The COVID-19 pandemic has been hard on everybody, but apart from the families that have lost loved ones in this global health crisis, nobody has suffered more than healthcare workers around the world. In this special article, we have gathered the testimonies of six local healthcare workers, who told us what it is really like to be a part of the medical field in Canada in the midst of a pandemic.
The chair of the London Health Coalition, Peter Bergmanis, argues that Ontario’s efforts to increase personal support worker (PSW) recruiting and training falls short. “It’s not a step backwards, but it's not a fundamental improvement either,” he says. The provincial government is currently providing $115 million to train up to 8,200 new PSWs in health and long-term care sectors across Ontario.
The Prime Minister recognized nurses as selfless professionals who undertake life-saving work every day and called them “heroes of our health care system” who work tirelessly to deliver critical care to their patients and make Canada a better place to live. Trudeau added that this year's theme of National Nursing Week, #WeAnswerTheCall, highlights nurses' courage and commitment, and reminds Canadians of the many roles they play to keep communities safe and healthy.
Canada is set to receive over 2 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine by the end of the week, and for each week until enough doses have been filled. Pfizer-BioNTech has been consistently delivering approximately 1 million doses since March, but numbers will be doubling over the next month.
COVID-19 vaccines are now available for individuals 18 and older within Ontario's hotspots, and since the announcement more than 73,000 appointments have been booked. The vaccines will also be available to everyone else, 18 years of age or older as early as May 24, 2021.
As vaccination slowly begins to include the majority of the population, more and more people are now eligible to get the vaccination. In a recent news release, Ontario residents who are over the age of 45 and live in COVID-19 hotspot, along with child care workers are now eligible to register for their vaccine.
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