Vaxx Populi: In 2020-21, Canada saw just 69 confirmed cases of influenza. Some experts worry we may have lower immunity to the flu, after nearly two years of social distancing. The email from FluWatchers arrives in my inbox every Tuesday morning, asking me to click through to a Health Canada website to answer two questions: have I…
Category: Community News
Ontario COVID-19 modelling shows ICU numbers stable, but likely to rise
Ontario’s COVID-19 cases are rising in most public health units across the province, with hospitalizations and intensive-care occupancy remaining stable but ICUs likely to rise, according to new modelling. The province’s COVID-19 science and modelling advisory tables released new projections on Friday which state that those with lower incomes, essential workers, and minority groups are…
Outbreaks have been linked to places not complying with COVID-19 rules. So why has Toronto issued zero tickets?
At a press conference Wednesday afternoon, CityNews reporter Adrian Ghobrial asked city leaders a very simple question: “How many tickets have been handed out to establishments that haven’t been following the mandated vaccine certificate program?” The answer he received might set a world record for the longest-winded way of saying one word: “none.” “There’s over…
‘No number is too small.’ Ontario COVID vaccine clinics are not giving up — and here’s who is trickling in
During the spring rush for vaccines, each day brought a new crowd of people to Humber River Hospital’s vaccine clinic, all of them eager to get protection from COVID-19. The clinic at Downsview Arena remained busy through the summer as waves of residents from Toronto’s northwest corner became eligible for a shot. And in September, another…
Job Posting: Toronto & York Region Labour Council is hiring an organizer
The Toronto & York Region Labour Council is seeking an organizer to work as part of the leadership and staff team in a dynamic and fast-paced organization that is responding to a pandemic, a changing economy and new political realities in Canada’s largest urban centre. This will be a one-year full-time contract position with the possibility of…
RACIAL JUSTICE SUMMIT 2021
Co-hosts Urban Alliance on Race Relations and the Canadian Race Relations Foundation bring you the second-annual Racial Justice Summit. This year’s theme, “Pandemic Awakening: What’s Next?” explores how the pandemic has shone a light on systemic inequities, and how this growing awareness must compel change. How will community advocates, governments and institutions meet the moment?…
Did the pandemic make post-secondary students more resilient?
More than two thirds of students surveyed told us that they have felt optimistic, productive and equipped to handle their problems during the pandemic. But this isn’t a straightforward story about resilience. Over the summer, when Maclean’s started chatting with students about how they were feeling almost 18 months into the COVID-19 pandemic, there was really only…
The pandemic is breaking parents
Shannon Proudfoot: We’ve done what we were asked to do, at great cost to our wellbeing and that of our young kids. And still, the pandemic cruelty continues. Like anyone, I can list off for you the pandemic moments that have broken me, as a parent of young kids. The first, I suppose, was having…
Vaccinating children 5 to 11 will bring us closer to ending pandemic, Sask. microbiologist says
Health Canada currently reviewing Pfizer-BioNTech’s vaccine for children 5 to 11 Saskatoon mother Pamela Beaudin is ready to vaccinate her children. She says she has always trusted science — it’s how she got her twin boys in the first place. “Our boys are a product of IVF, so I trusted science to give me children, and I’m going…
Pfizer COVID-19 booster dose authorized by Health Canada for all adults 18+
Health Canada has authorized a booster dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for all adults 18 and older, making official what some provinces were already doing with regard to boosters. A third dose of the vaccine, also known as Comirnaty, is authorized to be administered at least six months after the second dose, according to information posted…