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Novel Coronavirus COVID-19 (nCoV-2019)

LILLEY: Public health doctor says Ontario vax passport coming soon as Ford still says no​

From Toronto Sun at link. Dated August 25th.

Ontario will have a vaccine passport system announced within a week or two, according to the medical officer for the Eastern Ontario Health Unit.

In an interview with a local program on French CBC, Dr. Paul Roumeliotis said the move is coming because it is what he and other medical officers want. Roumeliotis is the medical officer for the region that includes towns such as Cornwall and Hawkesbury and is also president of the Association of Local Public Health Agencies of Ontario.
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“It’s going to be, in my opinion, something on the mobile,” Roumeliotis said, referring to some kind of mobile phone app.

Maybe someone should explain to the good doctor that we don’t need a government app for this, we don’t need a government mandate for this, and anyone who wants to show proof of vaccination can already do so on their phone by keeping a photo of their confirmation on their phone.

Some claim this is too easy to counterfeit but that is the alternative? Will every business and venue in Ontario need to get a super sensitive decryption machine to read the super secure app devised by the province that connects to the Ministry of Health and verifies your status before you sit down to order a burger?

Premier Doug Ford has been clear that he doesn’t want to have a government mandated system and Dr. Kieran Moore, the chief medical officer for the province, has made it clear that there is no medical need for one to combat the virus. Still, not a day goes by that some group, or a competing politician, doesn’t call for a passport/certificate as the silver bullet that will take Ontario out of the pandemic.

Public opinion polls show more than 70% of the population, including many Progressive Conservative voters, want such a system. So far, Ford has resisted even though it would be easier to give into the demands.

The idea that we must have some kind of vaccination passport or certificate system has been a solution in search of a problem for months now. We don’t need it to drive up vaccination rates or to keep the population safe — it’s just something that some people want because they want it.

“It is certain that me and my colleagues across Ontario, that’s what we want, because it will help enormously with the variant,” Roumeliotis said.

Help with the variant? How?
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We already know that both vaccinated and unvaccinated can spread the variant. Those vaccinated, if infected, will either not get sick at all or have much milder symptoms, but we can all spread it.

The example of France is repeatedly cited but that hardly washes.

France announced back in July that people would need to show proof of vaccination or a negative test. When President Emmanuel Macron announced the measure, France had about 1,200 new infections — now they average more than 20,000 per day.

It’s true that France’s vaccination rate has increased but it still does not equal Canada’s, or for that matter Ontario’s. France, after their massive push with vaccine passports and mandatory vaccinations, has just 55% of their total population vaccinated — Canada has 65% and Ontario tends to track to the national average.

In Ontario, every age group above 40 has a first dose vaccination rate of at least 80% — for those over 80 years of age it is 97%. Where Ontario needs to improve things is with people under the age of 40 and in low-income diverse urban neighbourhoods.

That’s what the public health data tells us.
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As Dr. Andrew Helmers from SickKids hospital recently wrote, vaccine passports will “serve to help the upper- and middle-class feel safer about activities where space is shared with strangers.”

What a vaccine passport won’t do in Ontario, a province with extremely high uptake of vaccinations, is significantly improve that uptake. Moore calls this the last mile and says we must understand those who are hesitant and work to overcome their hesitancy.

Seems most, including Roumeliotis, would prefer to use a stick and swing it hard.
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New Cases: 660

Positivity: 2.4%

ICU: +5 to 161

Hospitalizations: -12 to 283
 
1629904657018.png
 
Hamilton police are in with Toronto now on the mandatory vaccinations too.
Also Air Canada is in on it now too (note they are headquartered in Montreal).

The Ontario government is going to be forced to fold on a vaccine passport very soon and have some universal standard application to roll out for employers to simplify the verification process. The complexities of requiring every business to have their own in-house process is stupid and a waste of time.
 
Jonny5 said:
Hamilton police are in with Toronto now on the mandatory vaccinations too.
Also Air Canada is in on it now too (note they are headquartered in Montreal).

The Ontario government is going to be forced to fold on a vaccine passport very soon and have some universal standard application to roll out for employers to simplify the verification process. The complexities of requiring every business to have their own in-house process is stupid and a waste of time.
Click to expand...
I would love to know what the problem with passports is. You would think the police especially would be all in favour of vaccinations. It's very odd. The fact that the police union is against mandatory shots is weird. Why is the Ontario government so opposed to proof of vaccination status? I really feel like a visitor from another planet, very little makes sense these days.
 
