Ontario said Wednesday it plans to administer the COVID-19 vaccine in all nursing homes and high-risk retirement homes by Feb. 15.
In a technical briefing this morning, members of Ontario’s vaccine distribution task force said residents, workers and essential caregivers at those facilities will get their first doses by that date.
The plan builds on an earlier pledge to give the COVID-19 vaccine to long-term care facilities in hot spots by Jan. 21.
Officials said the government is now able to move the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine safely to long-term care facilities, which has allowed it to speed up immunizations in nursing homes.
Long-term care homes have been hit hard during the pandemic, with 3,063 resident deaths from COVID-19 since March.
At a news conference Wednesday, Premier Doug Ford was asked about the “iron ring” the province had said it planned to secure around Ontario’s long-term care homes. In response, Ford pleaded with front-line health-care workers to get tested for COVID-19.
“It’s not coming in through the walls and the ceiling … inadvertently though our great health-care workers, it’s coming in,” Ford said.
The premier also said it’s possible Canadian Forces soldiers will be called in again to help at some hard-hit homes, although he provided no specifics.
Not long after the news conference had finished, Ford’s office issued a statement saying the support the province has asked for and is currently receiving from Ottawa includes military field hospitals, military logistics advisers to support vaccine rollout, and Red Cross teams in select long-term care homes.
“We will continue to work with the federal government and if any further support is needed we will request it,” the statement says.
The province said it had administered more than 144,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccine as of Wednesday, and about 8,000 people had now received the two doses of the vaccine required for full immunization.
Ford later said the province has administered more than 150,000 vaccine doses so far.
“That is changing on an hourly basis,” he said.
“We’re emptying our freezers.”
Ford said the province now has the capacity to administer 20,000 vaccine doses a day, and is working toward 40,000 a day by February.
The province is currently focusing on vaccinating health-care workers and those in long-term care facilities but says people over the age of 80 will be the first priority group to receive the shot when Ontario enters the second phase of its vaccine rollout in April.
Confusion around stay at home order
Meanwhile, the provincial government is expected to provide more details at some point Wednesday regarding its newly issued stay-at-home order, as public health units reported another 2,961 cases of COVID-19 and 74 more deaths of people with the illness.
At some point today, the province will publish the legal parameters for the order, which takes effect tomorrow, providing more clarification on the measures. The premier’s office said it likely won’t be posted until this evening.
As of Thursday, residents will have to stay home except for essential purposes such as grocery shopping, accessing health care and exercising. Here’s what you need to know about the new rules.
The province said police and bylaw officers will have the power to enforce the stay-at-home order and issue tickets to rule-breakers, but hasn’t given details on how that will play out in practice.
Ford said Wednesday that people must only leave their homes for essential reasons.
“I know essential means different things to different people … so we need everyone to use their best judgment. If you’re not sure if a trip is absolutely essential, it probably isn’t,” he said.
In a statement Wednesday morning, the Canadian Civil Liberties Association (CCLA) said it is concerned about enforcement of the order, and the lack of detail so far “around the accommodation of constitutional freedoms.”
Michael Bryant, executive director of the CCLA, said that Ontario cannot ticket its way out of a pandemic.
“During the first wave of the pandemic, there were a disproportionate number of tickets for the homeless, the vulnerable and for racialized minorities,” Bryant said.
Ontario under 2nd state of emergency
The order was announced yesterday as the province declared a state of emergency — its second of the COVID-19 pandemic — and unveiled a series of new restrictions meant to slow the spread of the virus.
They included prolonging the pause on in-person learning in schools in five southern Ontario hot spots — Toronto, Hamilton, Peel, York and Windsor-Essex — to at least Feb. 10.
Child-care centres for kids not yet in school will remain open, however.
The government also restricted hours of operation for non-essential retailers currently offering delivery and curbside pickup to between 7 a.m. and 8 p.m., and imposed a five-person cap on outdoor social gatherings.
Wearing a mask is also now recommended outdoors when physical distancing is difficult.
No paid sick days in revised plan
Notably absent from the province’s plan were paid sick days for low-wage and essential workers.
During a briefing Tuesday, two doctors helping to guide Ontario’s COVID-19 response said that more social supports, particularly paid sick days, would be essential to limiting further cases of the illness.
The lack of paid sick days for many of the province’s essential workers continues to be a major barrier to reducing transmission of the novel coronavirus in many of the hardest-hit communities, said Dr. Barbara Yaffe, Ontario’s associate chief medical officer of health.
“People need to be supported to do the right thing,” she told reporters.
WATCH | Growing calls for paid sick days for low-wage and essential workers in Ontario:
There are renewed calls for paid sick leave for low-wage and essential workers who fear losing their jobs or income if they miss shifts because they’re sick or need to be tested for COVID-19. 1:51
Furthermore, the medical officers of health in both Toronto and Peel Region have repeatedly called for the provincial government to offer relief for workers who can’t afford to take time off if they fall ill.
Speaking yesterday, Ford said he does not want to double-up on a federal program that offers $500 per week for those who need to take time off work to isolate. Critics, though, have pointed out that the federal initiative does not offer job protection and works out to less than minimum wage.
