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

The latest:

• Advisory body recommends 3rd vaccine dose for some immunocompromised Canadians.

• As delta surges among unvaccinated, how a focus on science can counter misinformation.

• 'Profound effect' of COVID-19 is transforming Canada's labour market.

• BioNTech to seek global approval to use its vaccine in 5- to 11-year-olds,report says.

• Toronto Raptors get green light to play at Scotiabank Arena this upcoming season.

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

New U.S. studies released Friday show COVID-19 vaccines remained highly effective against hospitalizations and death even as the extra-contagious delta variant swept the country.

One study tracked over 600,000 COVID-19 cases in 13 states from April through mid-July. As delta surged in early summer, those who were unvaccinated were 4.5 times more likely than the fully vaccinated to get infected, over 10 times more likely to be hospitalized and 11 times more likely to die, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

"Vaccination works," Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of theCDC, told a White House briefing Friday.

"The bottom line is this: We have the scientific tools we need to turn the corner on this pandemic."

So-called "breakthrough" cases in the fully vaccinated accounted for 14 per cent of hospitalizations and 16 per centof deaths in June and July, about twice the percentage as earlier in the year.

An increase in those percentages isn't surprising: health experts have warned that as more Americans get vaccinated, they naturally will account for a greater fraction of the cases.

Walensky said Friday that well over 90 per centof people in U.S. hospitals with COVID-19 are unvaccinated.

The CDC released two other studies Friday that signaled hints of waning protection for older adults. One examined COVID-19 hospitalizations in nine states over the summer and found protection for those 75 and older was 76 per centcompared to 89 per centfor all other adults.

WATCH |COVID-19 surge filling ICUs in the U.S.:

COVID-19 surge filling ICUs in the U.S.

3 years ago

Duration 1:50

The latest surge in COVID-19 cases is pushing intensive care units to the brink in the U.S. and killing 1,500 people per day as summer winds down and officials plan to roll out booster vaccinations later in September.

And in five Veterans Affairs Medical Centers, protection against COVID-19 hospitalizations was 95 per centamong 18- to 64-year-olds compared to 80 per cent among those 65 and older.

It isn't clear if the changes seen over time are because immunity is waning in people first vaccinated many months ago, that the vaccine isn't quite as strong against delta or that much of the country abandoned masks and other precautions just as delta started spreading.

But U.S. health authorities will consider this latest real-world data as they decide whetherat least some Americans need a booster, and how soon after their last dose. Next week, advisers to the Food and Drug Administration will publicly debate Pfizer's application to offer a third shot.

What's happening across Canada

• B.C. announces nine more deaths most in a day since Feb. 25 and820 new cases.

• Doctors call for stronger measuresas Alberta reports 1,473 new cases and 10 deaths.

• Saskatchewan reinstates isolation rulefor those who test positive.

• More than 80 per cent of Manitoba's105 new cases are among unvaccinated.

• Ontario registers new 848 cases, 11 more deaths.

• Quebec confirms 879 new cases, four additional deaths.

• N.B. sees 24 new cases as Ottawa stops vaccine shipment to province.

• Alta. man charged with assault after allegedly refusing to go through P.E.I. airportscreening.

• N.S. logs11 new cases,10 in the province's central zone.

• N.L. activecaseload ticks up to 45 with a dozen new cases reported.

• Yellowknifeday shelter closes indefinitely due to anoutbreak.

What's happening around the world

As of Friday, more than223.2 million cases of COVID-19 had been reported worldwide, according to Johns Hopkins University's COVID-19 case tracking tool. The reported global death toll stood at 4.6 million.

In Africa,South Africa has started vaccinating children and adolescents as part of the global Phase 3 clinical trials of China's Sinovac Biotech shot for children aged sixmonths to 17 years.The global study will enroll 2,000 participants in South Africa and 12,000 others in Kenya, the Philippines, Chile and Malaysia.

In Europe,Denmark's high vaccination rate has allowedthe Scandinavian country to become one of the first European Union nations to lift all domestic restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic. The return to normality has been gradual, but as of Friday, a digital pass showing proof of vaccinationis no longer required when entering nightclubs, making it the last virus safeguard to fall. More than 80 per cent of people above the age of 12 have had the two shots required.

In Asia,Sri Lanka is extending a lockdown for another week as it struggles against a coronavirus surge. The lockdown was first imposed on Aug. 20.Doctors and trade unions have warned that hospitals and morgues have reached their maximum capacities during the ongoing surge caused by the delta variant of the coronavirus.

In the Americas, an analysis by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) which included countries in South America's "Southern Cone," as well as Mexico showed women overall taking the biggest employment hit in Latin America when COVID-19 struck last year. According to the UNDP,women more often work in sectors most impacted by the pandemic, including tourism, commerce and education. Entrenched gender imbalances also has meant women have faced the lion's share of unpaid domestic work and care-giving, sharpened by lengthy school closures in the region.