Today’s coronavirus news: Ford calls emergency meeting to discuss province’s next steps; Halton Region mayors release statement against GTA-wide lockdown; Pence vaccinated on live TV
The latest coronavirus news from Canada and around the world Friday. This file will be updated throughout the day. Web links to longer stories if available.
8:24 a.m.: U.S. Vice-President Mike Pence was vaccinated for COVID-19 on Friday in a live-television event aimed at reassuring Americans the vaccine is safe.
In remarks after his shot, Pence called the speed with which the vaccine was developed "a medical miracle."
The American people can be confident: we have one and perhaps within hours two" safe vaccines," Pence said, referring to expected FDA approval for Moderna's vaccine. Pfizer-BioNTech's vaccine was the first to be approved.
Building confidence in the vaccine is what brings us here this morning," he added.
Pence's wife Karen and Surgeon General Jerome Adams also received shots during the televised White House event.
8:16 a.m.: As the end of a roughly 28-day lockdown in Peel nears, the region's top doctor said he's not anticipating an easing of COVID-19 restrictions.
Dr. Lawrence Loh, Peel's medical officer of health, said at a Dec. 16 press conference that the benefits of the lockdown are only now starting to appear and that COVID-19 cases across Brampton, Caledon and Mississauga seem to be reaching a plateau but our hospital picture is yet to stabilize."
I'd be very surprised if there was a loosening of measures at this point in time," he said.
Hospitals in Mississauga and Brampton have started transferring patients following a recent surge of COVID-19 hospitalizations and, as of Dec. 17, Trillium Health Partners has begun to reduce elective surgeries.
Peel was ordered into lockdown by the province starting Nov. 23 for a period of at least 28 days, or two COVID-19 incubation periods.
8:14 a.m.: Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar says shipments of Moderna's coronavirus vaccine will begin this weekend if the FDA grants emergency use authorization as expected on Friday.
Trucks will roll, planes will fly this weekend, 5.9 million doses of Moderna vaccine allocated for next week," Azar told ABC's Good Morning America" on Friday.
Azar said the Moderna vaccine is shockingly effective" and he expected to get vaccinated next week, if the White House physician cleared him to do so. Azar's wife has tested positive for COVID-19 and he is quarantining at the moment.
Vice-President Mike Pence and his wife Karen, and Surgeon General Jerome Adams are getting vaccinated on live TV Friday morning.
8:13 a.m.: Germany's health minister urged for patience on Friday as the country prepares to start vaccinating people against COVID-19, saying those most at risk should be immunized first.
Jens Spahn said people in nursing homes would be the first to receive shots on Dec. 27, when Germany expects to roll out the vaccine.
About half of all Germany's nearly 25,000 COVID-19 deaths were in people over 80 years of age, many of them in nursing homes.
Shortly after that, others in the top priority category will be able to get vaccinated, including medical staff working in critical care. Others, including police officers and teachers won't receive the vaccine until later.
Spahn said Germany, a country of 83 million, expects to receive 11-13 million vaccine doses during the first quarter of 2021, but that the number can rise if further vaccines are approved by regulators.
8 a.m.: At least half of the attendees at a private birthday party in Vaughan have contracted COVID-19.
York Region Public Health is investigating a party held in a private residence Sunday, Dec. 6 that led to 11 confirmed COVID-19 cases - nine residents from York Region and two from the City of Toronto.
Those who tested positive range in age from three years to 54 years of age.
A total of 22 people attended the party at a time when York Region was under Red-Control Zone restrictions limiting indoor gatherings to five people.
That's an attack rate of almost 50 per cent and serves to remind others planning to break rules over Christmas that this virus enters rather surreptitiously and claims victims," Dr. Karim Kurji, York Region's medical officer of health, said.
7:54 a.m.: All four Halton mayors and the Regional chair sent a stern message to the community this evening on where they all stand regarding a GTA-wide lockdown.
The joint statement came this evening in response to news reports giving Halton residents an inaccurate suggestion" that they have been consulted about and are in support of a GTHA-wide lockdown, the mayors and chair said.
We the locally elected Heads of Council of Halton Region, Burlington, Halton Hills, Milton, and Oakville are not in support of a GTHA-wide lockdown. We were not consulted nor were any of us a party to any discussions on the topic," reads the statement from mayors Rob Burton, Marianne Meed Ward, Gord Krantz, Rick Bonnette and Gary Carr.