The forecasts indicate deaths from COVID-19 will surpass those in the pandemic’s first wave unless people dramatically reduce their contact with others.
Death toll now at 5,127
The new cases reported today include 738 in Toronto, 536 in Peel Region, 245 in Windsor-Essex, 219 in York Region, 171 in Hamilton and 154 in Ottawa.
Other public health units that double- or triple-digit increases were:
Waterloo Region: 146
Niagara Region: 131
Durham Region: 119
Middlesex-London: 103
Halton Region: 88
Lambton: 72
Southwestern: 52
Simcoe Muskoka: 50
Brant County: 22
Sudbury: 18
Haldimand-Norfolk: 16
Chatham-Kent: 14
Eastern Ontario: 12
Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph: 11
Huron-Perth: 11
Peterborough: 10
(Note: All of the figures used in this story are found on the Ministry of Health’s COVID-19 dashboard or in its Daily Epidemiologic Summary. The number of cases for any region may differ from what is reported by the local public health unit, because local units report figures at different times.)
The seven-day average of new daily cases fell for a second straight day, down to 3,480 from a pandemic high of 3,555 on Monday.
Ontario’s network of labs processed 50,931 test samples for the novel coronavirus and reported a test positivity rate of 6 per cent, down slightly from recent days, which have seen rates above 7.5 per cent.
There were 1,674 patients in hospitals with COVID-19. Of those, 385 were being treated in intensive care and 276 required a ventilator to breathe.
The 74 additional deaths logged in today’s update push the official toll to 5,127.
Montreal Alouettes wide receiver Tyson Philpot has announced he will be out for the rest of the CFL season.
The Delta, B.C., native posted the news on his Instagram page Thursday.
“To Be Continued. Shoutout my team, the fans of the CFL and the whole city of Montreal! I can’t wait to be back healthy and write this next chapter in 2025,” the statement read.
Philpot, 24, injured his foot in a 33-23 win over the Hamilton Tiger-Cats on Aug. 10 and was placed on the six-game injured list the next week.
The six-foot-one, 195-pound receiver had 58 receptions, 779 yards and five touchdowns in nine games for the league-leading Alouettes in his third season.
Philpot scored the game-winning touchdown in Montreal’s Grey Cup win last season to punctuate a six-reception, 63-yard performance.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (AP) — Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa sustained a concussion for the third time in his NFL career, leaving his team’s game Thursday night against Buffalo after running into defensive back Damar Hamlin and hitting the back of his head against the turf.
Tagovailoa remained down for about two minutes before getting to his feet and walking to the sideline after the play in the third quarter. He made his way to the tunnel not long afterward, looking into the stands before smiling and departing toward the locker room.
The Dolphins needed almost no time before announcing it was a concussion. The team said he had two during the 2022 season, and Tagovailoa was diagnosed with another concussion when he was a college player at Alabama.
Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel said Tagovailoa would get “proper procedural evaluation” and “appropriate care” on Friday.
“The furthest thing from my mind is, ‘What is the timeline?’ We just need to evaluate and just worry about my teammate, like the rest of the guys are,” McDaniel said. “We’ll get more information tomorrow and take it day by day from here.”
Some players saw Tagovailoa in the locker room after the game and said they were encouraged. Tagovailoa spoke with some players and then went home after the game, McDaniel said.
“I have a lot of love for Tua, built a great relationship with him,” said quarterback Skylar Thompson, who replaced Tagovailoa after the injury. “You care about the person more than the player and everybody in the organization would say the same thing. Just really praying for Tua and hopefully everything will come out all right.”
Tagovailoa signed a four-year, $212 million extension before this season — a deal that makes him one of the highest-paid players in the NFL — and was the NFL’s leading passer in Week 1 this season. Tagovailoa left with the Dolphins trailing 31-10, and that was the final score.
“If you know Tua outside of football, you can’t help but feel for him,” Bills quarterback Josh Allen said on Amazon following the game. “He’s a great football player but he’s an even greater human being. He’s one of the best humans on the planet. I’ve got a lot of love for him and I’m just praying for him and his family, hoping everything’s OK. But it’s tough, man. This game of football that we play, it’s got its highs and it’s got its lows — and this is one of the lows.”
Tagovailoa’s college years and first three NFL seasons were marred by injury, though he positioned himself for a big pay bump with an injury-free and productive 2023 as he led the Dolphins into the playoffs. He threw for 29 touchdowns and a league-best 4,624 yards last year.
When, or if, he can come back this season is anyone’s guess. Tagovailoa said in April 2023 that the concussions he had in the 2022 season left him contemplating his playing future. “I think I considered it for a time,” he said then, when asked if he considered stepping away from the game to protect himself.
McDaniel said it’s not his place to say if Tagovailoa should return to football. “He’ll be evaluated and we’ll have conversations and progress as appropriate,” McDaniel said.
Tagovailoa was hurt Thursday on a fourth-down keeper with about 4:30 left in the third. He went straight ahead into Hamlin and did not slide, leading with his right shoulder instead.
