The latest news on COVID-19 developments in Canada (all times eastern):
11:30 a.m.
Edmonton’s mayor says flags on municipal buildings will fly at half-mast to honour those who have lost their lives to COVID-19.
Don Iveson says the city’s iconic High Level Bridge across the North Saskatchewan River will be lit in white to mark the national day of observance.
There have 810 deaths from COVID-19 recorded in the Alberta capital, which has a population of just under a million people.
Nearly 2,000 people have died from COVID-19 across the province.
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11:15 a.m.
Ontario reported 1,092 new cases of COVID-19 today and has surpassed a million total vaccine doses administered.
Health Minister Christine Elliott says 293 new cases are in Toronto, 199 are in Peel Region, and 79 are in York Region.
More than 40,000 vaccine doses were administered since Wednesday's update, taking Ontario past the million-dose milestone.
Ten more deaths were linked to the virus in Ontario.
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11 a.m.
Quebec is reporting 738 new COVID-19 cases and 15 more deaths attributed to the novel coronavirus, including three in the past 24 hours.
Health officials said today hospitalizations dropped by 18, to 563, and 111 people were in intensive care, a drop of one.
Officials say they administered 18,659 vaccine doses on Wednesday, for a total of 619,060.
Quebec has reported a total of 295,390 COVID-19 cases and 10,518 deaths linked to the virus; there are 7,134 active reported infections in the province.
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10:35 a.m.
Bloc Quebecois Leader Yves-Francois Blanchet is using a white rose in the House of Commons to remember those who have died from COVID-19 over the past year.
Blanchet is also calling for Canada to address the inequality and shortcomings in the national health-care system that were exposed during the pandemic.
He is also marking the sacrifices of health-care and other front-line workers, many of whom are women.
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10:20 a.m.
Federal Conservative Leader Erin O'Toole is using an address in the House of Commons marking the one-year anniversary of the start of the COVID-19 pandemic by listing the many ways in which Canadians have suffered over the past year.
He's also criticizing the Liberal government for what he describes as the slow pace of vaccinations to date.
O'Toole says many Canadians have lost their jobs over the past year, while many others are struggling with mental-health challenges, domestic violence and opioid addictions.
The Conservative leader says most Canadians remain unsure when they will get vaccinated, and Canada must learn from the past 12 months and ensure the country is not caught by surprise again in the future.
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10:10 a.m.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is marking the one-year anniversary of the World Health Organization declaring COVID-19 a pandemic by remembering the more than 20,000 people who have died from the illness.
Speaking in the House of Commons, Trudeau also praised the health-care workers, military personnel and others who have stepped up over the last year to help Canadians through the pandemic.
The prime minister describes the past 12 months as "a tough year, a heartbreaking year, but it is a year we have faced together."
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10 a.m.
U.S.-based vaccine maker Moderna says it has now started giving doses of a B.1.351 COVID-19 variant booster shot to 60 people who have already been vaccinated with the company's original shot.
The phase two trial is testing various combinations, including two different sizes of doses of just the booster shot that has adjusted the original vaccine to account for the changes seen in the variant first identified in South Africa.
A third version combines both the original vaccine and the booster shot, attempting to see if one jab can cover the original virus and the new variant.
Lab tests showed Moderna's original vaccine did produce antibodies when put up against multiple variants of the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes COVID-19, but the level of response against B.1.351 was as much as six times less than that against the original virus.
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This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 11, 2021.
The Canadian Press
