Today’s coronavirus news: Ontario reports 2,448 new COVID-19 cases; new city-run vaccine clinics to open Monday

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

12:30 p.m.: The Quebec government is reporting 917 new cases of COVID-19 and two additional deaths due to the pandemic, but none in the past 24 hours.

Hospitalizations declined by one to 480, but the number of people in intensive care increased by six to 114.

The province vaccinated 45,745 people in the last 24 hours, and has currently given a vaccine dose to 14.4 per cent of the population.

Some 29,407 tests were completed on Friday, which is the last day for which data is available.

11:05 a.m.: Toronto Mayor John Tory visited a new city-run mass vaccination clinic Sunday at the Malvern Community Recreation Centre in Scarborough. The Malvern clinic will open Monday, along with another mass vaccination centre at Mitchell Field Arena in North York

The two new mass clinics join three other city-run mass clinics - at Metro Toronto Convention Centre, Scarborough Town Centre and the Toronto Congress Centre - that opened on March 17.

These city-run clinics will be able to vaccinate 6,300 people a day and 44,100 people over the course of a week," Tory told reporters Sunday.

In a press release, Toronto said the new Malvern clinic will run seven days a week, from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. and will have a capacity of 675 people per day. Capacity may be expanded as vaccine supply increases.

More than 453,932 doses have been administered in Toronto so far, and that's by the city clinics, but also by our hospital partners, by health-care teams and in pharmacies," Tory added.

Toronto has opened vaccination bookings to people aged 70 or older. Tory said over Twitter that 10,989 people had booked their shots Saturday.

I continue to urge people to get registered, and to get vaccinated," said Tory. We have the vaccines, we have the staff in place to do it and we have the appointments, so all we need now is you."

Tory urged anyone born in 1951 or earlier to book their vaccine at toronto.ca/covid-19 or call in at 1-888-999-6488.

10:20 a.m.: Ontario is reporting another 2,448 COVID-19 cases and 19 more deaths, according to its latest report released Sunday morning.

Locally, Health Minister Christine Elliott reported 780 cases in Toronto, 356 in Peel, 278 in York Region, 219 in Durham and 150 in Ottawa.

The province says 50,227 tests were completed the previous day, and report a 4.5 per cent positivity rate - the most for a Sunday since Jan. 17.

7:52 a.m.: Albania started a mass inoculation campaign Sunday ahead of the summer tourism season after acquiring 192,000 doses of Chinese coronavirus vaccine Sinovac earlier this week.

Hundreds of people age 70 and above gathered at Tirana's main Skanderbeg Square to get a jab in two big tents.

Liri Bizhiti, 76, one of those waiting in line, was happy to receive the vaccine after a year of isolation, and on the same day as her husband.

Thank God it came," she told The Associated Press while accompanied by her daughter. We are so happy."

Vaccination has proceeded slowly in the Balkan country since mid-January before the arrival of the Sinovac vaccine, with Albania receiving less than 100,000 Pfizer, AstraZeneca and Sputnik V doses. The country has inoculated 65,000 medical personnel, people age 80 and over, and schoolteachers so far.

7:00 a.m.: In the last four years, Health Canada has approved more than 1,500 new or updated pharmaceuticals.

Ten of them are vaccines.

Five of those are for COVID-19.

Dr. Supriya Sharma, the chief medical adviser at Health Canada helping oversee the review process, has never seen anything like the speed with which the COVID-19 vaccines got approved.

I mean, unprecedented is the one word that we've been overusing, but there's nothing even close to comparable to this," she said in an interview.

The five non-COVID vaccines approved, four for influenza and one for shingles, took an average of 397 days from the day the company applied for approval in Canada, until that approval was granted.

The average time for COVID-19 vaccines? 82 days.

6:46 a.m.: Iran reported its highest number of daily coronavirus infections in more than three months after millions defied government guidelines and traveled during a weeklong public holiday.

The country reported 8,751 new Covid-19 cases, the highest since Dec. 11, the Health Ministry said in a statement on Sunday, adding that some 89 people had died from the disease overnight.

With more than 1.8 million infections so far and some 62,000 deaths, Iran has the Middle East's worst outbreak of coronavirus.

Iranian officials say U.S. sanctions have hampered their ability to tackle the disease and procure vaccines, yet the government only banned travel to towns with very high infection rates and millions of people still flocked to other areas during the current Persian new year break, according to state media.

4:00 a.m.: In Canada, the provinces are reporting 166,566 new vaccinations administered for a total of 4,967,319 doses given. Nationwide, 662,576 people or 1.7 per cent of the population has been fully vaccinated. The provinces have administered doses at a rate of 13,106.633 per 100,000.

There were 7,722 new vaccines delivered to the provinces and territories for a total of 6,207,530 doses delivered so far. The provinces and territories have used 80.02 per cent of their available vaccine supply.

• Newfoundland is reporting 9,178 new vaccinations administered over the past seven days for a total of 55,231 doses given. The province has administered doses at a rate of 105.477 per 1,000. In the province, 1.82 per cent (9,527) of the population has been fully vaccinated. There were zero new vaccines delivered to Newfoundland for a total of 84,280 doses delivered so far. The province has received enough of the vaccine to give 16 per cent of its population a single dose. The province has used 65.53 per cent of its available vaccine supply.

