Getting vaccinated before school starts
With six weeks to go before school resumes, Ontario’s chief medical officer of health is urging young people to get vaccinated against COVID-19.
Doctor Kieran Moore says there’s just enough time for students to be fully inoculated before classes begin after Labour Day.
More than 300-thousand children between the ages of 12 and 17 have yet to receive even one shot of vaccine and Moore warns that unvaccinated students and staff will be subject to tougher rules.
Those will include ten days in home isolation if they’re exposed to a COVID-19 case, and two negative tests seven days apart, before they’ll be allowed to return to class.
Closer to home, there is a walk-in clinic in Espanola today at Espanola High School, but be aware that you must have an appointment for your second dose.
The walk-in is open to 12 years of age and up.
Unvaccinated Ontarians will be counted
The province will soon be providing more frequent updates on how many new cases of COVID-19 are being found among unvaccinated Ontarians.
Doctor Moore says it’ll be complicated to split the information out but it’s important to know the benefits of getting inoculated especially with 1.8-million eligible Ontarians still needing their second shot.
Elsewhere in Canada, provincial authorities have reported that more than 90 percent of their new cases, hospitalizations, and deaths, have been among those who aren’t yet vaccinated against the virus.
Delta variant sweeping the globe
The Delta variant of the coronavirus continues surging across the world.
South Korea, Malaysia, and Thailand are reporting record numbers of new cases.
In Thailand, sleeper trains are being used to move COVID-19 patients to hospitals outside the capital of Bangkok, where hospitals have been overwhelmed.
In the United States, President Joe Biden says he’s considering a requirement that all federal employees be vaccinated against the virus, as the daily number of new cases continues to surge.
Reopening the border – possible strike
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says he remains hopeful there won’t be any disruptions when our border is open to fully-vaccinated Americans on August 9th.
Trudeau says the government will continue to work with the union representing more than eight thousand border guards, which has threatened to strike as of August 6th.
The workers have been without a contract for more than three years, and talks broke down last December.
The Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters Association says our country can’t afford another disruption in trade.