Outaouais vaccination expands to those born 1951 and earlier

·3 min read
On Wednesday, the first people with COVID-19 vaccine appointments received their shots as part of the mass immunization campaign in western Quebec. (Jonathan Dupaul/CBC - image credit)
On Wednesday, the first people with COVID-19 vaccine appointments received their shots as part of the mass immunization campaign in western Quebec. (Jonathan Dupaul/CBC - image credit)

People born in or before 1951 who live in the Outaouais can register for their COVID-19 vaccine appointments starting Wednesday.

Previously, this age group was only eligible to book an appointment if they were a caregiver for someone 80 and older at least three days a week. They had to be vaccinated at the same time as the person they care for.

The mass vaccination campaign started Wednesday with people 85 and older who already booked their appointments at the Palais des Congrès in downtown Gatineau, Que.

Rolande Gendron was an hour early for her appointment — one of the first of the day at the convention centre. She said she booked it right when appointments opened in late February.

Rolande Gendron booked her volunteer transport from Centre d'entraide aux aînés an hour ahead of her COVID-19 vaccine appointment because she didn't want to be late.
Rolande Gendron booked her volunteer transport from Centre d'entraide aux aînés an hour ahead of her COVID-19 vaccine appointment because she didn't want to be late.(Jonathan Dupaul/CBC)

"I'm very happy. It will protect me and I think we should all be vaccinated," Gendron said. "This virus is very strong."

She said she's been ordering groceries online and limiting contacts, including with her family, and she doesn't expect that to change until more people get vaccinated and she has her second dose.

60 and older could have first shot by May

Vaccine clinics will be expanding to five more locations as of Thursday in Buckingham, Wakefield, Saint-André-Avellin, Maniwaki and Campbell's Bay.

Centre intégré de santé et de services sociaux de l'Outaouais (CISSSO) said vaccine supply is predictable enough that new appointments will continue to be added.

Dr. Carol McConnery, infectious disease specialist with CISSSO, said that could mean that by the end of April everybody who is 60 and older could have their first shot and that might be a crucial point for lessening public health restrictions.

Signage directs people with appointments at the COVID-19 vaccination clinic at the convention centre in downtown Gatineau, Que.
Signage directs people with appointments at the COVID-19 vaccination clinic at the convention centre in downtown Gatineau, Que.(Jonathan Dupaul/CBC)

"If we immunize everyone over the age of 65, well maybe we'll be able to have our neighbours over for supper," she said.

Current immunization coverage is too low to allow for changes in behaviour, she said.

Helping seniors get their shot

Gatineau's Centre d'entraide aux aînés, a resource centre for seniors living independently in the community, has seen an increase in calls as vaccines come online.

The centre helps people book their appointments through the website and arrange transportation to and from vaccination sites.

Nancy Rancourt, co-ordinator of transportation and volunteers at the centre, said volunteers will also accompany seniors who might be nervous as they receive their vaccines.

"A lot of them didn't go out for a whole year. Just to go out for a simple walk is a challenge for some of them so taking the step further to go out, get in a car, get in a line with 200 people, is really shocking for them. So we need to take baby steps with them," Rancourt said.

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    COVID-19 cases continue to rise domestically and now the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is warning people in the U.S. about international travel to Canada.

