Vaccinated students in Simcoe Muskoka will have 'terrific advantage' over unvaccinated students
With September fast approaching, Simcoe Muskoka's health officials urge parents to have their children 12 and older vaccinated as Ontario's top doctor warns unvaccinated students could face a separate set of isolation rules.
Simcoe Muskoka's medical officer of health (MOH) said children ages 12 to 17 are "trailing behind" in immunizations, partly because they were the last group made eligible for the vaccine.
Students have six weeks before the start of the school year to get their shots.
Currently, 38 per cent of students are fully immunized in Simcoe Muskoka.
"We want to do all that we can to have them ready for school," the region's top doctor said. "We need to get immunization up as high as we can."
For children under the age of 12 who aren't eligible to get a COVID-19 vaccine, Gardner said the province would take measures with a tiered approach to students in school. "We need to ensure that the school environment is as safe as we can make it."
Meanwhile, Dr. Kieran Moore, Ontario's MOH, said if a COVID-19 outbreak were to happen in the school environment, unvaccinated students and staff would have to immediately isolate for at least 10 days and require two negative COVID-19 tests seven days apart before returning to in-person learning.
While students with two doses of a vaccine would have minimal interruption to their school year.
"Terrific advantage of being two-dose immunized by being able to stay in school and attend sports and participate fully in all of the social activities of the school setting," Moore said during his weekly COVID-19 update.
Simcoe Muskoka's health unit is preparing to close its mass immunization clinics by late August. Gardner pointed to walk-in clinics for earlier appointments.
With files from CTV News Toronto
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Doctors say capital gains tax changes will jeopardize their retirement. Is that true?
The Canadian Medical Association asserts the Liberals' proposed changes to capital gains taxation will put doctors' retirement savings in jeopardy, but some financial experts insist incorporated professionals are not as doomed as they say they are.
Something in the water? Canadian family latest to spot elusive 'Loch Ness Monster'
For centuries, people have wondered what, if anything, might be lurking beneath the surface of Loch Ness in Scotland. When Canadian couple Parry Malm and Shannon Wiseman visited the Scottish highlands earlier this month with their two children, they didn’t expect to become part of the mystery.
Fair in Ontario, flurries in Labrador: Weather systems make for an erratic spring
It's no secret that spring can be a tumultuous time for Canadian weather, and as an unseasonably mild El Nino winter gives way to summer, there's bound to be a few swings in temperature that seem out of the ordinary. From Ontario to the Atlantic, though, this week is about to feel a little erratic.
What a urologist wants you to know about male infertility
When opposite sex couples are trying and failing to get pregnant, the attention often focuses on the woman. That’s not always the case.
'It was instant karma': Viral video captures failed theft attempt in Nanaimo, B.C.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
Northern Ont. lawyer who abandoned clients in child protection cases disbarred
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.
An Ontario senior thought he called Geek Squad for help with his printer. Instead, he got scammed out of $25,000
An Ontario senior’s attempt to get technical help online led him into a spoofing scam where he lost $25,000. Now, he’s sharing his story to warn others.