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The latest news on COVID-19 developments in Canada for Tuesday, May 4, 2021

May 4, 2021 | 9:42 AM

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

11:35 a.m.

Canada is receiving a shipment of Moderna vaccine a week earlier than expected.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says Canada is picking up its next shipment of Moderna vaccine tonight in Europe.

He says by tomorrow morning, a million Moderna doses will be on the ground in Canada.

Trudeau also says this week, just like every week in May, Canada is receiving two million doses from Pfizer-BioNTech alone.

11:15 a.m.

The Quebec government is reporting 797 cases of COVID-19 as well as 16 additional deaths due to the pandemic.

Hospitalizations increased by six to 594, while the number of people in intensive care rose by four to 155.

The province administered another 50,379 vaccine doses in the past 24 hours and added 1,762 from previous days to its tally, for a total of 3,308,542 total doses given to date.

Health Minister Christian Dubé says at least 75 per cent of Quebecers age 55 to 59 have now booked their first shots, but that the province wants to surpass that target in order to maximize herd immunity.

11 a.m.

Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet says he supports the idea of a vaccine passport for international travel.

Blanchet says countries should work toward a common definition of safe inoculation, and then allow international travel by passengers with proper certification.

Blanchet says the main hurdle is the United States, which so far has been reluctant to take steps toward vaccine passports.

Health Minister Patty Hajdu said recently that the federal government is working on a form of certification to allow vaccinated Canadians to travel abroad again.

10:50 a.m.

Health officials on Prince Edward Island are reporting one new case of COVID-19.

Chief medical officer of health Dr. Heather Morrison says the latest case involves a person in their 50s who travelled outside of Atlantic Canada.

There are now seven active cases of COVID-19 in the province, and there have been 183 cases since the onset of the pandemic.

10:30 a.m.

Ontario reports that there are 2,791 new cases of COVID-19 in the province and 25 more deaths linked to the virus.

Health Minister Christine Elliott says 931 of those new cases are in Toronto, 653 are in Peel Region, and 275 are in York Region.

Over 88,000 doses of a COVID-19 vaccine were administered in Ontario since Monday’s report, for a total of more than 5.4 million doses.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 4, 2021.

The Canadian Press

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