Novel Coronavirus COVID-19 (nCoV-2019)

[DSC]

Hair and makeup designer Marc Pilcher died of Covid-19. He was double vaccinated with no underlying health condition.

‘Bridgerton’ hair designer Marc Pilcher dies of Covid at 53

The Emmy-winning hair and makeup designer died of Covid-19 shortly after returning to the U.K. from the U.S., where he accepted the award.

www.nbcnews.com

Sad, but nobody said the vaccine is 100% effective!

 

[Admiral Beez]

A former colleague of mine called today out of the blue, asking me if I knew of any job leads. I asked her what happened, has she lost her job? She replied she’s received a notice of termination effective Oct 31st unless she’s vaccinated. I then asked incredulously, why aren’t you vaccinated? To which she replied, it’s her personal choice, that her parents had a history of blood clots and that she doesn’t trust the science. She’s from the former CIS so has some distrust of government messaging, so I thought about trying to convince her, and did tell her that my entire family got the Moderna shot and no one burst into flames, but I just said, FFS come to your senses and hung up. Idiots.

Have we learned nothing in the year since this vid?

​

 

[Towered]

A former colleague of mine called today out of the blue, asking me if I knew of any job leads. I asked her what happened, has she lost her job? She replied she’s received a notice of termination effective Oct 31st unless she’s vaccinated. I then asked incredulously, why aren’t you vaccinated? To which she replied, it’s her personal choice, that her parents had a history of blood clots and that she doesn’t trust the science. She’s from the former CIS so has some distrust of government messaging, so I thought about trying to convince her, and did tell her that my entire family got the Moderna shot and no one burst into flames, but I just said, FFS come to your senses and hung up. Idiots.

Have we learned nothing in the year since this vid?

​

Some people just lack common sense, and there's really no helping them. She deserves to lose her job if she's that stubborn about being stupid.

 

[W. K. Lis]

Long-term care home puts one-third of workers on unpaid leave​

Copernicus Lodge loses 84 workers who have not proved vaccination

From link.

Eighty-four workers at a Toronto long-term care home are on unpaid leave because they did not provide proof of vaccination with at least one shot by a Monday deadline set by their home.

Copernicus Lodge — near Roncesvalles Ave. and Queen St. W. — says it has reached out to staffing agencies and health partners to fill staffing gaps for the roughly 248 residents who live there.

“It was a hard decision to make and hard for everyone involved,” said Marla Antia, a spokesperson for Copernicus. “Some of them are pretty strong in their convictions. So we have done a lot to try to inform them.”

The not-for-profit home set a deadline of Oct. 4 for proof of a first shot. Workers had until Nov. 4 to prove they were fully vaccinated.

Eighty-four out of about 343 employees are now out.

“With our low vaccination rate, facing a shortage of employees was kind of a reality we had to think about,” Antia said.

Outside Copernicus, a woman named Wanda was taking her friend, Irene Kulikowski, 99, out for a walk.

Kulikowski has lived at the residence for 22 months.

“I think everything is OK; I think the staffing is OK,” said Wanda, standing not far from a sign outside the facility that says: “We are hiring.”

Twenty-two residents at Copernicus have died from COVID-19. The facility expects to get an all-clear Oct. 8 for its latest outbreak.

As he made a funding announcement, Ontario Long-Term Care Minister Rod Phillips addressed the staffing changes and unpaid leave imposed at Copernicus.

“Although there are a limited number of staff who won’t get vaccinated despite everyone’s request that they do, the much bigger risk from a human resource perspective is losing 12 or 24 people because of an outbreak,” Phillips said, noting that Copernicus ranks in the bottom 10 among homes across the province for vaccination rates among staff.

He announced $270 million will flow next month to add 4,050 staff to long-term care to address what Phillips called “decades of neglect.”

Just days ago, the province set a deadline of Nov. 15 for long-term care home workers to provide proof of vaccination.

Copernicus — which early in the pandemic was temporarily run by hospital network Unity Health Toronto — had already set its own deadlines before the province moved.

