlocked freezer with a digital thermometer that reads minus 76 degrees Celsius (minus 105 F). An armed guard watches outside the door.

The pharmacy staff at Jackson Health System often gets short notice on how many doses are coming — sometimes as little as 24 hours. As soon as the doses arrive, the pressure builds to administer them quickly, but the timing is complicated. The staff can thaw out only as much COVID-19 vaccine as the hospital can administer that same day.

The Associated Press was given exclusive access to a recent day of vaccinations at the system’s main hospital, offering a glance inside the hour-to-hour efforts that fuel the largest inoculation campaign in U.S. history. It is an anxious undertaking for both vaccine providers and Americans seeking the shots, and everyone has to watch the clock.

Appointments must be handled carefully — without overbooking but also with confidence that those who are booked will show up — to ensure that the fewest possible doses go to waste. Once mixed, the vaccine is good for only six hours.

“We don’t book any appointments until we know we’ve got the supply,” said David Zambrana, vice-president of hospital operations. “We’re constantly checking the supply. You can feel the anxiety these folks have. We’ve heard people say, ‘You’ve saved my life’. They are coming with so much hope.”

6:04 a.m.: Iran on Tuesday launched a coronavirus inoculation campaign among healthcare professionals with recently delivered Russian Sputnik V vaccines as the country struggles to stem the worst outbreak of the pandemic in the Middle East with its death toll nearing 59,000.

At a ceremony marking the start of the campaign, Parsa Namaki, son of Health Minister Saeed Namaki, received his first dose. The minister said the vaccination would be simultaneously carried out in more than 600 medical centres across the country.

In the coming weeks, Iran plans to extend the vaccination to elderly people and those suffering from chronic diseases, the minister added. “We have to vaccinate vulnerable groups.”

COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, has so far claimed the lives of more that 300 healthcare professionals in Iran.

Last Thursday, Iran received its first batch of foreign-made coronavirus vaccines from Russia. Iran has so far reported some 1.48 million confirmed cases of the virus. Iranian media have reported that a total of 2 million Russian vaccines will arrive in Iran in February and March.

5:36 a.m.: South Africa is considering giving a COVID-19 vaccine that is still in the testing phase to health workers, after suspending the rollout of another shot that preliminary data indicated may be only minimally effective against the mutated form of the virus dominating the country.

The country was scrambling Monday to come up with a new vaccination strategy after it halted use of the AstraZeneca vaccine — which is cheaper and easier to handle than some others and which many had hoped would be crucial to combatting the pandemic in developing countries. Among the possibilities being considered: mixing the AstraZeneca vaccine with another one or giving Johnson & Johnson’s single-dose vaccine, which has not yet been authorized for use anywhere, to 100,000 health care workers while monitoring its efficacy against the variant.

The abrupt change in strategy was prompted by preliminary results in a small study that showed the AstraZeneca vaccine was only minimally effective against mild to moderate cases of the disease caused by the variant.

There is reason to hope the Johnson & Johnson vaccine may fare better in the country. Initial results from an international test of the vaccine showed it is 57 per cent effective in South Africa at preventing moderate to severe COVID-19. That was less than in other countries — the rate was 72 per cent in the U.S., for example — presumably due to the worrisome variant. It was even more effective — 85 per cent internationally — at preventing the most serious symptoms.

“We can’t wait. We already have good local data,” said Dr. Glenda Gray, director of the South Africa Medical Research Council, who led the South African part of the global trial. She stressed that clinical trials show that the J&J vaccine is safe. Like AstraZeneca’s, it is also easier to handle than the frozen vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna.

5 a.m.: The nursing home form asks new residents for end-of-life wishes: Stay comfortable in your room or go to hospital?

Those who choose to remain might never see an emergency department again — even if fighting COVID-19.

“Someone signs a form three years ago and the home takes it as, that’s what they want now,” said Jane Meadus, a lawyer with the Advocacy Centre for the Elderly.

“What if the question had been to the person, ‘if you get a very infectious disease which could infect the entire home and kill everybody, would you want to stay there?’ ” Meadus said.

“Or, ‘would you want to stay there even though the home is not going to provide you with proper palliative care, nutrition and hydration?’