Hamlin was the player who suffered a cardiac arrest after making a tackle during a Monday night game in January 2023 at Cincinnati, causing the NFL to suspend a pivotal game that quickly lost significance in the aftermath of a scary scene that unfolded in front of a national television audience.
Tagovailoa wound up on his back, both his hands in the air and Bills players immediately pointed at him as if to suggest there was an injury. Dolphins center Aaron Brewer quickly did the same, waving to the sideline.
Tagovailoa appeared to be making a fist with his right hand as he lay on the ground. It was movement consistent with something that is referred to as the “fencing response,” which can be common after a traumatic brain injury.
Tagovailoa eventually got to his feet. McDaniel grabbed the side of his quarterback’s head and gave him a kiss on the cheek as Tagovailoa departed. Thompson came into the game to take Tagovailoa’s spot.
“I love Tua on and off the football field,” Bills edge Von Miller said. “I’m a huge fan of him. I can empathize and sympathize with him because I’ve been there. I wish him the best.”
Tagovailoa’s history with concussions — and how he has since worked to avoid them — is a huge part of the story of his career, and now comes to the forefront once again.
He had at least two concussions during the 2022 season. He was hurt in a Week 3 game against Buffalo and cleared concussion protocol, though he appeared disoriented on that play but returned to the game.
The NFL later changed its concussion protocol to mandate that if a player shows possible concussion symptoms — including a lack of balance or stability — he must sit out the rest of the game.
Less than a week later, in a Thursday night game at Cincinnati, Tagovailoa was concussed on a scary hit that briefly knocked him unconscious and led to him being taken off the field on a stretcher.
His second known concussion of that season came in a December game against Green Bay, and he didn’t play for the rest of the 2022 season. After that, Tagovailoa began studying ways where he may be able to fall more safely and protect himself against further injury — including studying jiu-jitsu.
“I’m not worried about anything that’s out of my hands,” McDaniel said. “I’m just worried about the human being.”
NEW YORK (AP) — When her husband turns on the television to hear news about the upcoming presidential election, that’s often a signal for Lori Johnson Malveaux to leave the room.
It can get to be too much. Often, she’ll go to a TV in another room to watch a movie on the Hallmark Channel or BET. She craves something comforting and entertaining. And in that, she has company.
While about half of Americans say they are following political news “extremely” or “very” closely, about 6 in 10 say they need to limit how much information they consume about the government and politics to avoid feeling overloaded or fatigued, according to a new survey from the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research and USAFacts.
Make no mistake: Malveaux plans to vote. She always does. “I just get to the point where I don’t want to hear the rhetoric,” she said.
The 54-year-old Democrat said she’s most bothered when she hears people on the news telling her that something she saw with her own eyes — like the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol — didn’t really happen.
“I feel like I’m being gaslit. That’s the way to put it,” she said.
Sometimes it feels like ‘a bombardment’
Caleb Pack, 23, a Republican from Ardmore, Oklahoma, who works in IT, tries to keep informed through the news feeds on his phone, which is stocked with a variety of sources, including CNN, Fox News, The Wall Street Journal and The Associated Press.
Yet sometimes, Pack says, it seems like a bombardment.
“It’s good to know what’s going on, but both sides are pulling a little bit extreme,” he said. “It just feels like it’s a conversation piece everywhere, and it’s hard to escape it.”
Media fatigue isn’t a new phenomenon. A Pew Research Center survey conducted in late 2019 found roughly two in three Americans felt worn out by the amount of news there is, about the same as in a poll taken in early 2018. During the 2016 presidential campaign, about 6 in 10 people felt overloaded by campaign news.
But it can be particularly acute with news related to politics. The AP-NORC/USAFacts poll found that half of Americans feel a need to limit their consumption of information related to crime or overseas conflicts, while only about 4 in 10 are limiting news about the economy and jobs.
It’s easy to understand, with television outlets like CNN, Fox News Channel and MSNBC full of political talk and a wide array of political news online, sometimes complicated by disinformation.
“There’s a glut of information,” said Richard Coffin, director of research and advocacy for USAFacts, “and people are having a hard time figuring out what is true or not.”
Women are more likely to feel they need to limit media
In the AP-NORC poll, about 6 in 10 men said they follow news about elections and politics at least “very” closely, compared to about half of women. For all types of news, not just politics, women are more likely than men to report the need to limit their media consumption, the survey found.
White adults are also more likely than Black or Hispanic adults to say they need to limit media consumption on politics, the poll found.
Kaleb Aravzo, 19, a Democrat, gets a baseline of news by listening to National Public Radio in the morning at home in Logan, Utah. Too much politics, particularly when he’s on social media sites like TikTok and Instagram, can trigger anxiety and depression.
“If it pops up on my page when I’m on social media,” he said, “I’ll just scroll past it.”
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Sanders reported from Washington. David Bauder writes about media for the AP. Follow him at http://x.com/dbauder.
The AP poll of 1,019 adults was conducted July 29-August 8, 2024, using a sample drawn from NORC’s probability-based AmeriSpeak Panel, which is designed to be representative of the U.S. population. The margin of sampling error for all respondents is plus or minus 4.0 percentage points.
