Today's coronavirus news: Ontarians aged 12 to 17 now eligible for accelerated second dose; Canada to receive 3.7 million more COVID-19 doses this week - StCatharinesStandard.ca

The latest coronavirus news from Canada and around the world Monday. This file will be updated throughout the day. Web links to longer stories if available.

7:31 a.m.: President Joe Biden says the American people are closer than ever to declaring independence from a deadly virus.

The president made the comments Sunday at a July Fourth celebration at the White House.

He told the crowd of service members and first responders to think back to where this nation was a year ago and think about how far the nation has come.

During the brief and optimistic comments, Biden said that thanks to the power of science, the country is seeing a return to normal and the return of economic health.

But he warned that the nation has not defeated the virus, and he encouraged those who have not been vaccinated to get their shots. He said the vaccines are important for the nation to avoid where it was a year ago. The crowd at the upbeat event was chanting “Biden, Biden, Biden” as he came out to address them.

7:30 a.m.: Luxembourg Prime Minister Xavier Bettel has been hospitalized and is under observation “as a precautionary measure” after testing positive for COVID-19 a week earlier.

A government official, who spoke on customary condition of anonymity, said there was no update with new information early Monday after Bettel had been taken in for 24 hours of testing and medical analysis on Sunday.

The 48-year-old Bettel announced his positive test just after he had attended an European Union summit with 26 other leaders from the bloc for two days. At first he experienced only mild symptoms. But on Sunday, he had to be hospitalized.

EU summit organizers said they were confident that all virus precaution measures had been strictly adhered to during the two-day meeting. So far, no other leader has said he or she tested positive.

7:28 a.m.: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is expected to unveil plans Monday to scrap mandatory mask-wearing and social distancing in England in two weeks’ time, despite surging coronavirus infections driven by the highly contagious Delta variant.

Johnson said he would set out how the country would “learn to live with this virus” — a major shift in tone from a leader who has previously painted COVID-19 as an enemy to be vanquished.

Before a televised news conference on Monday afternoon, Johnson signalled that mandatory measures would be replaced by personal choice after July 19, the date dubbed “freedom day” by Britain's populist press.

“As we begin to learn to live with this virus, we must all continue to carefully manage the risks from COVID and exercise judgment when going about our lives,” Johnson said.

That message will be welcomed by lockdown-skeptic lawmakers in Johnson’s governing Conservative Party, who say the economic and social damage of restrictions outweighs the public health benefits.

But public health officials and scientists have urged caution, saying ditching masks and social distancing altogether could be dangerous. Psychologist Stephen Reicher, a member of the government’s scientific advisory committee, said “proportionate mitigations” against the spread of the virus should stay in place.

5:45 a.m.: 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.

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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.

5:44 a.m.: 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.

Monday 5:43 a.m.: Parts of Indonesia lack oxygen supplies as the number of critically ill COVID-19 patients who need it increases, the nation’s pandemic response leader said Monday, after dozens of sick people died at a public hospital that ran out of its central supply.

“Due to an increase of three to four times the amount (of oxygen) needed, the distribution has been hampered,” said Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, the co-ordinating maritime affairs and investment minister.

The government is asking oxygen producers to dedicate their full supply to medical needs and will import it if needed, Pandjaitan said at the virtual news conference.

This statement comes after Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikit said the government guaranteed oxygen supply for COVID-19 patients on June 26.

Read Sunday’s coronavirus news.

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Today's coronavirus news: Ontarians aged 12 to 17 now eligible for accelerated second dose; Canada to receive 3.7 million more COVID-19 doses this week - StCatharinesStandard.ca
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