The passing of the deadlines has led to dramatic changes, but the home says unvaccinated employees on unpaid leave can always change their minds.

“We have heard from some employees that they’re intending to get vaccinated,” Antia said

If someone is terminated with cause (IE. not get the COVID-19 vaccines), they don't get severance or EI.

 

[zang]

If someone is terminated with cause (IE. not get the COVID-19 vaccines), they don't get severance or EI.

Indeed. That's the plan is for a lot of companies. It's a health & safety issue, and just as you can turf someone for failing to get a newly required safety requirement (proper training certificates, etc.), vax mandates are being treated the same. The HR crowd seem of the firm belief this is a sound avenue. You may get an ambulance chaser willing to try and take this to court as a human rights violation or constructive dismissal, but they're pretty much doomed to fail. The science is there. Vaccines increase workplace safety, and you can't accommodate *against* safety.

 

[AlvinofDiaspar]

Indeed. That's the plan is for a lot of companies. It's a health & safety issue, and just as you can turf someone for failing to get a newly required safety requirement (proper training certificates, etc.), vax mandates are being treated the same. The HR crowd seem of the firm belief this is a sound avenue. You may get an ambulance chaser willing to try and take this to court as a human rights violation or constructive dismissal, but they're pretty much doomed to fail. The science is there. Vaccines increase workplace safety, and you can't accommodate *against* safety.

The OHRC has already put out a policy statement on vax that made it *very* clear personal beliefs is not a protected ground:

OHRC Policy statement on COVID-19 vaccine mandates and proof of vaccine certificates | Ontario Human Rights Commission

www.ohrc.on.ca

AoD

 

[W. K. Lis]

Indeed. That's the plan is for a lot of companies. It's a health & safety issue, and just as you can turf someone for failing to get a newly required safety requirement (proper training certificates, etc.), vax mandates are being treated the same. The HR crowd seem of the firm belief this is a sound avenue. You may get an ambulance chaser willing to try and take this to court as a human rights violation or constructive dismissal, but they're pretty much doomed to fail. The science is there. Vaccines increase workplace safety, and you can't accommodate *against* safety.

The OHRC has already put out a policy statement on vax that made it *very* clear personal beliefs is not a protected ground:

OHRC Policy statement on COVID-19 vaccine mandates and proof of vaccine certificates | Ontario Human Rights Commission

www.ohrc.on.ca

AoD

So can't use "personal beliefs" to NOT to wear safety shoes.

 

[zang]

So can't use "personal beliefs" to NOT to wear safety shoes.

My green triangles never told me they were a Gates/Soros conspiracy to keep my Vans from being in power.

 

[AlvinofDiaspar]

Quelle surprise:

Calls to Alberta’s poison-control centre spike as anti-parasitic drug pushed for COVID-19 treatment

Alberta’s Poison and Drug Information Service (PADIS) handled 12 calls related to ivermectin between Sept. 2 and Oct. 3, according to AHS

www.theglobeandmail.com

AoD

 

[W. K. Lis]

The name of Ontario's vaccine passport app has leaked and it's pretty meh​

From link.

Ontario is slated to drop a free vaccine passport app in just two weeks, giving business owners and patrons alike an easy way to check or show proof of vaccination in settings where this is required.

The provincial government told us as much when announcing the new vaccine certificate rules for indoor businesses like bars, restaurants and gyms back in September:

"As of September 22, 2021, Ontarians will need to be fully vaccinated (two doses plus 14 days) and provide their proof of vaccination as well as proof of identity (such a driver's licence or health card) to access certain public settings and facilities," reads an FAQ document posted to the province's website last month.

"An enhanced vaccine certificate, as well as a verification app to allow businesses to read the QR code, will be available beginning October 22."

We're now at the halfway point between the passport program's implementation and the expected release of an app suite that, for some reason, the province has decided to develop in-house.

Given the Doug Ford government's plentiful previous technical blunders, many have expressed doubts that the app will actually launch on October 22 as scheduled. I suppose we'll have to wait two weeks and see, using the printed or PDF copies of our official immunization records in the meantime.

