The Ontario government is looking to expand its COVID-19 testing in pharmacies to include symptomatic individuals, states a memo obtained by Global News from a Shoppers Drug Mart pharmacist. Currently, only those people who show no symptoms are allowed to walk into pharmacies such as Shoppers Drug Mart to take a COVID-19 PCR test. “The Ministry of…
Category: Community News
The roadblock to full pandemic recovery: ‘Pockets’ of unvaccinated Canadians
Vaxx Populi: Reaching tracts of unjabbed rural residents is one of the last key steps toward a pre-COVID normal. But are they willing to get their shots? “The devil is in the details” is an expression perfectly suited to Canada’s vaccination strategy, for what looks good on a national map tends to appear less positive…
Childhood vaccination is a pathway out of the pandemic and parents should embrace it
As early as this week, Health Canada could give the green light to a pediatric formulation of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine. That means the 2.7 million Canadian children aged 5 to 11 could start getting their shots before Christmas. Regulatory approval will set the stage for what is arguably the most important childhood vaccination campaign since polio…
Ontario assisting about a dozen LTC homes as first-dose deadline hits
Fewer than a dozen nursing homes needed staffing help from the Ontario government on Monday as the deadline for workers to get a first COVID-19 vaccine dose came due, according to the Minister of Long-Term Care. “We are working closely with any facilities that have been in touch with us,” Rod Phillips said at a…
COVID-19 vaccinations for young children now expected to start later
Toronto had hoped to start vaccinating children aged five to 11 against COVID-19 next week, but now expects anxious parents will have to wait a little longer. “We had hoped that the (Health Canada) approvals would be forthcoming in time for us to have some fairly large and widespread activities that led to child vaccination…
COVID-19 vaccine boosters for all adults is a ‘slippery slope,’ expert warns
An infectious disease expert has voiced his disapproval of COVID-19 vaccine boosters becoming available for all adults in Canada. Dr. Neil Rau, who is also an assistant professor of medicine at the University of Toronto, said on The Roy Green Show on Sunday that Canada has to be “pragmatic” when it comes to how we distribute the boosters. He…
Feds Say Canada’s COVID-19 Benefits Are Likely To Cost $7.4 Billion Over The Next 7 Months
This includes the new Canada Worker Lockdown Benefit.👇💰 The federal government says the cost of extending Canada’s COVID-19 benefits could exceed $7 billion between October 2021 and May 2022. Speaking on October 21, Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland announced details of the Canada Worker Lockdown Benefit in addition to proposing extensions to both the Canada Recovery Sickness Benefit and the Canada Recovery…
Nurses take aim at Ford in Nathan Phillips protest, calling wage-cap bill a ‘slap in the face’
Despite rain and single-digit temperatures, dozens of Ontario nurses rallied at Nathan Phillips Square Sunday afternoon, demanding the immediate end of a provincial bill that has hobbled their wages for the last three years. Should it remain, nursing organization leaders say they vow to fight to remove Premier Doug Ford from office come the next election. Enacted…
Ontario’s government is weirdly unprepared for the pandemic’s fourth wave
Ontario is back in the fourth wave of the pandemic. The experts announced the news quietly. “We’re definitely out of the honeymoon phase and back in the fourth wave,” science table director Dr. Peter Juni said Monday. Health Minister Christine Elliott said the news wouldn’t interfere with the provincial government’s ambitious plans to reopen the economy….
Two new Delta offshoots have emerged in Western Canada. It’s a warning, say disease experts
The emergence of two sublineages of the COVID-19 Delta variant in Western Canada holds important lessons for the rest of the country on the consequences of allowing a virus to spread unchecked, infectious disease experts say. But it’s yet to be known if the sublineages, called AY.25 and AY.27, are more effective at replicating or…