The latest news on COVID-19 developments in Canada for Monday, Jan. 18

The latest news on COVID-19 developments in Canada (all times Eastern):

6:30 p.m.

British Columbia’s top doctor says production delays for the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine are a setback that will temporarily slow down the delivery of first doses in the province.

But Dr. Bonnie Henry says B.C. is still on track to vaccinate its most vulnerable residents by the end of March, ahead of a significant scaling up of its immunization program in April.

Henry says more than 87,000 people have received their first doses of COVID-19 vaccine and the very first people to receive the shot in B.C. will get their second dose tomorrow.

B.C. recorded 1,330 new cases of COVID-19 over the last three days and 31 more people have died, pushing the death toll in the province to 1,078.

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6:15 p.m.

Alberta is reporting 474 new cases of COVID-19 and 11 additional deaths.

The province says there are 739 people in hospital with the illness, and 120 of those are in intensive care.

Earlier today, Premier Jason Kenney said the province is pausing first-dose vaccination appointments, because Pfizer-BioNTech is cutting back on deliveries.

He says Alberta expects to run out of doses by the end of today or early tomorrow.

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3:10 p.m.

Prince Edward Island is reporting four new cases of COVID-19 today.

Three of the infections are linked to travel outside Atlantic Canada while the fourth case is a close contact of a previously reported case.

Prince Edward Island has 10 active reported COVID-19 infections.

The province has identified a total of 108 infections since the start of the pandemic.

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2:40 p.m.

Health officials are reporting 290 new COVID-19 infections in Saskatchewan.

The province says four more residents have died from the virus, all of whom were 60 and older.

Federal data shows Saskatchewan has the highest rate of active cases per capita in Canada.

There are 210 people in hospital, with 30 people in intensive care.

As of Monday, the province reports having administered more than 22,000 vaccine shots.

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2:15 p.m.

Nova Scotia is reporting no new cases of COVID-19 today.

Health officials say the number of active cases has also fallen to 25 from 29 yesterday.

Chief medical officer of health Dr. Robert Strang notes that it’s the second time this month the province has reported no new cases but it’s not a sign that the virus is no longer in the province.

Strang is urging the public to continue to follow public health measures.

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2:05 p.m.

New Brunswick is reporting 26 new cases of COVID-19 today.

There are now 304 active reported cases in the province, including one person in hospital with the disease.

As of today, 10,436 doses of vaccine have been administered in New Brunswick and 7,339 people have received two doses.

The province has reported 973 infections since the start of the pandemic and 12 COVID-19 related deaths.

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1:45 p.m.

Manitoba health officials are announcing 118 new COVID-19 cases and four additional deaths. 

Dr. Brent Roussin, the province’s chief public health officer, says case numbers have been dropping, but Manitoba is not out of the woods yet. 

He says the province is looking at easing some restrictions in the coming days, but any changes will be done cautiously.

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11:15 a.m.

Quebec is reporting 1,634 new COVID-19 cases and 32 more deaths attributed to the novel coronavirus.

Authorities say today’s numbers include about 200 infections that were left out of Sunday’s tally due to a transmission delay.

Hospitalizations had been dropping for three consecutive days until today, when officials reported a rise of 31 patients, for a total of 1,491, and a rise of two people in intensive care, to 217.

Quebec has reported 244,348 infections and 9,087 deaths linked to the virus since the start of the pandemic. 

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10:30 a.m.

There are 2,578 new cases of COVID-19 in Ontario today and 24 more deaths attributed to the novel coronavirus.

Ontario is also reporting that 40,300 tests were completed since the last daily update.

Health Minister Christine Elliott says there are 815 new cases of COVID-19 in Toronto and 507 in Peel Region.

More than 9,600 doses of a COVID-19 vaccine have been administered since Ontario’s last daily report.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 18, 2021.

The Canadian Press