  • Estevan Police Service Chief Paul Ladouceur to resign

    After seven years on the job, Estevan’s police chief, Paul Ladouceur, is to step down April 16 amid mounting pressure by the police union, which is urging changes after votes of non-confidence in his role as chief. Conversely, the city’s chairman of the board of police commissioners, Roy Ludwig, who’s also the mayor, says the union lacks “all the information,” alleging it has engaged in “conjecture.” Ladouceur tendered his resignation with Ludwig on Thursday afternoon. He resigns following union pressure for how he and the board of police commissioners allegedly handled Workers’ Compensation Board (WCB) claims made by the late Jay Pierson, a former Estevan police constable. Ladouceur did not return the Leader-Post’s request for comment. Citing confidentiality, Ludwig said he couldn’t provide details about Ladouceur’s or the board’s handling of mental health concerns officers raised. “Unfortunately some of these people do not have all the information,” he said. “We cannot release confidential information. “As a result, some people will conjecture and make up their own opinions, not knowing all of the background, all of the facts and of course there's nothing we can do to prevent that.” Three different medical professionals diagnosed Pierson with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). He died on March 5 of natural causes, his family says. Pierson first filed benefit claims for his PTSD in 2017. Estevan police administrators appealed those claims through a WCB appeal process. In June 2020 a Court of Queen’s Bench Justice ruled Pierson should have his benefits reinstated after they were denied through the WCB appeal. Casey Ward, president of the Saskatchewan Federation of Police Officers (SFPO), told the Leader-Post he heard from Estevan police members “there was a real lack of support with mental health issues … They saw how Jay was treated. There are members that are hurting and they thought there would be no support if they came forward.” Two EPS members last week called Ward, he said, to tell him “‘we're not eligible for retirement, but we're quitting, we can't work there anymore.’” The SFPO president said Estevan members have twice called non-confidence votes for the chief over the past 12 months. In the fall of 2020, they voted — at the SFPO’s urging — to keep Ladouceur on board to work with him. This year shortly before Pierson’s death, Ward said all but four Estevan members voted for a non-confidence motion against Ladouceur. After their colleague’s death, they “came back to the (local) president (Kevin Reed) and said 'we want to change our vote,' and they had 100-per-cent agreement of non-confidence.” Reed did not respond to the Leader-Post’s phone calls for comment. The SFPO on Tuesday sent a letter to Saskatchewan’s policing and corrections minister, Christine Tell, requesting “a formal review of the leadership of the Estevan Police Service (EPS),” Ward said. Tell’s office confirmed it received the letter. In an emailed statement, Tell said, “at this time no decisions have been made regarding an inquiry into the Estevan Police Service.” She said her ministry “places a high priority on mental health for our police services and corrections staff.” Ludwig commended Ladouceur’s work in his service with the city. He said the chief’s securing “carbine (rifles)” for its members, getting funding through SGI to pay for new police cruisers and obtaining speed radar cameras are examples of that. “He was able to find revenue streams that we did not have the opportunity to even be aware of in the past. He had a great relationship with SGI and with the provincial government.” Ladouceur joined the Estevan Police Service as chief in April 2014, after working as a detective-sergeant with the Brockville, Ont. police service. Before that, he was with the London, Ont., police force for about 11 years. Sgt. Warren Morrical is to serve as the interim police chief, until the city finds a permanent replacement, Ludwig said. eradford@postmedia.com Evan Radford, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Regina Leader-Post, The Leader-Post

