Coronavirus (COVID-19) National News

More than two million Canadians have received AstraZeneca and 17 have been confirmed to have VITT. Three women have died.

Sarah Otto, a University of British Columbia professor, said the disease's reproductive rate is hard to pinpoint, which makes it difficult to establish a herd immunity target.

Edmonton New Democrat MP Heather McPherson blasted Premier Jason Kenney and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for their handling of Alberta's COVID-19 spread.

Among them, 1,566 tested positive for a variant of concern and another 134 tested positive for a variant of interest. More than 95 per cent of the variants of concern are B.1.1.7, first identified in the United Kingdom.

NACI said Monday that the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines are "preferred" and that Canadians should weigh the risks of waiting for one of them before deciding whether to take a more immediate jab of either of the other two approved for use in Canada.

Pfizer and BioNTech have been consistently delivering around one million doses from Brussels each week since mid-March, but those numbers will double over the next month before increasing further in June.

The facility where some of the vaccines were manufactured was recently cited for violations including cleaning and sterilization failures, the potential for cross-contamination and failure to follow required protocols.

Data supplied to The Canadian Press by the Public Health Agency of Canada show that between Feb. 22 and April 22, 557 international air travellers tested positive for a variant of concern.

OTTAWA — Governments are looking at new limits for travel both into and within Canada, as the third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic continues to set heartbreaking records.

OTTAWA — The first federal budget in more than two years extends Ottawa’s COVID-19 "lifeline" for workers and struggling businesses another few months as it aims to pull Canada through the pandemic once and for all.