Canada is facing a variant-fuelled new wave of COVID-19 cases as the country is beginning to ramp up inoculation efforts following a slow start.
Meanwhile, countries such as the United Kingdom, Israel and the United States have far surpassed Canada’s vaccine rollout. And as the third wave is hitting many parts of the world, these countries are starting to see a huge drop in coronavirus-related cases and deaths since the start of their aggressive inoculation campaigns.
United Kingdom
How many people vaccinated?
With a population of 66.65 million, more than 50 per cent of people in the U.K. have received at least one vaccine shot.
Around 30.4 million people in the country have received their first COVID-19 shots in the fastest vaccine rollout in Europe, with the aim of offering shots to all adults by the end of July. More than 3.6 million people have had both doses of a vaccine, according to the U.K.’s health database.
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The BBC reported that the number of first doses administered each day now averages around 350,000 — a drop from an average of about 500,000 a week ago as the schedule of second doses started to kick in.
On March 20, the country had the highest number of vaccinations given in a single day — more than 844,000.
U.K. health officials said the country is on track to offer the first dose to everyone aged 50 and over by the end of April, and to all adults by the end of July.
How many COVID-19 vaccine types?
The U.K. is currently receiving doses of two approved vaccines. The Pfizer-BioNTech is imported from Belgium. The second vaccine, from Oxford University and AstraZeneca, is made in Britain.
Supplies of a third vaccine to be approved, made by U.S. company Moderna, is expected in the next few weeks, according to the BBC.
COVID-19 infection and death rates?
The daily release of COVID-19 data in the United Kingdom showed that 56 new deaths were recorded on Tuesday. This is substantially lower than the peak of the second-wave in January, which recorded more than 1,000 deaths per day.
The U.K. was also recording an average of 50,000 to 60,000 new cases a day in January.
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But new infection numbers are also substantially down, with 4,040 cases reported Tuesday and a seven-day total of 35,460, down by 7.9 per cent from the previous seven days.
Since the start of the pandemic, a total of 149,168 people have died in the U.K, the highest official death toll in Europe and the fifth-highest in the world. There have been more than 4.3 million confirmed cases as well.
Israel
How many people vaccinated?
With a population of 9.053 million people, well over half of Israel’s population have received the first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.
Israel is one of the top nations leading the world in vaccination rollouts, which began Dec. 19, 2020 — just 10 days after the first Pfizer doses arrived in the country.
The country was well ahead of most countries in signing a purchase agreement for Moderna’s vaccine in June 2020. Later in 2020, it made another deal with Pfizer.
As of Wednesday, more than 5.23 million people have been given the first dose of a coronavirus vaccine, according to an Israel health database. And more than 4.76 million people have received a second dose.
How many COVID-19 vaccine types?
Israel has approved two COVID-19 vaccines: Pfizer, imported from Belgium, and Moderna, imported from the U.S.
COVID-19 infection and death rates?
On Jan. 27, 2021, during the height of the second wave, the nation recorded 11,934 new cases of the virus, according to Our World in Data. On Jan. 20, the country recorded its highest COVID-19 related death number at 101 cases.
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These numbers have plummeted since the country’s aggressive vaccine rollout. On March 29, Israel recorded 201 new cases and 12 recorded deaths.
United States
How many people vaccinated?
With a population of 328.2 million people, 28.9 per cent of the U.S. population has received at least one vaccine shot.
As of Tuesday, around 96 million people in the United States have been given a first vaccine shot, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). More than 53 million Americans have been given a second dose, which is 15.8 per cent of the population.
Seventy-three per cent of the population over the age of 65 have been given at least one dose of the vaccine.
How many COVID-19 vaccine types?
The U.S. has approved three vaccines: Pfizer, imported from Belgium, Moderna, made in the U.S., and Johnson & Johnson, which is also made on national soil.
COVID-19 infection and death rates?
On Jan. 8, during the height of the second wave, the U.S. recorded 315,119 new cases. On Jan. 12, the U.S. recorded its highest day of COVID-related deaths with 4,447 cases.
The cases and death count have gone down substantially since January. On March 29, the U.S. recorded 47,464 new COVID-19 cases and 560 deaths, according to the CDC.
Canada
How many people vaccinated?
Canada has a population of about 37.7 million people, approximately 31.5 million of whom are over the age of 16 and eligible for COVID-19 vaccines.
So far, more than 5.5 million vaccine doses have been administered in Canada; that number includes both first and second doses. On March 25, deputy chief public health officer Dr. Howard Njoo said that more than 10 per cent of Canadians had received at least one vaccine jab.
Around 59 per cent of adults aged 80 and older have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.
Over the past few weeks, Canada has administered more than 100,000 doses per day. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau previously said the government plans to have most Canadian adults vaccinated by September.
Although the country has ramped up its vaccination efforts, Colin Furness, an infection control epidemiologist at the University of Toronto, previously told Global News, “it’s not even remotely fast enough.”
Furness said at the rate of vaccinating 100,000 Canadians per day, it could take Canada 10 months to achieve herd immunity levels.
Based on those numbers, if the federal government expects to achieve its vaccine targets by September, Furness said it would need to administer around 400,000 shots per day.
How many COVID-19 vaccine types?
Canada has approved four vaccines: Pfizer, imported from Belgium, Moderna, imported from the U.S., Johnson & Johnson, imported from the U.S. (though doses are not expected to arrive until late April), and AstraZeneca, imported from the U.K.
COVID-19 infection and death rates?
Daily case counts have dropped since a peak of 8,883 new COVID-19 cases on Jan. 9. Although numbers started falling in February, in recent weeks COVID-19 cases have again been on the rise with public health officials warning that Canada is losing the fight against variants and that more restrictions could be in our future.
On Tuesday, the country recorded 26 deaths and 4,879 new cases of the virus.
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While Canada has seen a dramatic decline in COVID-19 among seniors, more transmissible — and possibly more deadly — variants are dramatically increasing infections among younger people.
New national public health modelling, released last week, acknowledges the progress Canada has made in getting older, more vulnerable populations vaccinated, but yet again emphasizes the threat virus variants, like the B.1.1.7 variant, bring to Canadians who aren’t yet up for vaccination.
In British Columbia and Saskatchewan, public health officials have warned that variants appear to be impacting young people and that otherwise healthy young people are ending up in hospital.
The changing patterns come up against a slowly burning vaccination effort — so far only focused on the elderly or, in some cases, those between 60 and 65.
But Canada is banking on a large influx of vaccines in the coming months.
On Tuesday, federal officials announced that Canada’s total tally of vaccines should reach 44 million doses by the end of June, and that the Johnson & Johnson single-dose vaccine is set to begin arriving in late April, adding to that number.
— with files from Global News’ Emerald Bensadoun, Rachael D’Amore and Reuters