Rufus8 said:
I would love to know what the problem with passports is. You would think the police especially would be all in favour of vaccinations. It's very odd. The fact that the police union is against mandatory shots is weird. Why is the Ontario government so opposed to proof of vaccination status? I really feel like a visitor from another planet, very little makes sense these days.
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It's a standard labour relations opening move to never support the employer unless is directly - not in the abstract - benefits the membership. I don't follow the matter closely but the only labour organization I can recall reading that has supported the mandates out of gate is the (or one of the) union(s) for Delta Airlines.

The inherent conflict in their position is they are potentially supporting an unsafe working environment for some, likely most, of its members while defending the individual decisions of a few others. Imagine riding in a car with an un-vaxed partner for 10-12 hours, not even considering the members of the public who's contact with them is often, 'less than voluntary'. I doubt they object to the directive but, rather, any disciplinary action against members for non-compliance; so, a hard mandate applied softly. They will champion the individual in the absolute over the collective in the abstract.
 
I'm all in favour of passports, but given that the virus can be transmitted even by asymptomatic vaccinated individuals, that there have been multiple cases of outdoor transmission and that everyone should wear a mask indoors, I would probably not put myself in a situation where a passport is needed.
 
As long as breast-feeding mothers who had both COVID-19 vaccines continue breast-feeding their infants, the infants do not need a vaccine. That's my assumption. It's the non-breast-fed infants that may need a vaccine.

Vaccinated Mothers Can Transfer Antibodies to Their Babies to Protect Them From COVID-19​

From link.

We are warriors—we can feed our babies with our own bodies, we can nourish our babies with our bodies, and we can protect our children with our bodies.

Throughout the pandemic, mothers have been seeking medical advice on the best methods to protect their unborn and newborn children from COVID-19. However, what we now know is that the best protection can come from ourselves.

In a study published in January, pregnant women in their third trimester who became sick with COVID-19 were able to transfer antibodies to the fetus across the placenta.

Antibodies are immune system proteins that target viruses, bacteria, and other organisms that enter the human body and have the potential to make us sick. When you are pregnant, your antibodies cross the placenta and enter the fetal circulation; this protects the fetus, both in the womb and after birth.

Antibodies created by the vaccine work the same way, so that mothers do not have to become sick first in order to get that anti-viral protection for their children. The COVID-19 vaccine creates antibodies which can then be transferred across the placenta.
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There's more good news. Breastfeeding mothers can pass along the antibodies in their breast milk, which means that even if the antibodies were not passed along via the placental layer, newborns can still receive some immune protection from the mother.

There are so many things we've learned during COVID-19, as well as things we still need to learn.

  • We've learned that the COVID-19 vaccines are safe and recommended during pregnancy
  • We have learned that, like other vaccines for vaccine-preventable diseases, we may be able to protect our babies by vaccinating ourselves
  • We have learned that COVID-19 antibodies transfer from mom to baby via the placenta and in breast milk
  • We still need to learn how to optimize this transport of antibodies via the placenta (when to offer the vaccine in order to get the most antibodies and if there can be increased transport with adjustments to the vaccine)
But most of all, we know that we are lifegivers and we want to protect the next generation with all our hearts.
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Jonny5 said:
And there it is. Vaccine passports are here in Ontario.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1431349233769193478
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It's the fine print that I have doubts about: "announce a form of vaccine passport". Why do I see "Deco Labels & Flexible Packaging" behind it? o_O

Maybe a "synonym" for "passport"?

key

entry

door

admission

avenue

doorway

way

admittance

gateway

path

route

ticket

access

accession

entrance

entree

ingress

secret

channel

opening

open sesame

portal

means of access

entrée

right of entry

permission to enter

passage

opportunity to enter

acceptance

pass

permission

way in

magic formula

recipe

formula

reception

initiation

answer

solution

blueprint

means of entry

open arms

free passage

code

open door

means

opportunity

introduction

entryway

right of way

means of approach

abracadabra

opener

welcome

incoming

adit

confirmation

certification

designation

visa

warrant

allowing

admitting

leave to travel in

permission to travel

safe conduct

authorization to travel

freedom to travel

right to travel

safe-conduct

letting in

right of access

contact

connection

in

debut

induction

importation

penetration

progress
 
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