The COVID-19 pandemic

[panamaniac]

It should be noted that the national association of nurses unions has been strongly pro-vaccination.

[plam]

I concur. I'd argue that masks are actually vastly superior to the flu vaccine but covid is very different

I think a significant fraction of North American society is far more pro-mask now than in January 2020 for instance. Some aren't.

[nms]

First fully immunized person dies in the region, a senior at a LTC Home. It does have me wondering, because from what I understand, the outbreak originated with a care worker that was unvaccinated. How can something like this happen? I would have thought that ensuring all care workers are vaccinated would be a priority -- that, or this worker didn't want the vaccine, which begs the other question: should these people be working around the vulnerable? I would think not.

This is purely anecdotal, but I am aware of a previous outbreak at an LTC in another Region that was caused by an unvaccinated worker.  In that worker's case, they were a new hire. Prior to their first day of work, they did not qualify for a vaccine because they weren't yet employed by the LTC home nor did they qualify (at the time) for any of their other local health unit eligibility. Once they started at the LTC, they were an asymptomatic vector that brought the virus into the LTC.

[Acitta]

At the end of March, my roommate got a ride to Cape Breton to visit his girlfriend and help her with her Mother's house that she just took over. This was supposed to be for a few weeks. First, he was incommunicado for two weeks because they put him in quarantine in a place without Wi-Fi, so I didn't know where he was. Anyhow, he has been trying to get back to Ontario for the last two months, but he is unable to. VIA Rail is not running. I told him about Flair Airlines service from Halifax to Waterloo, but apparently he can't fly without being vaccinated. However, the Nova Scotia Government refuses to allow him to get vaccinated because he is from Ontario, so he is stuck. Apparently the rights of Canadians are dependent on whether you are in your home province. This is a problem for me because my finances are dependent on having a roommate paying half the rent.

[panamaniac]

Non-residents (no N.S. health card) can get the jab in Nova Scotia by making an appointment by phone, according to the provinces COVID website.

[ijmorlan]

…, but apparently he can't fly without being vaccinated. However, the Nova Scotia Government refuses to allow him to get vaccinated because he is from Ontario, ….

That’s some catch, that Catch-22!

[Acitta]

Non-residents (no N.S. health card) can get the jab in Nova Scotia by making an appointment by phone, according to the provinces COVID website.

That is not what they told him on the phone.

[jeffster]

Current 7-day Covid-19 per 100k

• Region of Waterloo Public Health and Emergency Services 72.4
• North Bay Parry Sound District Health Unit 35.5
• Grey Bruce Health Unit 21.8
• Peel Public Health 19.5
• City of Hamilton Public Health Services 18.6
• Niagara Region Public Health 15.2
• Toronto Public Health 14.2
• Peterborough Public Health 13.5
• Public Health Sudbury & Districts 13.1
• Huron Perth Public Health 12.9

• TOTAL ONTARIO 15.7

Region of Waterloo trending upwards again. Today’s single total will be higher in Toronto due to data-clean-up. 80 of the cases reported in Ontario today are from 2020 — again, mostly clean-up from Toronto.

PHU in this region needs to figure a better way of getting vaccines in arms. We’re less than 2 weeks from Stage 2, if things don’t go down quickly, we’ll be all stuck behind. This might mean travel restrictions outside of the region, regardless of vaccination status.

[taylortbb]

PHU in this region needs to figure a better way of getting vaccines in arms.

Now that we finally have supply from the province, they're opening the mass vaccination clinics for drop-ins starting tomorrow.

https://www.regionofwaterloo.ca/Modules/...408f9fd297

[tomh009]

TUESDAY 2021-06-22

Waterloo Region reported 42 new cases for today (7.5% of the active cases) and seven more for yesterday for 67; 418 new cases for the week (+10 from yesterday, -20 from last week), averaging 11.2% of active cases. 548 active cases, +46 in the last seven days.

An average of 874 tests/day for the past week for a positivity rate of 6.83%, down from 9.04% a week ago. This is very good news.

7,302 doses of vaccine administered, with a seven-day average at 7,780 (previous week was 7,244). 60.46% of total regional population vaccinated (+0.23% from yesterday, +2.58% from 7 days ago), 15.26% fully vaccinated (+0.90% from yesterday, +6.08% from 7 days ago).

Ontario reported 216 new cases today (plus 80 more that were uncovered from a 2020 archeological dig) with a seven-day average of 323 (-11). 442 recoveries and three deaths translated to a decrease of 206 active cases and a new total of 3,248. -1,764 active cases for the week and 54 deaths (eight per day).  16,784 tests with a positivity rate of 1.29%. The positivity rate is averaging 1.43% for the past seven days, compared to 2.12 for the preceding seven.

New case variants reported today (these are substantially delayed so they do not match the new case numbers):

• Alpha (B.1.1.7): 178
  
• Beta (B.1.351): 0
  
• Delta (B.1.617): 29
  
• Gamma (P.1): 2
  

314 patients in ICU (-9 today, -68 for the week)

199,535 doses of vaccine administered, with a seven-day average at 191,411 (previous week was 180,002). 66.05% of total provincial population vaccinated (+0.19% from yesterday, +1.58% from 7 days ago), 21.37% fully vaccinated (+1.18% from yesterday, +7.52% from 7 days ago).

