The COVID-19 pandemic

[ac3r]

As COVID-19 vaccine passports kick in, doctors see a rise in medical exemption requests – but few patients who actually qualify: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/a...exemption/

Since this article is paywalled and Outline.com doesn't work for The Globe and Mail, I'll paste a bit of it here.

There are very few conditions that meet the criteria for a medical exemption. Those include having known anaphylaxis to any of the ingredients in the vaccine confirmed by an allergist or immunologist; having had a significant allergic reaction to the first dose; or myocarditis, an inflammation of the heart muscle and a rare side effect of the three vaccines. Some provinces have added other conditions to that list. In Manitoba, for example, the province’s Vaccine Implementation Task Force has said that people who suffered Guillain-Barré syndrome as a result of the first dose, or are currently receiving treatment that prevents them from mounting an immune response, qualify for an exemption.

[...]

For example, in Canada there have only been 678 confirmed cases of myocarditis/pericarditis linked to the COVID-19 vaccines from the beginning of the vaccination campaign up to and including Sept. 3, according to data from the Public Health Agency of Canada.

[...]

Dr. Shane Barclay, a physician at Sun Peaks Community Health Centre, in Sun Peaks, B.C., has had approximately a dozen patients ask him for a medical exemption to the vaccine. Not one of them had a condition that would qualify them for an exemption, he says. One patient asked for an exemption because they only have one kidney. Another told him their lungs were bad.

“Then I would say, ‘All the more reason that you should be getting a COVID vaccine,’ ” Dr. Barclay says.

Basically, unless one is allergic or have had a reaction to the first dose, they likely have zero actual reason whatsoever to be concerned about the vaccines and no doctor with ethics is going to write an exemption letter for it. I'm sure anti-vaxxers are going to be wasting time trying to get them, but they'll likely not have any success.

[taylortbb]

I'm sure anti-vaxxers are going to be wasting time trying to get them, but they'll likely not have any success.

I have little doubt they'll have success. Not from their regular doctor, but there are anti-vax doctors and word will quickly get out about them. When California removed personal choice exemptions from vaccination for elementary schools, leaving only medical and religious exemptions, there were a few doctors that issued thousands of medical exemptions each.

As long as restaurants are individually examining letters from doctors they'll get away with it. Hopefully once the province implements the QR codes for exemptions they'll track how many each doctor is issuing and follow up on outliers, but given it's Ontario under Ford I'm not counting on that level of competence.

[tomh009]

As long as restaurants are individually examining letters from doctors they'll get away with it. Hopefully once the province implements the QR codes for exemptions they'll track how many each doctor is issuing and follow up on outliers, but given it's Ontario under Ford I'm not counting on that level of competence.

Not the provincial government, but the OMA (which supervises the medical profession) well might.

[plam]

Likewise, I don't plan on getting my second dose as soon as I'm eligible. I'll suck up not being able to some things I want in the short term since its abundantly clear that waiting a little longer between doses provides better immunity and I would like to get as close to the best immunity I can as possible.

Yeah, there are trade-offs there. The four month interval that Ontario was using was probably too long, but 6-8 weeks is slightly better than 3 weeks. At the individual level it is probably hard to tell, but more so at the population level. And one has got to balance that against the risk of actually getting COVID while not fully vaccinated. For me, waiting longer seems to be a better trade-off than getting fully-vaccinated sooner, but there is no community transmission in this part of NZ.

[jeffster]

At what age does the health card go from the picture of the trillium to the actual person?  I thought it was 16, but I could be wrong.

Coke

You're right, I'm wrong, I thought it was much younger.

The part about birth certificates being valid is correct though, the rules don't require photo ID.

Well, good that their is an option for now. Though birth certificates isn't something I'd want to carry around for my kids (if they were that age), nor give them to kids. Lots of things you need to remember if you lose the certificate and needs a new one (doctor/midwife that delivered baby, weight, etc). Our daughter was born on January 1 so we didn't have the regular doctor we'd been seeing for the pregnancy, so I always forget her name -- as for the second kid, I always forget his weight. Just saying it's not the easiest document to replace.

The old certificates could easily be carried around in a wallet, not so much with the newer polymer ones.

[jeffster]

I also do agree it's hard to know what % of people remaining unvaxed are anti vaxxers vs people with legitimate concerns. 

I finally got my first dose a couple weeks ago after continued discussion with my doctor. My hesitation was never about being against vaccines it was about doing what was best for me and my health.

That was my whole point. But we've dropped that conversation and I'm not going back. I said my part.

Glad you got your first dose. And I'm glad it was safe for you.

[taylortbb]

As long as restaurants are individually examining letters from doctors they'll get away with it. Hopefully once the province implements the QR codes for exemptions they'll track how many each doctor is issuing and follow up on outliers, but given it's Ontario under Ford I'm not counting on that level of competence.

Not the provincial government, but the OMA (which supervises the medical profession) well might.

