Ontario tells school boards to set up clinics to boost student, teacher vaccinations
In a push to get more COVID-19 shots into students and teachers as the Delta variant surges, Ontario is directing school boards and regional public health units to set up vaccination clinics at or near schools.
The clinics will begin operating before schools resume in-person learning in early September and will operate for several weeks, Education Minister Stephen Lecce said Monday as Ontario marked its fifth straight day with more than 500 new cases of the virus.
The effort is part of the government's last-mile campaign to reach as many students and staff as possible and to keep schools as safe as possible," Lecce added in a statement.
Currently, 69 per cent of Ontario residents aged 12 to 17 have had one shot and 56 per cent have two doses. Children under 12 are not yet eligible for vaccination against COVID-19, although clinical trials are underway.
The clinics will also be open to the families of students, teachers and other school staff, and can run before, during and after school hours.
Lecce has been under fire from critics for not doing enough to improve ventilation and other measures in schools, with the Star reporting 18 school boards will not have ventilation upgrades ready by September.
It's completely unacceptable that a year-and-a-half into the pandemic, (Premier) Doug Ford has still not delivered on improved ventilation in classrooms," Green Leader Mike Schreiner said Monday.
Many parents are scared of sending their children back to unsafe classrooms, and educators and school staff deserve a safe place to work."
New Democrat MPP and education critic Marit Stiles (Davenport) said the government is waiting too long to get school vaccination levels up and not doing enough to help people overcome vaccine hesitancy and resistance.
Months ago we called on the Ford government to proactively reach out to families, and work with them to get every student fully vaccinated ahead of September," Stiles said.
To overcome barriers and increase vaccination rates among young people, the Ford government must communicate with families in a culturally appropriate way (and) understand the needs of parents who can't afford to miss a day's pay."
Lecce's office said the government has earmarked more than $1.6 billion to help schools cope with the pandemic this year.
While the government has rejected calls from opposition parties, medical and other groups for mandatory vaccination of education workers, Lecce urged them to get shots to boost the odds of keeping schools open after long periods of remote learning since the pandemic hit 18 months ago.
This is crucially important for their mental, physical and social well-being," Dr. Kieran Moore, Ontario's chief medical officer of health, said of children.
Having vaccination clinics at our schools will make it more convenient for students to receive their vaccine in a familiar and comfortable environment and will help to ensure a safe and sustained reopening of our schools."
Students must give informed consent to be vaccinated. Moore said parents should talk with their children about the shots in advance of the clinics.
No statistics were available for vaccination levels among teachers.
Ontario reported 526 new cases of COVID-19 on Monday, with 67 per cent of them occurring in unvaccinated people. Of the new cases, 91 were recorded in people under age 20. No new deaths were reported and hospitalization rates remain low.
Moore said the unvaccinated people were about eight times more likely to get infected with COVID-19 last month than those who were fully vaccinated.
Rob Ferguson is a Toronto-based reporter covering Ontario politics for the Star. Follow him on Twitter: @robferguson1