• 61 cases in Waterloo: 9.9 per 100K (based on provincial reporting)
  
• 37 cases in York: 3.3 per 100K
  
• 4 cases in Lambton: 3.1 per 100K
  
• 11 cases in Hamilton: 1.9 per 100K
  
• 5 cases in Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph: 1.8 per 100K
  
• 43 cases in Toronto: 1.5 per 100K
  
• 20 cases in Peel: 1.4 per 100K
  
• 11 cases in Ottawa: 1.1 per 100K
  
• 1 cases in Huron Perth: 1.0 per 100K
  

[ac3r]

I certainly like things like unions. They have their faults to be sure, but those are the same faults that any organization has, and they are in general working to try to benefit groups which traditionally have less representation.

I don't think "freedumb" is mocking freedom. It's mocking people who have a simpleton view of freedom being "I get to do anything I want".

Apologies if I misinterpreted. Being from Hong Kong I often see the term used as a way to describe the protestors who were genuinely fighting for freedom and so it has a very negative connotation in my head. As someone who literally can never return home because the freedoms that once were have disappeared it's something that hits really close to home and something many people who live in the west take for granted. 

I'm always very hesitant to hand undue power to governments. Even as I've been in favour of lockdowns all the way along I'd be lying if it didnt make me a little nervous nonetheless.

Yeah, as danbrotherston said, I was mocking people who have a warped view of freedom with that choice of word. Think: the sort of morons who are proudly anti-vax or anti-mask, saying things like "my body, my choice". It was not to mock political freedom or anything like that.

[ac3r]

[jeffster]

PHU in this region needs to figure a better way of getting vaccines in arms.

Now that we finally have supply from the province, they're opening the mass vaccination clinics for drop-ins starting tomorrow.

https://www.regionofwaterloo.ca/Modules/...408f9fd297

I heard that on the radio (about 10x) -- two in Waterloo (Boardwalk and Regina St) and 1 in Kitchener (Pharmacy School). Since much of the uptick is in certain postal codes in Kitchener, I question why they have 2 clinics in the smallest city in the region, 1 clinic in Kitchener and 0 in the second largest city. Doesn't make any sense. The people they need to puncture skin with won't be going there. When our PHU does things like this, I question its leadership.

You could have had clinics at Centreville-Chicopee, Kingsdale and Stanley Park community centres instead, and run them for a few weeks. SPCC is huge, and Kingsdale itself is fairly large. They need to start thinking how they can set up clinics in areas of need, rather than out in Waterloo somewhere -- why Regina St??? Sorry, and I know a lot of you will disagree with me here, and that is fine, but I won't make any apologies for the region, nor with what I am about to say. This is a shit show. Guys, we need to start demanding answers for why we're one of the worst regions in North America. But when I see where they are putting these 'walk-in clinics', I just shake my head. You're not going to get a single shot in arms from those postal codes that are doing badly.

[taylortbb]

Since much of the uptick is in certain postal codes in Kitchener, I question why they have 2 clinics in the smallest city in the region, 1 clinic in Kitchener and 0 in the second largest city. Doesn't make any sense. The people they need to puncture skin with won't be going there. When our PHU does things like this, I question its leadership.

They're using those locations because they're existing mass vaccination clinics. They're basically announcing "all our major existing clinics now accept walk-ins" . These locations aren't mobile clinics, the mobile pop-up clinics are in addition to this announcement.

I also disagree it won't make difference. I know people that say they'll get vaccinated, but are simply too disorganized to make and keep an appointment days out. I sent this link to them so they'll go do it.

You could have had clinics at Centreville-Chicopee,  Kingsdale and Stanley Park community centres instead, and run them for a few weeks. SPCC is huge, and Kingsdale itself is fairly large. They need to start thinking how they can set up clinics in areas of need, rather than out in Waterloo somewhere -- why Regina St??? Sorry, and I know a lot of you will disagree with me here, and that is fine, but I won't make any apologies for the region, nor with what I am about to say. This is a shit show.

We've also got mobile clinic teams from the province that will be setting up in locations like this later this week. But there's no reason not to also offer walk-ins at locations that are already doing 1000+ second doses per day. Opening existing clinics to walk-ins is always going to be faster than setting up mobile clinics, and getting the word out about them.

Guys, we need to start demanding answers for why we're one of the worst regions in North America. But when I see where they are putting these 'walk-in clinics', I just shake my head. You're not going to get a single shot in arms from those postal codes that are doing badly.

I don't get why you refuse to consider the chance element. I think the probable cause is pretty clear, someone got Delta at the Baffin mine outbreak, returned to KW, interacted with someone in the shelter system, and started a huge delta outbreak in the shelters, and it all snowballed from there.

Every shelter in the province has had huge outbreaks, because even with mobile clinics vaccine uptake in them is very low. We only recently managed to house one of my girlfriend's relatives who was in the shelter system, and at that time he was planning to refuse the vaccine, as was almost every single person he knew in the shelter. The usual theories about it altering your DNA, or making you infertile, or whatever, were rampant. He's now vaccinated, as we provided him better information, but distrust of "the system" is deep within these communities (and for understandable reasons). Public health showing up and offering to vaccinate people, no ID required, will only get a small percentage of residents vaccinated.

I think the exact same thing could have happened just as easily anywhere, other cities don't have higher vaccination rates of those in the shelter system. We just got unlucky it was a delta outbreak.

[plam]

Non-residents (no N.S. health card) can get the jab in Nova Scotia by making an appointment by phone, according to the provinces COVID website.

That is not what they told him on the phone.

I might try "hang up and call again" along with "this is what it says on the website". The Vaccine Hunters Canada discord might be helpful, if your roommate is comfortable with that: https://discord.gg/36NyW2P7Wv

NZ is vaccinating everyone in the country regardless of status. So is the Cook Islands, which got more than 100% of the expected uptake.