The provincial government itself has yet to provide any updates on that front, but we do now know what they plan (or at least planned) on naming the enhanced vaccine certificate or verification app: Verify Ontario.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1445939952760590337

First surfaced on Twitter by CBC provincial affairs reporter Mike Crawley, the URL "covid-19.ontario.ca/verify" went to a simple website with the heading "Use the Verify Ontario app" as of Wednesday night.

By Thursday morning, the URL had been programmed to automatically redirect traffic to the provincial government's main "Proof of COVID-19 Vaccination" portal.

What this is means is that you can't see the page live anymore — but you can see a cached version of it courtesy of Google.

A snapshot of the page as it appeared on at 11:47 p.m. last night descibes Verify Ontario as "Ontario's official app for verifying COVID-19 vaccine certificates."

"Verify Ontario gives businesses and organizations a quicker, easier and trusted way to scan and confirm that visitors are fully vaccinated," reads a block of small text, the only other thing visible on the page.

"The Verify Ontario app launches later this month."

So there you have it: The government's forthcoming vaccine passport app (or at least the scanning portion of it) will apparently have a name every bit as original as the wildly simple $650,000 logo created for the Ontario Cannabis Store back in 2018.

Let's hope the launch of this new app is smoother than that of the OCS website, or even the Ministry of Health's own COVID-19 vaccination portal, which went down on the first day that Ontario's vaccine passport rules were in effect.

 

[W. K. Lis]

From link.

Dr. Tam added that with the level of vaccine coverage achieved in Canada to date, with over 82 per cent of eligible Canadians fully vaccinated, Canadians are "much better protected" heading into respiratory infections season.

That being said, if Canadians "let go" of public health measures in the fall and winter, Canada’s chief public health officer warned that Canada could see a "serious Delta-driven resurgence, with a risk of overwhelming healthcare capacity."

"It is important to stress that even as the fourth wave recedes, COVID-19 is unlikely to disappear entirely and there could continue to be bumps along the way," Dr. Tam said.

For the first time since mid-July, Canada's COVID-19 situation has "dropped out of a growth pattern nationally," with the effective reproduction number (Rt) below one for the first time in several weeks.

That being said, there is still significant regional variation in COVID-19 spread. Previously hard-hit provinces that maintained restrictions and achieved higher vaccination coverage are seeing a smaller wave, compared to provinces that relaxed measures before a high enough vaccine coverage was achieved.

 

[W. K. Lis]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1446573882278830080

 

[gabe]

Moderna's turn to get thrown under the bus.

Iceland Joins Nordic Peers in Halting Moderna Covid Vaccinations​

Bloomberg - Are you a robot?

 

[Jonny5]

Moderna's turn to get thrown under the bus.

Iceland Joins Nordic Peers in Halting Moderna Covid Vaccinations​

Bloomberg - Are you a robot?

Sweden, Denmark and Finland have this week suspended the jabs for younger people because of the risk of heart inflammation as a potential side effect. Norway said men under 30 should consider choosing the Pfizer Inc.’s and BioNTech SE’s rival vaccine, and the other Nordic nations also recommended that as an alternative.

Well at least they were smart enough to say Nordic and not Scandinavian, like some other news outlets this week. There are many Swedes and Finns who are very anal-retentive about what nations are and are not a part of Scandanvia (both directions on that too).
Unfortunately, they filed this story a few hours before further news came out.

Denmark will offer the vaccine from Moderna Inc. to children under the age of 18 after all, the Danish Health Authority said, reversing a previous statement.

 

[gabe]

Well at least they were smart enough to say Nordic and not Scandinavian, like some other news outlets this week. There are many Swedes and Finns who are very anal-retentive about what nations are and are not a part of Scandanvia (both directions on that too).
Unfortunately, they filed this story a few hours before further news came out.

I have friends in Norway and Sweden, they laugh at me when i tell them we still have to wear masks in stores and on public transit. Over there they think Covid is no worse than the flu. Wearing face masks is only recommended.