  • US unveils new rules for government contacts with Taiwan

    WASHINGTON — The State Department on Friday unveiled new rules for U.S. government contacts with Taiwan that are likely to anger China but appear to reimpose some restrictions that had been lifted by the Trump administration. The department announced the changed policy in a statement that said the Biden administration intends to “liberalize” the rules to reflect the “deepening unofficial relationship” between the U.S. and Taiwan. However, the revised guidelines don’t include all the changes put in place by former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in the waning days of the Trump administration. Pompeo had lifted virtually all restrictions on contacts with Taiwan, including allowing Taiwanese military officers to wear uniforms and display the Taiwanese flag at meetings with U.S. officials. Friday’s changes were silent on those matters, although the rules do continue to permit U.S. officials to meet their Taiwanese counterparts in federal buildings. China regards Taiwan as a renegade province and opposes any attempt to treat the island as an independent country. China had condemned Pompeo's easing of the restrictions that had been in place since the U.S. recognized Beijing and dropped formal diplomatic relations with Taiwan in 1979. “These new guidelines will continue the U.S. government’s longstanding practice of providing clarity throughout the U.S. executive branch of how to implement our ‘one China’ policy,” the department said. “This new guidance is a step forward from earlier versions, including the contact guidance that was in place for virtually all of the previous administration, by encouraging engagement with Taiwan counterparts and removing unneeded restrictions.” Yet the statement contained no details about the new “contact guidance” and congressional aides briefed on the matter said the changes were actually more restrictive than those Pompeo had rolled out just 11 days before the end of the Trump administration. The department said Pompeo's changes had not made engagement with Taiwan easier but rather “had the practical policy effect of impeding our unofficial engagement with Taiwan — a problem that we are rectifying today with this new guidance.” It was not immediately clear how the new guidance rectified the matter. On Jan. 9, Pompeo issued a sweeping order that rescinded almost all U.S. restrictions on contacts with Taiwan. “The United States government took these actions unilaterally, in an attempt to appease the Communist regime in Beijing. No more," Pompeo said in a statement that announced the “lifting all of these self-imposed restrictions.” He said the U.S.-Taiwan relationship should not “be shackled by self-imposed restrictions of our permanent bureaucracy.” Matthew Lee, The Associated Press

  • More than 200 isolating in Saint John after possible exposure to COVID-19 variant at church

    More than 200 people in Saint John are self-isolating because of possible exposure to a COVID-19 variant during Palm Sunday service at RiverCross Church, after they were originally told they didn't need to, according to an email obtained by CBC News. An adult and child from the same family who attended the March 28 service at the church in the city's north end have tested positive, and "the exposure was likely a COVID-19 variant," senior pastor Rob Nylen advised parishioners on April 6 shortly before 10 p.m. "I can only imagine how disappointed and frustrated you were to hear the news that you had a potential exposure a few days ago," he wrote. "This can be shocking to hear." Parishioners who attended the service were initially notified on April 3 that someone had tested positive, but the Department of Health had deemed the risk "low," according to an email from Nylen and the co-chairs of the board of deacons. "While we are not required to notify you, we want to be fully transparent," the email stated. "We would ask that you monitor yourself for symptoms and if you are not feeling well, get a COVID test." The instructions changed on April 6, however, after tests showed a child from the same family, who attended the RiverKids child-care program on March 28, likely has the variant. "Because the virus is different, the advice from Public Health on how to respond is different," the email said. "Therefore, all 209 of you who attended worship on March 28th were (or will be) required to isolate until midnight Sunday April 11th and being asked to get a COVID-19 test." Public Health is treating the case as a "presumptive variant of concern," confirmed spokesperson Bruce Macfarlane. "Out of an abundance of caution and keeping the public's safety in mind, we are treating this case as a presumptive variant of concern that requires laboratory confirmation from National Microbiology Laboratory" in Winnipeg, he said in an emailed statement. Public Health spokesperson Bruce Macfarlane said officials are awaiting results from the national lab in Winnipeg.(CBC News file photo) Macfarlane could not say which of the highly transmissible variants it might be. So far, only the variant first detected in the U.K. has been confirmed in New Brunswick, but other variants, such as the P1, associated with Brazil, and the B1351, originally tracked in South Africa, have been quickly spreading across Canada. Asked why parishioners were not told to isolate as soon as the first person tested positive for COVID-19, Macfarlane said: "Once laboratory results revealed a variant of concern for the related case, Public Health directly called impacted contacts and provided public health guidance by Public Health staff." Pregnant mother among those isolating Kyle Rogers, his pregnant wife Celeste, and their 15-month-old son Benjamin are on Day 3 of their self-isolation. They got tested Thursday and their results all came back negative, he said. Still, Rogers worries that parishioners were going about their usual lives for 10 days. "It definitely always is a worry, given the asymptomatic nature [of COVID-19] and all of that. And that's why we decided to go get tested right away," he said. Celeste, Benjamin and Kyle Rogers are among the 209 RiverCross Church parishioners self-isolating until Sunday at midnight after being notified they could have been exposed to a COVID-19 variant.(Submitted by Kyle Rogers) "We just wanted to make sure that we were all good and just praying that everyone else is OK. We haven't heard anything else that's come about from it, which is fantastic so far." Rogers, 24, said it was the first time his family attended church since the pandemic began. "We thought, 'Well, it's getting closer to Easter. We might as well try and see how it was,'" he said. "Just our luck that it was the one time we would be there." They wore masks and sat at the back. "Everybody kept their distance and the place seemed fairly clean." Church seats 600 In an interview Friday, the pastor said all COVID-19 protocols were followed. The worship centre seats 600, but only 175 adults attended the service, while 34 children attended youth programs in other parts of the building, said Nylen. "So we're well under our provincial requirements there." The church also has a "pretty hearty operational plan," Nylen said. "Hand sanitizing, masks are mandatory for everyone for the whole service, we're physically distancing — four seats in between each person, and the row in front and the row behind are left vacant, contact tracing, one person at a time [in] the washroom, we have someone that roams around the building kind of cleaning as the morning goes on. So we have been pretty diligent with all of that stuff." Nylen said his voice mailbox has been filling up with people calling to let him know their tests came back negative, but he hasn't heard of anyone else testing positive. Certainly, people are wisely concerned, but I wouldn't say there's been any panic. - Rob Nylen, senior pastor When he was tested on Thursday afternoon, he was told the results could take up to 72 hours because of the number of people being tested around the city, he advised in an email. Parishioners have been coping well, he said. "Certainly, people are wisely concerned, but I wouldn't say there's been any panic." They've expressed concern for the people who tested positive and have offered to help them and any others in isolation by bringing them food or running errands. His family celebrated a birthday Wednesday and relied on the kindness of others to pick up a birthday gift and a cake, he said in an email. "So everybody's been pulling together." The situation has made people more mindful of their contacts, said Nylen. "I've heard people saying, you know, 'I've become a little bit more aware. I need to remember we're still in the middle of a pandemic.'" The church has no concerns with how Public Health handled the situation, according to Nylen. "They've been fast. They've been quick. They've given us clear instructions. … We've had nothing but helpful advice and clear advice right from the get-go."

