CTV News has reported that more than 50 percent of Canadians who are eligible to receive a COVID-19 shot have now been fully vaccinated against the novel coronavirus.
The news agency reported Tuesday (July 13) that based on its tracking, 50.06 percent of Canadians of ages 12 and up have received the required two doses in a vaccine series.
CTV News noted that this level is equal to 44 percent of the country’s entire population.
It reported that as of the morning of July 13, Canada has administered more than 16.7 million second shots and over 26.2 million first doses
“While vaccines can greatly reduce infection rates, and evidence suggests vaccinated people who do end up contracting COVID-19 get very mild, if any symptoms, there are some who still experience serious illness,” CTV News reported.
The news outfit also reported that nearly 78.5 per cent of Canadians age 12 and up have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine as of the morning of July 13.
As Philippine Asian News Today went to press Wednesday (July 14), CBC reported that as of 3:45 p.m. Eastern Time, Canada had reported 1,421,726 confirmed cases of COVID-19, with 4,861 considered active.
CBC also reported that Canada’s COVID-19 death toll stood at 26,457 as of July 14.
In addition, citing its own tally, CBC reported that more than 43.6 million COVID-19 vaccine doses have been administered so far across the country.
Also on July 14, the World Health Organization reported that COVID-19 deaths and cases are on the rise again globally.
WHO noted that deaths climbed in the week before after nine straight weeks of decline.
The world agency recorded more than 55,000 lives lost, a three increase from the week before.
Cases rose 10 percent in the previous week to nearly three million, with the highest numbers recorded in Brazil, India, Indonesia and Britain.
An Associated Press report noted that the reversal has been attributed to low vaccination rates, the relaxation of mask rules and other precautions, and the swift spread of the more-contagious Delta variant.
WHO said that the Delta variant has now been identified in 111 countries, and is expected to become globally dominant in the coming months.
Meanwhile, the Philippines has banned travelers from Indonesia from entering the Philippines until the end of July to prevent the spread and community transmission of Covid-19 variants.
The Philippine News Agency reported that Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque announced On July 14 that President Rodrigo Duterte has approved the recommendation to include Indonesia in the list of seven countries currently in the travel restrictions.
Nations already listed in the travel ban are India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, United Arab Emirates, and Oman.
“The Palace confirms that President Rodrigo Roa Duterte has approved the travel restrictions for all travelers coming from Indonesia or those with travel history to Indonesia within the last 14 days preceding arrival in the Philippines,” Roque said in a press statement on July 14.
The Philippine News Agency also said in a separate report on July 14 that the government will keep its goal to achieve population protection before this year ends, as claimed by National ask Force (NTF) against Covid-19 deputy chief implementer, Secretary Vince Dizon.
Dizon, also the country’s testing czar, said in the report there is still no change of plan on the target timeline for population protection as long as the country continues to receive COVID-19 vaccines from different pharmaceutical companies.
“We are not changing our target yet kasi nga alam natin na basta merong bakuna kaya nating maabot yan (because we know that as long as we have vaccines, we can achieve that),” Dizon said in a media briefing at the SM Megamall in Mandaluyong City.
Citing that population protection is still achievable by the end of the year, Dizon, however, said it will still depend on the vaccine supply.
To date, the Philippines has received 21,779,910 total anti-Covid-19 vaccine doses, of which 13,817,358 doses have been administered to healthcare workers, senior citizens, persons with co-morbidities, economic workers, and indigents, across the country.
The Philippine News Agency reported that of the said number, 9,932,127 Filipinos have received their first shots of Covid-19 vaccines, while 3,885,896 were fully vaccinated.
Also on July 14, the Department of Health (DOH) confirmed another 3,806 new cases of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) across the Philippines.
The country’s active cases stood at 44,408.
Of this figure, 90 percent have mild symptoms, 3.5 percent are asymptomatic, 1.7 percent are critically ill, 2.8 percent are in severe condition, and 1.95 percent have moderate symptoms.
The DOH said that another 6,296 patients were added to the tally of recoveries. The total number of COVID-19 survivors climbed to 1,414,817 or 95.2 percent of the overall tally of cases.
However, the death toll increased to 26,232 after 140 new fatalities were confirmed, including the 105 cases that were previously tagged as recoveries but were “reclassified as deaths after final validation, the DOH said.
The DOH also said that nine duplicate cases were also removed from the total case count.
