Despite the wealth of healthcare resources in our city, there’s one group that has been dedicated to helping those who have fallen through the cracks for more than three decades now, and their business has continued to boom because of the COVID-19 pandemic. So here, on the eve of this year’s World AIDS Day, we’ll look at how HIV is only where ARCH’s story begins. Continue reading “GUELPH POLITICAST #299 – How ARCH Goes Beyond the “A””
It’s the moment many people have been waiting for, the arrival of the child-sized doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines. In a quick media statement Tuesday evening, Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Public Health announced that they’ve received their first doses of the vaccine meant for kids, and they will start giving them out on Thursday. That’s a good thing because there are a lot of eager people waiting to get their kids a shot. Continue reading “Kid Doses of COVID Vaccine Have Landed at Public Health”
It was a grey and chilly Saturday afternoon, the downtown streets had the usual kinds of people milling about grabbing a bit or doing a bit of shopping, but the real action was political this weekend. At noon, it was the supporters of the First Nations land defenders in the Wet’suwet’en territory, and then later it was time for the Guelph Freedom Rally, one of the largest local gatherings yet for the COVID-19 skeptical. Continue reading “A Tale of Two Protests: Saturday Marches for Indigenous Rights and Freedom (!)”
The scuttlebutt is that Health Canada will be approving the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for kids between the ages of 5 and 11 on Friday. According to Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph’s Medical Officer of Health on Thursday, public health is ready to roll out vaccines for children once the word is given, and they’re anticipating that the first doses of vaccine will be handed out at the end of next week. Continue reading “Kids Could Be Getting COVID Shots By End of Next Week Pending Approval”
The economic issues stemming from COVID-19 are as well known as the health implications at this point: The massive disruption to service-based businesses, the lack of summer work in those businesses for young people, and the disproportionate effect on women in the workforce. Not for the first time, Federal money is going to Second Chance Employment Counselling to help answer those employment issues. Continue reading “More Federal Money for Second Chance to Find Jobs for Women”
In perhaps the most powerful local sign yet that this pandemic is near it’s end, the leaders of both the City of Guelph and the County of Wellington announced Wednesday that the local states of emergency could be ended by the last day of 2021. Both Mayor Cam Guthrie and Warden Kelly Linton released similar sounding statements today saying that, with the advice of public health, the nearly two-year-old state of emergency may be *almost* over. Continue reading “Guthrie Says COVID State of Emergency Could Be Over By New Year’s”
Less than 24 hours after the Mister of Health said that Ontario will “stay the course” on its planned re-opening, there’s been a change in course. On Wednesday, Christine Elliott announced in a statement that the unfurling of capacity limits has been put on pause out of an “abundance of caution” as the Province tries to manage the pandemic, and not fall back into old, business-limiting restrictions. Continue reading “Ontario Hitting Pause on Re-opening Plans After Bump in COVID Cases”
On Wednesday, the Government of Ontario announced that they are expanding the eligibility of third doses of a COVID-19 vaccine. Starting on November 6, booster shots will be made available to additional groups of high-risk individuals, and that boosters will then be gradually rolled out for all age groups 12 and over. Good news, but it wasn’t the vaccine news that everyone was talking about on Wednesday afternoon. Continue reading “Ontario Government Increases Access to Boosters, But That’s Not the Vaccine News Today”
We’re about halfway through fall, we’ve overcome the big hurdles like Back to School and Thanksgiving, and the new daily case count both in Guelph and across Ontario remains relatively steady. We’re still giving out vaccines, with a few thousand eligible people left to get their jabs, and then, a few weeks ago, we had our first case of the flu this year. What are we to make of all this? Let’s call a doctor! Continue reading “GUELPH POLITICAST #296 – Still COVID with Dr. Mercer (Fall Edition)”
It’s getting a bit easier to get together as capacity limits are changing in Guelph and across Ontario as the COVID-19 case loads remain relatively low. Locally, more areas and activities at Guelph recreational facilities will be a little easier to access, while the Government of Ontario is loosening the limits on outdoor gatherings just in time for Halloween, Remembrance Day, and Santa Claus Parade season. Continue reading “City Expands Capacity at Facilities, Province Expands Capacity Outdoors”
Guelph Politico 