Ontario accelerating boosters for education and child care staff, will provide free childcare for essential workers

To accelerate access to vaccines, starting January 7, the provincial mass vaccination clinic at the International Centre in Mississauga will support priority booking for education staff, including educators, custodial staff, administrative staff, school bus drivers, and child care staff in the GTHA.

Starting January 10, 2022, essential workers will be eligible for free emergency child care. To confirm whether or not your family is eligible for access to emergency child care, please contact your local service system manager. See a full list of eligible workers.

Click here for more information.

Vaccine clinic to be held in Lincoln Community Centre on January 9 by appointment only

The GO-VAXX Mobile Bus Clinic is coming back to Lincoln on Sunday, January 9, 2022. The clinic at the Lincoln Community Centre will administer the COVID-19 vaccine for first, second, and booster doses, as well as the paediatric Pfizer vaccine for children aged five to 11.

Please note that GO-VAXX mobile bus clinics are now by appointment only. Walk-ins will not be accepted.

To book an appointment:

• Visit the COVID-19 vaccination portal or call the Provincial Vaccine Contact Centre at 1-833-943-3900.
• The clinic will be available for booking on Saturday, January 8, 2022 at 8:00 a.m. Once appointments are full, the GO-VAXX location will be removed as an option from the provincial booking site

Click here for more information.

Ontario Chamber network issues united call for better business support

After consultation and input from Ontario’s Chambers of Commerce on a call yesterday, including the GNCC, the Ontario Chamber of Commerce (OCC) has presented the Ontario Minister of Finance with a list of requests on behalf of Ontario’s 157 chambers and boards of trade.

The GNCC made several of these suggestions independently before the holiday, and hopes that the added weight of the entire Ontario chamber network will help illustrate the urgency of this need for affected businesses.

The requests include:

• Extend the Small Business Support Grant for a third round targeted towards all businesses whose revenues are directly and/or indirectly impacted by current public health restrictions, including those previously eligible for the Ontario Tourism and Travel Small Business Support Grant.
• Work with the federal government to increase rental subsidies provided under the newly expanded Local Lockdown Program.
• Immediately open the recently announced portal which would allow businesses to access rebates for property taxes and utilities.
• Expand access to rapid antigen tests and PCR testing, with priority given to Ontarians unable to work from home.
• Work with financial institutions and the federal government to forgive loans for businesses most severely impacted by public health restrictions.
• Offer an additional grant to businesses required to implement the government’s enhanced vaccine certification protocols and to cover increased pandemic-related expenses.
• Develop a consistent plan that outlines how the Province intends to respond to the next stages of the pandemic and support those impacted by public health measures.

Click here to read the letter (PDF link).

Reading Recommendations

Royal Bank tells staff to keep working remotely

Reuters

Royal Bank of Canada has advised all employees in regions including Ontario and Quebec to work remotely if their jobs allow, following advice from these provincial governments, a spokesperson said in a statement late on Wednesday.

Royal Bank, unlike some rivals, did not provide a firm return-to-office date, and leaders had encouraged employees to work from home in December, according to the emailed statement.

In the past week, both Ontario and Quebec announced renewed restrictions amid a surge in COVID-19 cases due to the Omicron variant.

With so many cryptocurrencies, why do any of them have value?

CBC News

A financial report this week celebrated the launch of yet another cryptocurrency, this time a new LGBTQ-focused coin that aims to “fight against homophobia.”

If it takes off, the maricoin, a name which, as Reuters reported, is derived from a Spanish language homophobic slur, may be the kind of niche token that will survive in a very competitive field. Its founders hope so.

With fortunes having been made by many who have introduced coins of their own, there is certainly plenty of competition. But for people turning their hard-earned money into crypto tokens, that raises a bothersome question.

Even if crypto tokens really do have a use and a real-world value — something that remains disputed — and if those tokens can be reproduced infinitely, which blockchain mathematicians say they can, why are so many being traded as if they were in short supply?

Niagara COVID-19 statistics tracker