Coronavirus: What’s happening in Canada and around the world on Wednesday – CBC.ca

The latest:

More Ontarians living in designated hot spots for the delta COVID-19 variant are eligible to book earlier second vaccine doses starting today.

Health units covering Toronto, Peel, Halton, Porcupine, Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph, Waterloo and York, Hamilton, Simcoe-Muskoka and Durham are considered hot spots for the more infectious virus variant.

People in those health units who received a first dose of an mRNA vaccine on or before May 30 can move up their second shots today.

The provincial vaccine booking portal openedto those eligible at 8 a.m. ET.

The province says sometime next week, all adults who received a first dose of Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna's product can book a second appointment as soon as 28 days after their initial shot.

Second doses were initially booked four months after the first in Ontario but the province is shortening that timeline as more vaccine is expected to arrive in theprovince.

Health officials inOntarioonWednesday reported 11 additional deaths and 255 new cases of COVID-19.

-From The Canadian Press, last updated at 9:55a.m. ET

As of 11:25 a.m. ET on Wednesday, Canada had reported 1,410,596confirmed cases of COVID-19, with 10,586 considered active. A CBC News tally of deaths stood at 26,169.More than 33.2 million COVID-19 vaccine doses have been administered so far across the country, according toCBC's vaccine tracker.

InQuebec, health officials on Wednesday reported three additional deaths and 127 new cases of COVID-19. The update came a day after the premier announced a further easing of restrictions set to begin Friday.

Across the North on Wednesday, there were no new cases reported inNunavut. Health officials inYukonand theNorthwest Territorieshadn't provided updated information for the day.

Police saidtraffic wasat a standstillWednesdayalong the Trans-Canada Highway at Nova Scotia's boundary with New Brunswick as a protest continuedover COVID-19 travel restrictions. The protest came afterPremier Iain Rankin announced on Tuesday that Nova Scotia would impose modified quarantine rules on people coming from New Brunswick.

In Atlantic Canada on Tuesday, health officials reported a total of four cases of COVID-19, including:

There were no new cases inPrince Edward Island, where officials are ramping up hiring to deal with the P.E.I. Pass travel document system.

In the Prairie provinces on Tuesday,Manitobareported 69 new cases of COVID-19. Health officials also reported five deaths, including one involving a patient being treated out of province.

Saskatchewan,meanwhile, reported no new deaths and 36 new cases of COVID-19. The update came as officials said more than one million doses of COVID-19 vaccine had been administered in the province.

InAlberta, health officials on Tuesdayreported one death and 57 new cases of COVID-19.

InBritish Columbia, health officials said Tuesday that more than one million people in the province had been fully vaccinated against COVID-19. The news came as the province reported no new deaths and 56 additional cases of COVID-19.

-From CBC News and The Canadian Press, last updated at 11:25 a.m. ET

As of early Wednesday morning, more than179.1 million cases of COVID-19 had been reported worldwide, according to the data reported by Johns Hopkins University's case tracking tool. The reported global death toll stood at more than 3.8 million.

In the Middle East, Abu Dhabi is offering tourists free COVID-19 vaccinations, previously restricted to United Arab Emirates citizens and residency visa holders.

In Europe, the mayor of Moscowannounced new coronavirus restrictions on Tuesday, saying that "the situation with the coronavirus remains very difficult" in the Russian capital.

In the Americas,Colombia reached 100,000 confirmed deaths from COVID-19 this week, becoming just the tenth country in the world to hit the unwanted milestone.

The South American nation of 50 million has been registering a growing number of daily cases since April, and over the past seven days it had the world's third-highest per capita death rate from COVID-19, according to data published by Oxford University and Johns Hopkins University's COVID tracker.

InAfrica,the WHO said Tuesday that the number of reported cases on the continent had risen to more than 5.2 million, with more than137,000 deaths. South Africa, the hardest-hit country on the continent, reported more than 11,000 new cases on Tuesday.

In theAsia-Pacificregion,India's vaccinations over the next few weeks could fall short of the pace set on the first day of a federal campaign, experts said.

Australia's most-populous state reported its biggest daily increase in cases in nearly a week, while New Zealand paused quarantine-free travel with the state.

-From The Associated Press, Reuters and CBC News, last updated at 7 a.m. ET

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Coronavirus: What's happening in Canada and around the world on Wednesday - CBC.ca