• P.E.I. is reporting 3,479 new vaccinations administered over the past seven days for a total of 20,258 doses given. The province has administered doses at a rate of 127.707 per 1,000. In the province, 3.87 per cent (6,139) of the population has been fully vaccinated. There were zero new vaccines delivered to P.E.I. for a total of 27,205 doses delivered so far. The province has received enough of the vaccine to give 17 per cent of its population a single dose. The province has used 74.46 per cent of its available vaccine supply.

• Nova Scotia is reporting 25,112 new vaccinations administered over the past seven days for a total of 83,148 doses given. The province has administered doses at a rate of 85.202 per 1,000. In the province, 2.42 per cent (23,662) of the population has been fully vaccinated. There were zero new vaccines delivered to Nova Scotia for a total of 154,630 doses delivered so far. The province has received enough of the vaccine to give 16 per cent of its population a single dose. The province has used 53.77 per cent of its available vaccine supply.

• New Brunswick is reporting 23,342 new vaccinations administered over the past seven days for a total of 81,064 doses given. The province has administered doses at a rate of 103.923 per 1,000. In the province, 1.57 per cent (12,216) of the population has been fully vaccinated. There were zero new vaccines delivered to New Brunswick for a total of 123,115 doses delivered so far. The province has received enough of the vaccine to give 16 per cent of its population a single dose. The province has used 65.84 per cent of its available vaccine supply.

• Quebec is reporting 54,712 new vaccinations administered for a total of 1,176,670 doses given. The province has administered doses at a rate of 137.515 per 1,000. There were 7,722 new vaccines delivered to Quebec for a total of 1,380,295 doses delivered so far. The province has received enough of the vaccine to give 16 per cent of its population a single dose. The province has used 85.25 per cent of its available vaccine supply.

• Ontario is reporting 77,740 new vaccinations administered for a total of 1,916,332 doses given. The province has administered doses at a rate of 130.46 per 1,000. In the province, 2.10 per cent (308,301) of the population has been fully vaccinated. There were zero new vaccines delivered to Ontario for a total of 2,353,665 doses delivered so far. The province has received enough of the vaccine to give 16 per cent of its population a single dose. The province has used 81.42 per cent of its available vaccine supply.

• Manitoba is reporting 5,738 new vaccinations administered for a total of 163,137 doses given. The province has administered doses at a rate of 118.472 per 1,000. In the province, 3.83 per cent (52,693) of the population has been fully vaccinated. There were zero new vaccines delivered to Manitoba for a total of 248,180 doses delivered so far. The province has received enough of the vaccine to give 18 per cent of its population a single dose. The province has used 65.73 per cent of its available vaccine supply.

• Saskatchewan is reporting 4,814 new vaccinations administered for a total of 167,509 doses given. The province has administered doses at a rate of 142.059 per 1,000. In the province, 3.09 per cent (36,494) of the population has been fully vaccinated. There were zero new vaccines delivered to Saskatchewan for a total of 188,025 doses delivered so far. The province has received enough of the vaccine to give 16 per cent of its population a single dose. The province has used 89.09 per cent of its available vaccine supply.

• Alberta is reporting 18,460 new vaccinations administered for a total of 577,223 doses given. The province has administered doses at a rate of 131.126 per 1,000. In the province, 2.17 per cent (95,452) of the population has been fully vaccinated. There were zero new vaccines delivered to Alberta for a total of 697,415 doses delivered so far. The province has received enough of the vaccine to give 16 per cent of its population a single dose. The province has used 82.77 per cent of its available vaccine supply.

• British Columbia is reporting zero new vaccinations administered for a total of 637,856 doses given. The province has administered doses at a rate of 124.30 per 1,000. In the province, 1.70 per cent (87,233) of the population has been fully vaccinated. There were zero new vaccines delivered to British Columbia for a total of 810,220 doses delivered so far. The province has received enough of the vaccine to give 16 per cent of its population a single dose. The province has used 78.73 per cent of its available vaccine supply.

• Yukon is reporting zero new vaccinations administered for a total of 33,825 doses given. The territory has administered doses at a rate of 810.549 per 1,000. In the territory, 25.86 per cent (10,791) of the population has been fully vaccinated. There were zero new vaccines delivered to Yukon for a total of 51,400 doses delivered so far. The territory has received enough of the vaccine to give 120 per cent of its population a single dose. The territory has used 65.81 per cent of its available vaccine supply.

• The Northwest Territories are reporting zero new vaccinations administered for a total of 35,397 doses given. The territory has administered doses at a rate of 784.525 per 1,000. In the territory, 29.44 per cent (13,283) of the population has been fully vaccinated. There were zero new vaccines delivered to the Northwest Territories for a total of 51,600 doses delivered so far. The territory has received enough of the vaccine to give 110 per cent of its population a single dose. The territory has used 68.6 per cent of its available vaccine supply.

• Nunavut is reporting zero new vaccinations administered for a total of 19,669 doses given. The territory has administered doses at a rate of 507.902 per 1,000. In the territory, 17.52 per cent (6,785) of the population has been fully vaccinated. There were zero new vaccines delivered to Nunavut for a total of 37,500 doses delivered so far. The territory has received enough of the vaccine to give 97 per cent of its population a single dose. The territory has used 52.45 per cent of its available vaccine supply.