More than 200 people are being contacted to repeat their COVID-19 vaccinations because some who attended an immunization clinic in the Niagara region were injected with a saline solution instead of the shot.
Niagara Region Public Health said Tuesday that six people were injected with the harmless saline substance on June 16 at a clinic in Port Colborne, Ont.
An end-of-day audit found six administered doses had not been accounted for and an additional vial of a saline diluent had been used. The diluent is meant to be mixed with the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine concentrate and while not harmful, it doesn’t protect against COVID-19.
Dr. Mustafa Hirji, the region’s top doctor, said the health unit wasn’t able to identify the six people who didn’t receive the vaccine.
“Unfortunately, with the size of the clinic going on and the nature of the provincial documentation tool for vaccination, there’s no current tracking of individual doses of vaccine,” Hirji said.
However, he said public health was able to narrow down a timeframe when the doses would have been administered, identifying 205 people out of the 1,148 who received shots that day.
Those individuals were being contacted to book a repeat vaccination after an appropriate dosing interval. The majority will be getting a third COVID-19 vaccine dose, which the health unit said is safe but doesn’t provide additional benefits.
The health unit said a review was conducted to investigate the error that occured, and new dose tracking and training protocols have been introduced to avoid similar situations.
Hirji said the changes include involving more staff members in double-checking others’ work, more detailed documentation in clinics and a plan to track each dose from the freezer to the patient who received it.
“The goal here is, of course, that there won’t be another time, by having these double checks to make sure we stop the error before it happens,” Hirji said. “If unfortunately there is another error we would be able to narrow it down much closer to just six people.”
Hirji said he doesn’t believe similar situations could have happened at other Niagara Region clinics based on the checks and balances that helped identify the problem by the end of day at the Port Colborne clinic.
At least one other such incident has been reported in Ontario since the vaccination campaign began.
Mackenzie Health, which is running vaccination clinics in York Region, advised the public of a similar error in April, saying it contacted the six people who were injected with saline by mistake instead of a COVID-19 vaccine.
“Our internal quality assurance processes allowed us to identify this issue in a timely manner and contact the impacted individuals to disclose the issue, offer support and have them tested for antibodies to identify those who needed to be re-injected with vaccine,” Mackenzie Health said in a statement at the time.
For the last 34 years, Alex Zilberberg’s mornings have begun with a lineup of customers so strong that his The Bagel Stop locations do 70 per cent of their business before 10 a.m. even hits.
But since the COVID-19 pandemic began, the hustle and bustle has disappeared from Toronto’s financial district and underground PATH system his franchisees occupy.
“I used to say I’ve seen it all,” said Zilberberg, who co-founded the bagel chain with his brother-in-law Felix Zonenberg in 1987.
“We’ve lived through the good times and the bad times, but by far these are the worst times that I’ve ever seen.”
Business at The Bagel Stop’s dozens of locations has been down by up to 90 per cent some weeks and like many businesses in the area, he has little hope that it will return quickly.
While Ontario’s reopening plan has returned customers to businesses in most corners of the city, office towers in the financial district and connected to the PATH — a more than 30-kilometre stretch of underground shops and restaurants —are still largely unoccupied as companies allow their staff to keep working from home.
Business owners fear the lack of foot traffic and appetite to get back to offices could mean a recovery will take months or even years and put them well behind companies operating in other areas that are less dependent on the work crowd.
“The best real estate in Canada suddenly became the worst real estate in Canada, literally overnight,” said Zilberberg, who has locations in Commerce Court, Brookfield Place, Scotia Plaza and the TD Centre.
On top of the locations seeing diminished food traffic, he said the spots have also made food delivery models too tough to pursue because most couriers won’t take the time to navigate the PATH to pick up orders and few want to leave their bikes or cars parked outside.
Still, some of his franchisees prepare to greet customers every day.
“The ones that are open say, ‘I probably can make as much money being closed as I am being open because all I’m doing is just turning over inventory, making literally a pittance,”’ he said.
“But they say, ‘I’d rather sit in the store and have my face out there and see whatever customers that I can.”’
Penny Simmons, the owner of Penny Loafers Shoe Shine Company, has kept her Fairmont Royal York Hotel, First Canadian Place and the TD Centre locations closed since the pandemic sent most people home to work.