“That is a different question.”

Sometimes called “advanced directives,” the often-rigid interpretation of those documents is one of many reasons why advocates and staff say residents with COVID are not sent to Ontario hospitals for treatment or a less agonizing death with palliative care.

An analysis of COVID deaths in Ontario from March to December 2020 found nearly 80 per cent of those aged 80 to 89 who were still living in the community were first hospitalized before succumbing to the virus. By comparison, just over 24 per cent of long-term-care residents were sent to hospital before they died.

These figures come from a study, still under peer review, by Mount Sinai’s Dr. Nathan Stall with researchers from the University of Toronto and Public Health Ontario.

Read more of this from the Star’s Moira Welsh.

4:02 a.m.: In Canada, the provinces are reporting 22,203 new vaccinations administered for a total of 1,098,333 doses given. The provinces have administered doses at a rate of 2,898.032 per 100,000.

There were 72,200 new vaccines delivered to the provinces and territories for a total of 1,274,015 doses delivered so far. The provinces and territories have used 86.21 per cent of their available vaccine supply.

Newfoundland is reporting 2,516 new vaccinations administered over the past seven days for a total of 12,596 doses given. The province has administered doses at a rate of 24.055 per 1,000. There were zero new vaccines delivered to Newfoundland for a total of 17,475 doses delivered so far. The province has received enough of the vaccine to give 3.3 per cent of its population a single dose. The province has used 72.08 per cent of its available vaccine supply.

P.E.I. is reporting 827 new vaccinations administered over the past seven days for a total of 8,337 doses given. The province has administered doses at a rate of 52.557 per 1,000. There were zero new vaccines delivered to P.E.I. for a total of 10,200 doses delivered so far. The province has received enough of the vaccine to give 6.4 per cent of its population a single dose. The province has used 81.74 per cent of its available vaccine supply.

Nova Scotia is reporting 3,313 new vaccinations administered over the past seven days for a total of 18,219 doses given. The province has administered doses at a rate of 18.669 per 1,000. There were zero new vaccines delivered to Nova Scotia for a total of 30,800 doses delivered so far. The province has received enough of the vaccine to give 3.2 per cent of its population a single dose. The province has used 59.15 per cent of its available vaccine supply.

New Brunswick is reporting 1,366 new vaccinations administered over the past seven days for a total of 18,643 doses given. The province has administered doses at a rate of 23.90 per 1,000. There were 3,200 new vaccines delivered to New Brunswick for a total of 25,850 doses delivered so far. The province has received enough of the vaccine to give 3.3 per cent of its population a single dose. The province has used 72.12 per cent of its available vaccine supply.

Quebec is reporting 2,638 new vaccinations administered for a total of 259,188 doses given. The province has administered doses at a rate of 30.291 per 1,000. There were 38,200 new vaccines delivered to Quebec for a total of 294,825 doses delivered so far. The province has received enough of the vaccine to give 3.4 per cent of its population a single dose. The province has used 87.91 per cent of its available vaccine supply.

Ontario is reporting 6,987 new vaccinations administered for a total of 386,171 doses given. The province has administered doses at a rate of 26.29 per 1,000. There were zero new vaccines delivered to Ontario for a total of 437,975 doses delivered so far. The province has received enough of the vaccine to give 3.0 per cent of its population a single dose. The province has used 88.17 per cent of its available vaccine supply.

Manitoba is reporting 907 new vaccinations administered for a total of 48,187 doses given. The province has administered doses at a rate of 34.994 per 1,000. There were 8,100 new vaccines delivered to Manitoba for a total of 66,090 doses delivered so far. The province has received enough of the vaccine to give 4.8 per cent of its population a single dose. The province has used 72.91 per cent of its available vaccine supply.

Saskatchewan is reporting 1,733 new vaccinations administered for a total of 42,987 doses given. The province has administered doses at a rate of 36.456 per 1,000. There were 6,000 new vaccines delivered to Saskatchewan for a total of 44,575 doses delivered so far. The province has received enough of the vaccine to give 3.8 per cent of its population a single dose. The province has used 96.44 per cent of its available vaccine supply.

