Canadian Rangers to help distribute vaccines in northern Ontario

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As COVID-19 numbers rise in parts of northern Ontario, the federal government has approved the province's request to again enlist the military to help distribute vaccines in remote communities of the region.

Ottawa's minister of emergency preparedness, Bill Blair, announced Saturday that the Canadian Rangers, who work for the Armed Forces in isolated and coastal regions of the country, will be sent to help First Nations fly-in communities in the province's north.

The mission begins Monday and is scheduled to continue until the end of next March.

"Once again, the Canadian Armed Forces will be leveraging the local cultural and operational experience of the Canadian Rangers to support the effective rollout of this vaccination campaign to vulnerable populations in Northern Ontario," Blair said in a release.

Last January, and again in the spring, the Rangers were part of similar programs to help distribute COVID-19 vaccines to fly-in First Nations in northern Ontario.

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"Since the start of the pandemic, the Rangers have demonstrated steadfast dedication to vaccination efforts in remote and northern communities across the country and we are grateful to have such capable members to call on when indigenous communities need them most," Blair said.

The province is hoping to deliver third doses of a COVID-19 vaccine to all who are eligible; first and second doses for children ages 5-11, once approved; and first and second doses for those aged 12 and over who have not yet been vaccinated.

COVID-19 is making a big comeback in northeastern Ontario.

Active cases in the region have topped 400 and some districts are seeing more people test positive now than at any time in the last 20 months of pandemic.

What's happening across Canada

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As of Saturday, more than 252.8 million cases of COVID-19 had been reported worldwide, according to the global database maintained by U.S.-based Johns Hopkins University. The reported global death toll stood at more than five million.

In Europe, German Chancellor Angela Merkel urged unvaccinated people to reconsider their decision in a video message on Saturday, as the country's seven-day coronavirus incidence rate rose to the highest level since the pandemic began.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, seen in March, urged unvaccinated people in her country to 'please reconsider.' (Michael Kappeler/AFP via Getty Images)

Germany's seven-day incidence rate â€" the number of people per 100,000 to be infected over the last week â€" rose to 277.4 on Saturday, data from the Robert Koch Institute showed. The record in the third wave of the pandemic last December was 197.6.

The German federal government and leaders of the country's 16 states are due to meet next week to discuss tightening measures. However, the three parties negotiating to form a new national government have agreed to let a state of emergency â€" in place since the start of the pandemic â€" expire on Nov. 25 as planned.

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Russia, meanwhile, is reporting a new daily high number of COVID-19 deaths, while the total number of coronavirus infections in the country during the pandemic has topped nine million. Russia imposed a "non-working" week in early November, closing many businesses, with the aim of stemming the surge of infections.

A man in a wheelchair is vaccinated outside a mobile vaccination centre set up in the city of Duisburg, Germany, on Friday. (Ina Fassbender/AFP/Getty Images)

In the Asia-Pacific region, Japan's economic stimulus package aimed at easing the pain of the pandemic will require fiscal spending of over 40 trillion yen (more than $4.4 billion Cdn) the Nikkei business daily reported on Friday. Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has vowed to compile a stimulus package on Nov. 19, Nikkei reported.

In the Americas, a U.S. appeals court on Friday upheld its decision to put on hold an order by U.S. President Joe Biden for companies with 100 workers or more to require COVID-19 vaccines, rejecting a challenge by his administration.

A three-member panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans affirmed its ruling despite the Biden administration's position that halting implementation of the vaccine mandate could lead to dozens or even hundreds of deaths.

In Africa, Moderna has offered to sell its vaccines to the African Union at $7 US a shot, said the head of the Africa Centres for Disease Control, half the price paid by the United States earlier in the year.

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