Ontario expands vaccine booking eligibility
As of Tuesday, May 11, 2021 at 8:00 a.m., individuals with at-risk health conditions such as dementia, diabetes and sickle cell disease, as well as Group Two of people who cannot work from home including grocery store, restaurant and transportation workers will be eligible to book an appointment to receive the COVID-19 vaccine.
In addition, effective Thursday, May 13, 2021, at 8:00 a.m., individuals turning 40 and over in 2021 in non-hot spot communities will also be eligible to book an appointment to receive the COVID-19 vaccine at a mass immunization clinic. Eligible individuals can schedule an appointment through the provincial booking system, or directly through public health units that use their own booking system. This builds upon the eligibility of those aged 18 and over in hot spot areas and is aligned with the rollout announced on May 2, 2021.
High-risk health care workers will be eligible to receive their second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine earlier than the extended four-month interval.
Niagara Region offers new business directory
Niagara Health’s COVID-19 Vaccination Clinic reaches milestone of 100,000 doses administered
On May 8th, Niagara Health’s COVID-19 Vaccination Clinic at Seymour-Hannah Sports and Entertainment Centre in St. Catharines surpassed 100,000 vaccine doses administered since opening earlier this year. Niagara Health opened the first mass immunization clinic in Niagara. Approximately 75 people work at the clinic daily including staff and physicians from Niagara Health, community physicians and others. Based on vaccine supply, Niagara Health can continue to vaccinate approximately 1,650 people per day.
Government of Canada plans to issue US-dollar global bond
Today, the Government of Canada announced its plan to issue a US-dollar-denominated global bond later this week, subject to market conditions. Issuing a global bond provides funds to supplement and diversify Canada’s liquid foreign reserves. Canada holds its liquid foreign reserves in the Exchange Fund Account (EFA). Foreign exchange reserves provide a general source of prudential liquidity and promote orderly conditions for the Canadian dollar in foreign exchange markets. Funds for the EFA can be raised through cross-currency swaps of Canadian-dollar borrowings, foreign-currency-denominated debt issues, and outright purchases of foreign currency.
Reading Recommendations
Global herd immunity is still out of reach
The Economist
More than 5m Americans who have received a first dose of the covid-19 vaccine are skipping appointments for their second, according to the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention. Some mistakenly think they are sufficiently protected with a single shot; others fear side effects. Such hesitation is common around the world, according to a new poll by Gallup. In a survey of 300,000 people across 117 countries, the pollster found that only 68% of adults would agree to be vaccinated if a free jab were available to them; 29% said they would refuse.
How to set up a remote employee for success on Day One
James M. Citrin, Darleen DeRosa, Harvard Business Review
Most managers know that onboarding new employees virtually is just plain hard, and many recognize the long-term impact a poor onboarding experience could have on their employees. Onboarding is more than logistics, such as making sure your new employee has a computer. The more critical, make-or-break parts of onboarding include:
Getting off to a fast start to give your new colleague early comfort and confidence — making him or her feel welcome.
Establishing a foundation for strong relationships across the organization.
Building an understanding of the culture and how work gets done.
Setting clear expectations and connecting the individual’s work to the broader organizational mission, vision, and goals.
Niagara COVID status tracker (May 1)
Niagara’s most up-to-date COVID statistics, measured against the targets for the various stages of the Ontario COVID-19 Response Framework, are presented below. This does not predict government policy, but is offered to give you an idea of where Niagara is situated and how likely a relaxation (or further restrictions) may be. These data are the most recent published by Niagara Region. The Grey-Lockdown level does not have its own metrics, but is triggered when the COVID-specific measurements in a Red-Control region have continued to deteriorate.
The Province of Ontario is currently under a stay-at-home order. The COVID-19 Response Framework does not apply during this order. Click here to review the restrictions currently in place.
▲: Metric has increased since last published measurement
▼: Metric has decreased since last published measurement
— : Metric has not changed since last published measurement
| December 18 | December 25 | January 1 | January 8 | January 15 | January 22 | January 29 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reproductive number | 1.4 | 1.8 | 1.4 | 1.1 | 1.0 | 0.7 | 0.9 |
| New cases per 100,000 | 101.2 | 267.3 | 469.8 | 575.8 | 507.1 | 295.5 | 250.6 |
| New cases per day (not including outbreaks) | 60.7 | 178.7 | 311.7 | 376.9 | 325.4 | 182.7 | 145.7 |
| Percent of hospital beds occupied | 97% | 95.2% | 98.2% | 103.2% | 104.5% | 103.6% | 106% |
| Percent of intensive care beds occupied | 78.8% | 77.3% | 87.9% | 87.9% | 90.9% | 89.4% | 93.9% |
| Percentage of positive tests | 6.1% | 15.6% | 28.1% | 28.6% | 26.6% | 21.2% | 16.2% |
Definitions:
- Weekly Incidence Rate: the number of new COVID-19 cases per 100,000 people per week
- Percent Positivity: the number of positive COVID-19 tests as a percentage of all COVID-19 tests performed
- Rt: the reproductive rate, or the number of people infected by each case of the virus
Niagara COVID vaccination tracker (May 10)
Niagara’s most up-to-date vaccination numbers are presented below, along with comparison data from Ontario, Canada, and G7 countries.
Total doses administered in Niagara: 202,294
Total doses administered in Niagara since yesterday: 2,363
| Percentage of population with one dose | Percentage of population fully vaccinated | |
|---|---|---|
| Niagara | 82.7% | 78.2% |
| Ontario | 84.6% | 79.1% |
| Canada | 84.7% | 78.6% |
| United States | 75% | 64% |
| United Kingdom | 78% | 72% |
| Germany | 76% | 74% |
| France | 80% | 77% |
| Italy | 83% | 76% |
| Japan | 80% | 79% |
| World | 63% | 53% |
Data are drawn from Niagara Region, the Government of Ontario, and Oxford University’s Our World in Data project.
