Canada added 6,345 new infections of the novel coronavirus on Tuesday, as the mass vaccination effort against the virus continued.
The new cases and fatalities come as doses of a vaccine continue to be unpacked and thawed for use across the country.
The first doses of the Pfizer–BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine were administered yesterday in Quebec and Ontario.
The initial shipment of 30,000 vaccines is being split between the provinces on a per-capita basis.
Speaking at a press conference on Tuesday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced that Canada has secured 168,000 coronavirus vaccines from American biotechnology company Moderna that, pending regulatory approval, should arrive before the end of December.
“These doses are part of the guaranteed 40-million doses we have secured from Moderna,” he said. “Deliveries could begin within 48 hours of regulatory approval.”
Trudeau said this moves Canada “even further forward on getting Canadians protected as quickly as possible.”
He said the regulatory process for the Moderna vaccine candidate is “ongoing.”
“Again I want to assure Canadians that any vaccine approved in Canada will be both safe and effective,” he said.
New cases in the provinces
In Ontario, 2,248 new cases and 20 more fatalities were reported on Tuesday.
The new numbers bring the province’s total case count to 144,396 and death toll to 3,992.
Meanwhile, in Quebec — Canada’s viral epicentre — 1,741 new infections were detected, bringing the total caseload to 167,276.
Provincial health authorities said another 38 people have died, pushing the total number of deaths in Quebec to 7,571.
Manitoba added 271 new cases and nine new deaths on Tuesday.
Since the pandemic began, the province has seen 21,535 confirmed COVID-19 infections and 508 fatalities.
Saskatchewan, meanwhile, added 194 new COVID-19 infections, pushing its total caseload to 12,432. Another seven people have died after testing positive for the virus, officials said, bringing the provincial death toll to 98.
Eight new cases of the novel coronavirus were reported in Atlantic Canada on Tuesday.
Nova Scotia saw six new cases of the virus, while health officials in Newfoundland and Labrador and New Brunswick each reported one new infection.
To date, Nova Scotia has seen 1,426 cases, while Newfoundland and Labrador and New Brunswick have reported and 359 and 559 respectively.
Prince Edward Island’s total case count remained at 89.
None of the maritime provinces, or Newfoundland, reported any additional deaths.
Western Canada saw more than 2,000 new cases of the virus on Tuesday.
Health officials in Alberta said 1,341 new infections have been identified, and 11 more people have died. The new numbers bring the province’s caseload to 83,327 and the death toll to 744.
Meanwhile, in British Columbia, 514 new infections were reported, pushing the total number of cases to 43,069. Officials also said another 21 people have died, bringing B.C.’s death toll to 668.
The province also reported eight new epidemiologically-linked cases, meaning they have not yet been confirmed by a laboratory.
New cases in the territories
Three more people in the country’s territories have contracted COVID-19, health officials said.
Nunavut reported two new cases, bringing the total number of infections in the region to 258. The territory has not yet seen a death related to the virus.
The Northwest Territories added one new case of COVID-19, pushing the total number of infections to 22. So far, 15 people have recovered after contracting the illness.
No new cases of the novel coronavirus were detected in Yukon, meaning their total number of infections remained at 59. Fifty-seven people have recovered after falling ill in the territory, and one person has died.
Global cases
Since the virus was first detected late last year, it has infected 73,365,192 people worldwide, according to a tally from Johns Hopkins University.
As of 7:30 p.m. ET, the virus has claimed 1,632,554 lives globally.
The United States remained the viral epicentre on Tuesday, with more than 16.6 million confirmed cases of COVID-19. To date, 303,292 people have died in the U.S. after testing positive for the virus.