We follow the direction and advice of our local medical officer of health and will continue to do so. We encourage the heads of councils from other municipalities to focus on their own areas of jurisdiction."
The statement comes after Mississauga Mayor Bonnie Crombie said a GTA-wide lockdown is needed to bring the number of COVID-19 cases down, saying there is evidence people are region-hopping."
The Halton mayors and chair however, do not agree.
7:30 a.m.: Ontario's premier says he's called an emergency meeting with health officials to tackle rising hospitalizations from COVID-19.
Doug Ford says the meeting with the province's health minister, chief medical officer of health and hospital leaders today will concern next steps to break the trend.
As of yesterday morning, 919 Ontarians were hospitalized with COVID-19, including 263 in intensive care and 172 on ventilators.
The meeting follows calls from the Ontario Hospital Association for the government to implement lockdowns in more public health units, and to consider stronger measures.
The province is considering new measures but Ford has offered few details about what those might be.
He says everything is on the table" to protect people's health.
6:54 a.m.: Ontario Premier Doug Ford says he'll be convening an emergency meeting" with Health Minster Christine Elliott, medical officer Dr. David Williams and hospital leaders to discuss the province's next steps in addressing the recent surge in COVID-19 cases.
Everything is on the table when it comes to protecting the health of Ontarians," Ford tweeted Friday morning.
6:50 a.m.: Tens of millions of people are expected to travel to family gatherings or winter vacations over Christmas, despite pleas by public health experts who fear the result could be another surge in COVID-19 cases.
In the U.S., AAA predicts that about 85 million people will travel between Dec. 23 and Jan. 3, most of them by car. If true, that would be a drop of nearly one-third from a year ago, but still a massive movement of people in the middle of a pandemic.
Jordan Ford, 24, who was laid off as a guest-relations worker at Disneyland in March, said he plans to visit both his and his boyfriend's families in Virginia and Arkansas over Christmas.
It is pretty safe - everyone is wearing a mask, they clean the cabin thoroughly," said Ford, who has travelled almost weekly in recent months from his home in Anaheim, California, and gets tested frequently. After you get over that first trip since the pandemic started, I think you'll feel comfortable no matter what."
Experts worry that Christmas and New Year's will turn into super-spreader events because many people are letting down their guard - either out of pandemic fatigue or the hopeful news that vaccines are starting to be distributed.
6:18 a.m.: More than 10,000 elderly people living in Belgian rest homes have died from COVID-19 since the start of the coronavirus pandemic.
Yves Van Laethem, a spokesman at Belgium's coronavirus crisis centre, told a news conference on Friday that the death of 10,270 rest home residents accounts for 56 per cent of all the victims.
In a report published last month, Amnesty International said Belgian authorities abandoned" thousands of elderly people who died in nursing homes and did not seek hospital treatment for many who were infected, violating their human rights.
One of the hardest-hit countries in Europe, Belgium has reported more than 618,000 confirmed virus cases and 18,371 deaths linked to the coronavirus.
During the first wave of the epidemic last spring, the European nation of 11.5 million people recorded a majority of its COVID-19-related deaths in nursing homes. Van Laethem said the situation has improved, but remains precarious and difficult."
5:58 a.m.: Thailand is easing travel restrictions on visitors from 56 countries, including the U.S., Japan and Singapore, ahead of the peak holiday season to boost the nation's ailing tourism sector.
Tourists are allowed to enter Thailand without prior visas but will need to carry a health certificate to prove they are free of Covid-19 and undergo a mandatory 14-day quarantine upon arrival, according to Taweesilp Witsanuyotin, a spokesman for the Center for Covid-19 Situation Administration. Visitors will also undergo three virus tests while in quarantine, an increase from the two mandated earlier, Taweesilp said.
5:58 a.m.: South Korea has reported 1,062 new cases of the coronavirus, its third straight day of over 1,000, as authorities in Seoul warn that hospital beds are in short supply.
Seoul City said a COVID-19 patient in his 60s died at his home on Tuesday after officials failed to find him a hospital bed for days. The city said an explosive growth" in patients this month has resulted in an overload in administrative and medical systems."
The figures released by the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency on Friday brought the national caseload to 47,515.
The death toll rose to 645 after 11 more patients died overnight. Among 12,888 active patients, at least 246 were in serious or critical condition, the largest number since the emergence of the pandemic.
5:57 a.m.: The number of COVID-19 infections from a cluster in Sydney's northern coastal suburbs continued to grow on Friday and the strain appeared to have originated in the United States, authorities said. Testing on Thursday and early Friday found 28 new infections.
