KIDS FINALLY GETTING THE VACCINE, AS 91 CASES INCLUDES 12 IN MUSKOKA

Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com

SIMCOE-MUSKOKA — A school PA day was the perfect time for kids to get their first vaccine.

“It didn’t hurt much,” said Ben Sundy, 9, after he and his twin brother Will and their sister, Leah, 5, were among the first this afternoon to be immunized at Gravenhurst’s community centre.

They were with their mom, Laura Sundy, of the YWCA, who said she was “relieved” to finally get the Bracebridge family inoculated to go along with her previous shots. They’d already had their flu shots, so it was no problem.

It was the same for mom Allie Mason, also of Bracebridge, when the clinic opened at 1 p.m.

She had her son, Beau, 7, and daughter Pippa, 5, getting their first shots as her other daughter, Beatrice, 3, waited and watched.

The MAHC nurse, who has also been dispensing vaccines to adults, said she, too, was happy to see her kids among the first in line for the clinic that runs to 8 p.m. Friday.

(See full list below for next week. Those 12+ welcome based on booking.)

The Terry Fox Auditorium looked like school gymnasium with kids sitting or milling around for the required 15 minutes after the Pfizer shots as many parents who knew each other said “Hi” or asked “How’d it go?”

Like the Sundys and Masons who go to Monck School in Bracebridge, where there have been 3 active cases among students in an outbreak thee declared last Friday, Nov. 19.

Spruce Glen Public School in Huntsville has 14 active cases in an outbreak declared Nov. 22.

Across Ontario today, there are 160 schools with outbreaks — double the number two weeks ago.

So, today was a good start on a day that otherwise saw a dozen new cases in Muskoka — among a huge spike in regional cases totalling 91 reported on Friday by the Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit.

Public Health Ontario reported the number as 73.

Half of today’s 12 cases were among kids in Huntsville aged 0-17. One other person in Gravenhurst was also under 18.

And in a bad week for Muskoka those cases brought the number in the district this week alone to 53.

SMDHU reports 312 cases regionally so far this week with 2 days of reporting accounting to come. Last week the total was 415.

Muskoka cases Nov. 26:

  1. Bracebridge woman, 65-79, under investigation, reported Nov. 25, first episode Nov. 24
  2. Bracebridge man, 65-79, close contact, reported Nov. 25, first episode Nov. 24
  3. Gravenhurst girl, 0-17, close contact, reported Nov. 25, first episode Nov. 21
  4. Huntsville girl, 0-17, outbreak, reported Nov. 25, first episode Nov. 24
  5. Huntsville girl, 0-17, community acquired, reported Nov. 25, first episode Nov. 20
  6. Huntsville girl, 0-17, outbreak, reported Nov. 25, first episode Nov. 23
  7. Huntsville boy, 0-17, outbreak, reported Nov. 25, first episode Nov. 23
  8. Huntsville boy, 0-17, outbreak, reported Nov. 25, first episode Nov. 24
  9. Huntsville boy, 0-17, under investigation, reported Nov. 25, first episode Nov. 23
  10. Huntsville man, 18-34, community acquired, reported Nov. 25, first episode Nov. 13
  11. Huntsville woman, 35-44, outbreak, reported Nov. 25, first episode Nov. 24
  12.  45-64, under investigation, reported Nov. 25, first episode Nov. 24

Of all those testing positive today, 60 were unvaccinated, 26 were fully vaccinated and 2 partially vaccinated.

With them there are now 555 active cases in Simcoe-Muskoka, including 29 in hospital and 2 more overnight.

And there were no new deaths reported.

(*One reported case in Gravenhurst Wednesday was moved to another health unit, says SMDHU.)

This as the new “Omicron” variant, which is worse than Delta, has the world on edge and Wall Street stocks plunging Friday.

Canada, the U.S. and Europe have all restricted travellers who transited through seven African countries after the VOC was discovered in South Africa and Botswana this week.

And Ottawa has begun legislation to crack down on harassment of health-care workers. The Liberal government has also proposed 10 paid sick leave days for federal workers and those overseen by federal laws.

This as MPs will now be able to work from home while tending to constituency representation in a return to hybrid Parliament.

FRIDAY: COVID BY THE P.H.0. NUMBERS: … 73 CASES IN SIMCOE-MUSKOKA (55 YESTERDAY) … ONTARIO 927 AND 5 DEATHS (748-5) … TORONTO 129 (77), YORK 52 (43), PEEL 54 (48) … NORTH BAY-PARRY SOUND 1 (5) … PORCUPINE 5 (3) …

Muskoka vaccine clinics next week:

  • Monday Nov 29 from 1 – 8 p.m. at the Gravenhurst Centennial Centre

  • Tuesday Nov 30 from 1 – 8 p.m. at the Huntsville Active Living Centre

  • Thursday Dec 2 from 1 – 8 p.m. at the Huntsville Active Living Centre

  • Friday Dec 3 from 1 – 8 p.m. at the Gravenhurst Centennial Centre

  • Saturday Dec 4 from 9 – 4 p.m. at the Gravenhurst Centennial Centre

  • Sunday Dec 5 from 9 – 4 p.m. at the Huntsville Active Living Centre

Beau Mason, 7, gets his shot as his sisters Beatrice, 3, and Pippa, 5, look on. (Allie Mason photo)
Laura Sundy and her three children, Leah, 5, and twin 9-year-old brothers Ben, top, and Will give the thumbs up after successful vaccinations this afternoon.
Jordan Kearn, 6, and his dad Dan, of Bracebridge, didn’t let a little snow stop them from their kids vaccine appointment on the first day of Simcoe-Muskoka clinics in Gravenhurst on Friday.
Mom Allie Mason snaps a selfie as her daughter Pippa gets her vaccine shot at the Terry Fox Auditorium today.

HEALTH UNIT HIGHLIGHTS:

  • 15,348 cases to date
  • 312 cases this week
  • 415 last week, which was 25% higher than the 332 cases the week before
  • From Dec. 22 there have been 859 confirmed COVID-19 cases among vaccinated residents
  • 12 deaths in November, 5 each previous two months
  • From Sept. 26 to Nov. 20 the rate of COVID-19 infection among the unvaccinated vaccine-eligible Simcoe Muskoka population is seven times higher than it is for fully vaccinated population and the rate of COVID-19 hospitalizations is 12 times higher.
  • 4,008 Alpha variants of concern, 169 Gamma, 34 Beta, 2,237 Delta
  • 936,457 vaccines have been administered
  • 466,351 resident have received at least one vaccine, which represents 77% of the total population
  • 88% of the population 12+ have had at least one vaccine
  • 88% of youth 12 to 17 have received at least one vaccine

There are 555 active COVID cases in Simcoe-Muskoka as of Fiday.

IN OTHER COVID NEWS …

  • A Vancouver man has been jailed a second time for a party gathering this week. Last April he received a one-day sentence and $5,000. This week he was jailed 29 days and given a $10,000 fine for a repeat party in violation of his probation.
  • The federal deficit for the first six months of its fiscal year (April-September) is $69 billion. In 2020 it was $198 billion.
  • Quebec, with 1,037 cases and no deaths today, is defending its health measures. Premier Francois Legault says there are only 200 people in hospital.
  • Merck’s COVID pill is effective, but is still going back for more study in the U.S., says their Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
  • India, the world’s largest maker of vaccines, has resumed shipments of the AstraZeneca vaccine to the UN’s Covax distribution system for poorer countries.

EMAIL: news@muskokatoday.com

28 years of ‘Local Online Journalism’

Twitter: @muskokatoday, Facebook: mclairmont1

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