The OMA will probably want to, but it still requires the provincial government recording all the data (and making it available). Given the amount of uncertainty around how the QR code system will work, I won't be surprised if the issuing doctor is poorly/inconsistently recorded by the province.

[ac3r]

Looks like some people in the region are already willing to start punishing local businesses by ordering food and then not going to pick it up. This was occurring in other provinces too. It doesn't even make sense: https://www.reddit.com/r/waterloo/commen...ting_this/

There's also a website for defiant business owners who refuse to participate in any of the public health measures (PPE, passports etc). Not too many local ones on there yet, but expect it to grow. Here's the URL if you're wanting to know if any local businesses are doing this: https://www.nopasslist.ca/

[tomh009]

THURSDAY 2021-09-22

Waterloo Region reported 23 new cases for today (13.1% of the active cases) and none fewer for yesterday for 18; 155 new cases for the week (-13 from yesterday and -31 from last week), averaging 10.2% of active cases. 179 active cases, -32 in the last seven days.

Next testing report on Friday.

Seven-day vaccination average is at 1,306 doses/day (previous week was 1,195). 76.11% of total regional population vaccinated (+0.63% from 7 days ago), 71.13% fully vaccinated (+0.99% from 7 days ago).

Ontario reported 677 new cases today with a seven-day average of 665 (-27), compared to 732 a week ago. 676 recoveries and six (new) deaths translated to a decrease of six active cases and a new total of 5,845. -91 active cases and 46 deaths for the week. 37,630 tests with a positivity rate of 1.80%. The positivity rate is averaging 2.20% for the past seven days, compared to 2.82% for the preceding seven.

168 people in the ICU, +6 from yesterday and +1 over the past week.

Seven-day vaccination average is at 33,801 doses/day (previous week was 31,557). 75.69% of total provincial population vaccinated (+0.64% from 7 days ago), 70.51% fully vaccinated (+0.97% from 7 days ago).

Cases/100K by regional health unit:

• 22 cases in Brant: 16.2 per 100K
  
• 17 cases in Chatham-Kent: 16.0 per 100K
  
• 29 cases in Eastern Ontario: 14.3 per 100K
  
• 18 cases in Lambton: 13.7 per 100K
  
• 39 cases in Windsor-Essex: 10.0 per 100K
  
• 31 cases in Middlesex-London: 7.7 per 100K
  
• 73 cases in York: 6.6 per 100K
  
• 38 cases in Hamilton: 6.6 per 100K
  
• 39 cases in Durham: 6.0 per 100K
  
• 26 cases in Niagara: 5.8 per 100K
  
• 76 cases in Peel: 5.5 per 100K
  
• 14 cases in Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph: 5.1 per 100K
  
• 136 cases in Toronto: 4.6 per 100K
  
• 24 cases in Halton: 4.4 per 100K
  
• 3 cases in Huron Perth: 3.1 per 100K
  
• 29 cases in Ottawa: 2.9 per 100K
  
• 18 cases in Waterloo: 2.9 per 100K (based on provincial reporting)
  
• 5 cases in Southwestern Ontario: 2.5 per 100K
  
• 5 cases in Kingston Frontenac: 2.4 per 100K
  
• 11 cases in Simcoe-Muskoka: 2.0 per 100K
  
• 1 cases in Northwestern: 1.1 per 100K
  

[tomh009]

There's also a website for defiant business owners who refuse to participate in any of the public health measures (PPE, passports etc). Not too many local ones on there yet, but expect it to grow. Here's the URL if you're wanting to know if any local businesses are doing this: https://www.nopasslist.ca/

That should come in very handy for targeting the bylaw enforcement.

For the rest of us, treat that as the no-visit-list.

[danbrotherston]

There's also a website for defiant business owners who refuse to participate in any of the public health measures (PPE, passports etc). Not too many local ones on there yet, but expect it to grow. Here's the URL if you're wanting to know if any local businesses are doing this: https://www.nopasslist.ca/

That should come in very handy for targeting the bylaw enforcement.

For the rest of us, treat that as the no-visit-list.

LMAO...if I actually believed they wanted to enforce this mandate, I'd totally believe that's a sting operation.

[ijmorlan]

Looks like some people in the region are already willing to start punishing local businesses by ordering food and then not going to pick it up. This was occurring in other provinces too. It doesn't even make sense: https://www.reddit.com/r/waterloo/commen...ting_this/

Aren’t orders usually prepaid these days?

[tomh009]

Not at the restaurants we have ordered from recently, at least (Taste of Seoul, Mark's, Rainbow, Sahar, Metro, Egg Roll King) -- you pay when you pick up.

[ac3r]

Yeah. Most present you with options. Pay now (online) or pay at the store.

[taylortbb]

That didn't take long....

Richmond Hill doctor draws fire for reportedly handing out vaccine exemptions

Fortunately it's being investigated now, but I worry there's doctors out there doing the same but better at covering their tracks.