Coronavirus: What's happening in Canada and around the world on Friday

The latest:

• U.S. to accept international travellers inoculated with WHO-approved vaccines.

• New COVID-19 cases in Canada on a downward trend for first time in months.

• 157,000 new jobs in September get Canada's economy back above pre-pandemic level.

• RCMP union warns Mounties of consequences if they don't get vaccinated.

• Fully vaccinated and ready to travel abroad? You might still face hurdles.

• The federal government's requirement for proof of vaccination to travel domestically starts Oct. 30. Here's what to know.

• As schools roll out rapid testing for COVID-19, different approaches emerge.

• Not sure what to do about Thanksgiving plans? Your questions answered.

• What we know about Merck's experimental pill to treat COVID-19.

• Have a coronavirus question or news tip for CBC News? Email:Covid@cbc.ca.

The number of Americans getting COVID-19 vaccines has steadily increased to a three-month high as seniors and people with medical conditions seek boosters, and government and employer mandates push more workers to take their first doses.

Demand is expected to spike in a few weeks if regulators authorize the Pfizer-BioNtech vaccine for elementary school children, and some states are reopening mass vaccination clinics in anticipation.

In Missouri, a mass vaccination site at a former Toys R Us store is set to open Monday. Virginia plans to roll out nine large vaccination centres over the next few weeks, including one at the Richmond International Raceway.

Colorado opened four mass vaccination sites in mid-September, largely to deal with employer mandates, and officials saw a 38 per centincrease in vaccinations statewide during the first week.

The total number of doses being administered in the U.S. is climbing toward an average of onemillion per day, almost double the level from mid-July but still far below last spring. The increase is mainly due to boosters, with nearly 10 per centof the nation's over-65 population already getting third shots, but there are signs of increased demand from other groups as well.

On Thursday, 1.1 million doses were given, including just over 306,000 to newly vaccinated people, said Dr. Cyrus Shahpar, the White House COVID-19 data director.

Organizers of the effort to reach the roughly 67 million unvaccinated American adults say the rise in demand can be traced to approval of the Pfizer booster, mandates that have forced employees to choose between the shot and their jobs and sobering statistics that show nearly all COVID-19 deaths are among the unvaccinated.

"We're seeing people who need the shot to keep a job," said Dr. Ricardo Gonzalez-Fisher, who runs a mobile vaccine clinic mostly for Latinos in Colorado.

Last week, the number of people getting shots at a mall in Charlottesville, Va., doubled over the previous week, said Ryan McKay, who oversees COVID-19 operations for the Blue Ridge Health District.

The big push now, he said, is in neighbourhoods where rates are low. The health district has set up mobile clinics at weekend basketball tournaments, high school football games and even at a corner market where 20 people were vaccinated in a day.

"Those 20 vaccinations sound small, but it's really a huge success," McKay said.

U.S. Vice-President Kamala Harris stopped Friday at vaccine centre in Newark, N.J., where she met with patients and health-care workers and encouraged people to get the shot.

"There will be an end to this," she said. "We really feel we are starting to get in front of this."

Health officials in Springfield, Mo., an early epicentre of the delta surge, are opening the new vaccination site at the former toy store because they anticipate seeing an influx of people.

Roughly 28 million more U.S. children could be eligible for reduced-dose kids' shots as early as November if regulators give their approval. Regulators have yet to take up the question of booster shots for people who got the Moderna or the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, but that's likely coming soon.

"All told, in the coming weeks and months, we are expecting more than 120,000 people to seek vaccine," said Jon Mooney, assistant director of the Springfield-Greene County Health Department. "We are already experiencing increased demand in the last week or two."

What's happening across Canada

WATCH |Thanksgiving gatherings allowed in most of Canada but limits vary:

Thanksgiving gatherings allowed in most of Canada with varying limits

3 years ago

Duration 2:02

With high vaccination rates helping stabilize Canada's COVID-19 situation, some jurisdictions are allowing more people to gather for Thanksgiving this year than in 2020. But people should be aware of the rules in their part of the country.

• B.C. seniors call for COVID-19 boosters amid rising death toll.
  
• New COVID-19 modelling suggests restrictions helping Alberta turn corner on pandemic.
  
• Sask. premier wants Ottawa to send 1 million rapid COVID-19 tests a month.
  
• Manitoba posts highest daily COVID-19 case count since mid-June, with 132 new cases.

• N.W.T. deals with worst COVID-19 outbreak yet aspremier says more federal help on the way with oxygen to treat patients

• Torontonians 12 and over will have to show proof of vaccinationto playindoor sports.

• N.B. sees31 people in ICU due to COVID,Vitalit Health Network moves to 'red alert.'

• N.S. reports 25 new cases of COVID-19 on Friday.

• 18% of P.E.I. child-care workers not fully vaccinated, province reveals.

• N.L.'s vaccine passport rolls out Friday. Here's how it works.

What's happening around the world

As of Friday afternoon, more than 237 million cases of COVID-19 had been reported worldwide, according to Johns Hopkins University's coronavirus-tracking tool. The reported global death toll stood at more than 4.8million.

In Europe,Italy has decided to provide a booster shot of Pfizer-BioNTech's COVID-19 vaccine to frail people regardless of their age, as well as people aged 60 and over, the health ministry said on Friday. The booster dose would be available on condition that at least six months have passed since people completed their primary vaccination cycle, the ministry said in a statement.

Africa's top public health official has issued a strong reminder about the danger of the continent not having enough doses of COVID-19 vaccines, saying thatgetting the vaccination rate in Africa up quickly is "a way to ensure the collective security of everybody."

Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director John Nkengasong said Thursday that while Moderna'sintention to build a vaccine-manufacturing plant in Africa was "very much welcomed," it "doesn't necessarily solve the problem of today," which is "to get these vaccines in the arms of people as quickly as possible."

Nkengasong said 35 countries are still experiencing a "severe" third wave of infections, but Africa had a 20 per centaverage decrease in new cases over the past four weeks.

The continent of 1.3 billion people has only been able to administer 156 million doses of vaccines out of the 200 million it has so far received. Its full vaccination rate has nudgedup to 4.57 per cent.

In the Americas, Brazil was set on Friday to become the second country in the world to surpass 600,000 COVID-19 deaths. More than 70 per centof Brazilians have received a first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, compared to 65 per centin the United States, which has logged more than 700,000 deaths.

In Asia,Japan has struck a deal with Pfizerto be supplied with another 120 million COVID-19 vaccine doses from January 2022, its health ministry said on Friday.The country arranged to buy about 194 million doses in 2020, or enough for 97 million people.