Alberta is reporting 1,973 new vaccinations administered for a total of 120,357 doses given. The province has administered doses at a rate of 27.341 per 1,000. There were zero new vaccines delivered to Alberta for a total of 132,475 doses delivered so far. The province has received enough of the vaccine to give 3.0 per cent of its population a single dose. The province has used 90.85 per cent of its available vaccine supply.

British Columbia is reporting 4,932 new vaccinations administered for a total of 154,496 doses given. The province has administered doses at a rate of 30.107 per 1,000. There were 16,700 new vaccines delivered to British Columbia for a total of 172,950 doses delivered so far. The province has received enough of the vaccine to give 3.4 per cent of its population a single dose. The province has used 89.33 per cent of its available vaccine supply.

Yukon is reporting 540 new vaccinations administered for a total of 11,059 doses given. The territory has administered doses at a rate of 265.007 per 1,000. There were zero new vaccines delivered to Yukon for a total of 14,400 doses delivered so far. The territory has received enough of the vaccine to give 35 per cent of its population a single dose. The territory has used 76.8 per cent of its available vaccine supply.

The Northwest Territories are reporting zero new vaccinations administered for a total of 12,241 doses given. The territory has administered doses at a rate of 271.305 per 1,000. There were zero new vaccines delivered to the Northwest Territories for a total of 14,400 doses delivered so far. The territory has received enough of the vaccine to give 32 per cent of its population a single dose. The territory has used 85.01 per cent of its available vaccine supply.

Nunavut is reporting 203 new vaccinations administered for a total of 5,852 doses given. The territory has administered doses at a rate of 151.113 per 1,000. There were zero new vaccines delivered to Nunavut for a total of 12,000 doses delivered so far. The territory has received enough of the vaccine to give 31 per cent of its population a single dose. The territory has used 48.77 per cent of its available vaccine supply.

4:01 a.m.: As the Trudeau government is forced to explain delays rolling out COVID-19 vaccines, some of the world’s economic and health leaders are warning of catastrophic financial consequences if poorer countries are shortchanged on vaccinations.

At a video meeting convened by the Paris-based Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) on Monday, Secretary-General Angel Gurria predicted that rich countries would see their economies shrink by trillions of dollars if they don’t do more to help poor countries receive vaccines.

The leaders of the World Health Organization and others also bemoaned the long-term damage of continued “vaccine nationalism” if current trends continue — rich countries getting a pandemic cure at a much higher rate than poorer ones.

It was a message that could provide some political cover for the Liberals, who have been widely criticized for shortfalls in deliveries of vaccines from Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna while also facing international criticism for pre-buying enough doses of vaccines to cover Canada’s population several times over.

Some international anti-poverty groups have also criticized Canada for planning to take delivery of 1.9 million doses from the COVAX Facility, a new international vaccine-sharing program that is primarily designed to help poor countries afford unaffordable vaccines, but also allows rich donor countries — including Canada — to receive vaccines.

Trudeau and his cabinet ministers on the vaccine file have repeatedly said that the pandemic can’t be stamped out for good if it isn’t defeated everywhere.

4 a.m.: Activities are expected to pick up today in the Newfoundland and Labrador election campaign following a day largely hindered by the effects of a winter storm.

However, with a COVID-19 outbreak in the St. John’s area, Liberal Leader Andrew Furey says his party is shifting to more virtual style campaigning, especially in Mount Pearl, where several new cases have been linked to the local high school.

Furey is also defending his decision to call the election amid the pandemic, saying the province’s latest COVID-19 case numbers remain lower than those in such provinces as British Columbia and Saskatchewan, where elections were held successfully last fall.

A spokesman for the Progressive Conservatives says while some individual campaigns will suspend door-knocking, the party will await further instructions from public health officials on how to proceed with its campaign ahead of Saturday’s vote.

The NDP says it has already been doing more virtual campaigning and is assessing its options regarding the safest way to proceed for the rest of the week.

On Monday, the Tories released a statement pledging to increase access to child care across the province, while the NDP said it would establish permanent core funding for Status of Women Council offices so they can continue to help vulnerable women across the province.

Click here to read more of Monday’s COVID-19 coverage.