Summer is always a slow season in the shoe shine business, but the pandemic has caused traffic at her locations to grind to a halt and staff to seek work elsewhere.
“I had a complement of 12 to 14 part-time and four moved back home. Home being the likes of St. John’s, Newfoundland, Halifax and a couple have got full-time jobs,” said Simmons who started her company in 1994 and has been on the PATH since 1995.
“I’m down to only four people right now.”
She imagines she won’t be able to reopen until September or October and thinks it will be at least a year and a half until her business is fully back on its feet.
Zilberberg is hopeful that some people will return to work and bring back their coffee-and-bagel habits in the fall, but he’s not confident everyone will flood back to the area.
“Franchisees…haven’t made a penny in the last year and a half, and they can’t do it for the next year and a half,” he said.
“No one can not bring home a living for three years straight, so that in itself is going to become an issue.”
Zilberberg doesn’t expect business to bounce back to pre-pandemic levels until at least 2022.
Even when people do return to the area, he worries some won’t visit as often as they once did because they’ll have more flexible work arrangements and others will shy away from enclosed spaces where the virus can spread more easily.
Police say a man has been seriously injured following a shooting in a North York neighbourhood Monday evening.
Police said they were called at around 8:02 p.m. for a report of a shooting in the Keele Street and Finch Avenue West area.
When officers arrived they said they found a man in his 40s suffering from gunshot wounds.
He has been transported to the hospital with serious injuries, Toronto Paramedic Services said.
No other information has been released by the police at this time.
Anyone with information is asked to contact the police directly. Tips can also be left anonymously with Crime Stoppers.
MONTREAL — The Montreal Canadiens are still alive in the Stanley Cup final.
Josh Anderson scored his second goal of the game at 3:57 of overtime as the Canadiens defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning 3-2 on Monday to stave off elimination and cut their deficit in the NHL’s title series to 3-1.
After Montreal survived a Tampa power play in the extra period, Anderson banged home a loose puck at the side of Tampa’s net to keep his team alive.
Alexander Romanov also scored for Montreal, which got 32 saves from Carey Price. Cole Caufield added two assists.
Barclay Goodrow and Pat Maroon replied for Tampa. Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 18 shots.
Game 5 of the best-of-seven matchup is set for Wednesday in Tampa. Game 6, if necessary, would be back in Montreal on Friday.
York Regional Police are sending a message of caution after they rescued three novice boaters who could not swim from the waters of Lake Simcoe last month.
Police received a 9-1-1 call from a boater in distress on June 24, shortly after 1:15 p.m.
They say three people had rented a canoe and went out on Lake Simcoe and the wind carried them away from the shore. They were unable to paddle back in and could not swim, so panicked and called 9-1-1.
On the call, a woman can be heard telling the dispatcher it is their first time canoeing and her friend is having a panic and asthma attack.
Officers from the marine rescue unit say the boaters were unable to say exactly where they were, which made it difficult to find them. The boaters had a whistle and began blowing it so that officers could zero in on their location. They were eventually found and three women were taken to shore with no injuries.
Police are reminding people to take the following precautions before heading out on the water:
- Bring a cell phone
- Familiarize yourself with the GPS on your phone or install an app that can help determine your location – emergency crews can find you faster if you are able to tell them your exact location
- Remember that weather conditions can change quickly resulting in high winds and large waves
- Always wear a well-fitted life jacket
- Plan your route and tell someone where you are going and when you expect to be back.
A wide-ranging heat warning by Environment Canada has been issued for Toronto and the GTA.
The warning is expected to last through to Tuesday.
“Maximum daytime temperatures from 31 to 34 C are expected with humidex values near 40 C,” the federal agency said in a statement. “Overnight low temperatures are forecast to fall to only 21 to 23 C, providing little relief from the heat.”
A cold front is expected to push through Tuesday evening, which will bring relief from the heat, the agency said.
The warning also includes most of southwestern Ontario, including York, Peel, Durham, and Halton regions. The City of Hamilton, London, Waterloo also fall under the warning. Municipalities as far west as Windsor are also included.
The City of Toronto opened its emergency cooling centres on Monday, which is normally does during a heat warning. The following eight cooling centres will operate from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., except at Metro Hall, which runs 24 hours during the warning:
- East York Civic Centre – 850 Coxwell Ave.