Several had attended the Avalon Beach R.S.L. Club on Dec. 11 and a nearby lawn bowling club called Avalon Bowlo on Dec. 13, New South Wales state Chief Health Officer Kerry Chant said. More than 250,0000 residents of Sydney's Northern Beaches Local Government Area were advised on Thursday to work from home and remain at home as much as possible for three days. Others were advised to avoid travelling to the area. Authorities have yet to identify the source of the cluster, but New South Wales will next week tighten hotel quarantine rules for international aircrews flying between Sydney and the United States.
Australia's largest city had gone 12 consecutive days without community transmission until Wednesday when a driver who transported international aircrews in a van to and from Sydney Airport tested positive. His strain was also from the United States. Australian states have responded to the Sydney cluster by introducing various travel restrictions.
Western Australia state, which has not had a case of community transmission since April 11, requires all travellers from New South Wales to quarantine in hotels for 14 days.
5:56 a.m.: As French President Emmanuel Macron rides out the coronavirus in a presidential retreat at Versailles, French doctors are warning families who are heading for the holidays to remain cautious because of an uptick in infections - especially at the dinner table.
While Macron routinely wears a mask and adheres to social distancing rules, he hosted or took part in multiple group meals in the days before testing positive Thursday. Critics say that's a bad example for compatriots advised to keep their gatherings to six people.
Macron is suffering from fever, cough and fatigue, officials with the presidency said Friday. They wouldn't provide details of his treatment. He is staying at the presidential residence of La Lanterne in the former royal city of Versailles.
Macron's positive test comes as French health authorities are again seeing a rise in infections and warning of more as French families prepare to get together for Christmas and New Year festivities. France reported another 18,254 new infections Thursday and its death toll is just under 60,000.
5:54 a.m.: Several states say they have been told to expect far fewer doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine in its second week of distribution, prompting worries about potential delays in shots for health care workers and long-term care residents.
But senior Trump administration officials on Thursday downplayed the risk of delays, citing a confusion over semantics, while Pfizer said its production levels have not changed.
The first U.S. doses were administered Monday, and already this week, hundreds of thousands of people, mostly health care workers, have been vaccinated. The pace is expected to increase next week, assuming Moderna gets federal authorization for its vaccine.
Efforts to help ward off the coronavirus come amid a staggering death toll that surpassed 300,000 on Monday. Johns Hopkins University says about 2,400 people are dying daily in the U.S., which is averaging more than 210,000 cases per day.
5:52 a.m.: The secretary general of the United Nations on Friday stressed that as wealthy nations roll out the coronavirus vaccine for their citizens, the world also needs to ensure it is available for everyone, everywhere."
In an address to Germany's Parliament, Antonio Guterres praised the researchers from Germany's BioNTech who teamed up with U.S. giant Pfizer and beat rivals in the race to put the first thoroughly vetted vaccine on the market.
He said that every German should be very proud of their achievements."
Our challenge now is to ensure that vaccines are treated as a public good - accessible and affordable to everyone, everywhere," he said according to his prepared remarks.
A people's vaccine."
He said the UN was also committed to providing news and advice people can trust and working to build confidence in the vaccine guided by science, grounded in facts" to combat what he called the virus of misinformation."
5:50 a.m.: U.S. President Donald Trump's administration helped deliver vaccinations against the coronavirus earlier than even some in his administration thought possible, but the president has been largely absent from the effort to sell the American public on what aides hope will be a key part of his legacy.
Trump launched Operation Warp Speed - the government campaign to help swiftly develop and distribute vaccines - this spring with great fanfare in the White House Rose Garden.
But now, five days into the largest vaccination campaign in the nation's history, Trump has held no public events to trumpet the rollout. He hasn't been inoculated himself. He has tweeted only twice about the shot. Vice-President Mike Pence, meanwhile, has taken centre stage - touring a vaccine production facility this week and preparing to receive a dose himself on live television Friday morning. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell both said Thursday that they will get vaccinated in the next few days.
Trump's relative silence comes as he continues to stew about his defeat in the Nov. 3 election and embraces increasingly extreme efforts to overturn the people's will. He's pushed aside the plans of aides who wanted him to be the public face of the vaccination campaign, eschewing visits to labs and production facilities to thank workers, or hosting efforts to build public confidence in the shot, according to people familiar with the conversations.