- Etobicoke Civic Centre – 399 The West Mall
- Metro Hall – 55 John St.
- North York Civic Centre – 5100 Yonge St.
- Scarborough Civic Centre – 150 Borough Dr.
- Domenico Di Luca Community Centre – 25 Stanley Rd.
- Don Montgomery Community Centre – 2467 Eglinton Ave.
- Masaryk-Cowan Community Recreation Centre, 220 Cowan Ave.
“Strict infection prevention and control measures will be in place to help prevent the spread of COVID-19,” the City said in a release.
For the latest weather forecast, click here.
Toronto police say a man has been seriously injured following a stabbing at an apartment building Sunday evening.
Police said they were called to an apartment building in the Kingston Road and Glen Everest Road area for a report of a stabbing.
When officers arrived, they found a man with stab wounds. He was transported to the hospital by paramedics in serious condition, police said.
Investigators said they have one person in custody.
Anyone with information is asked to contact the police directly. Tips can also be left anonymously with Crime Stoppers.
Toronto police are searching for a man they allege chased a woman down a North York street with a knife Sunday morning.
Police said the incident occurred on Doris Avenue, near Yonge Street and Sheppard Avenue, at around 10:30 a.m.
Investigators said 37-year-old woman was walking down the street when a man she passed by allegedly took a knife out of his pants and began to chase her.
The woman was able to flag down a nearby motorist and escaped, police said.
The man was last seen walking toward Forrest Laneway, police said.
Investigators describe the suspect as being around 25-30 years old and had short dark hair.
“He was wearing a black t-shirt with lettering on the front, a dark hooded sweater, dark pants with a rip on the right side, and dark shoes,” police said in a news release Sunday.
Anyone with information is asked to contact the police directly. Tips can also be left anonymously with Crime Stoppers.
All Ontarians aged 12 to 17 are eligible for an accelerated second dose of COVID-19 vaccine as of this morning.
Appointments open up at 8 a.m. on the provincial portal, directly through public health units that use their own booking systems, and via participating pharmacies.
The tweens and teens will receive the Pfizer-BioNTech shot _ the only COVID-19 vaccine approved for use in youth in Canada.
The decision to accelerate second doses for youth comes as the province continues to ramp up its vaccination campaign.
Ontario initially booked people in for a second shot four months after their initial dose.
Provincial data shows more than 78 per cent of Ontario adults have at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine, and roughly 44 per cent are fully vaccinated.
OTTAWA — The federal government is expecting to receive 3.7 million more doses of COVID-19 vaccines this week, bringing the total of COVID-19 vaccine deliveries above 53.7 million doses.
The new deliveries will include about 900,000 doses of Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine and 2.8 million doses of Moderna vaccine.
Those shipments will push Canada’s total vaccine deliveries above 53.7 million doses, enough to administer two shots to more than 75 per cent of eligible residents.
With 18 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines expected to arrive in Canada in July, the country will have enough doses to fully vaccinate all 33.2 million Canadians over the age of 12.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau joined the ranks of the fully vaccinated on Friday. He received a shot of the Moderna vaccine at an Ottawa clinic. His wife, Sophie Grégoire Trudeau, got her second dose on Thursday.
Speaking to reporters after getting his shot, Trudeau said he feels “safer and quite optimistic about the summer.”
He said close to 80 per cent of eligible Canadians have already received their first shot of COVID-19 vaccine, and more than 35 per cent have received two doses.
Trudeau said more than 50 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccines have been delivered to Canada and the government expects to receive a total of 68 million by the end of the month.
“We are well on the way to a good summer and an even better fall,” he said.
“That said, we are not out of the woods yet.”
Trudeau said that Yukon is facing its biggest spike in COVID-19 cases since the beginning of the pandemic despite 86 per cent of eligible people having already received their first dose and over 76 per cent with their second.
Yukon’s chief public health officer Dr. Brendan Hanley last week said the territory has the highest active case rate in the country and has asked the federal government for help in controlling the outbreak.
On Friday, there was a total of 146 active cases. Three people have died since the outbreak began. Two others died earlier in the pandemic.
This report was first published by The Canadian Press on July 5, 2021.
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This story was produced with the financial assistance of the Facebook and Canadian Press News Fellowship.
Maan Alhmidi, The Canadian Press