  • U.S. taxi services see business boost helping Canadians avoid hotel quarantine

    Airport transport service, Buffalo Limousine, lost about 70 per cent of its business during COVID-19 pandemic. But the company said its luck changed recently, thanks to Canadian snowbirds returning from U.S. sunbelt states who want to avoid Canada's hotel quarantine requirement. "This is a huge, huge shot in the arm for us, this Canadian snowbird travel," said Carla Boccio, owner of Buffalo Limousine. "It's a godsend." Since February 22, air passengers entering Canada have been required to quarantine for up to three days in a designated hotel and pay for the cost — up to $2,000. However, travellers entering by land are exempt from the rule. To avoid the hotel quarantine, some snowbirds are flying to U.S. cities close to the Canadian border — such as Buffalo, N.Y. — and then hiring a ground transport service — such as Buffalo Limousine — to drive them across the Canadian border. "When Canada imposed that hotel [quarantine], then it was just like our phones were exploding," said Boccio. "What I hear from the majority of these people, it's not even so much the cost, it's like you're in jail … with this hotel quarantine." A new post on Buffalo Limousine's website informs Canadian travellers that it will drive them from Buffalo, N.Y., across the Canadian border. (Buffalo Limousine) CBC News interviewed three airport transport services based in Buffalo and one in Burlington, Vt., which is about 70 kilometres from the Quebec border. The companies said they'll drive Canadians to or across the Canadian border for around $100 US and, for an added fee, the Buffalo companies will drive passengers directly to their homes in Ontario. Each company said it has seen a boost in business after Canada introduced the hotel quarantine requirement. Since late February, Buffalo Limousine has, on average, transported 50 customers a day across the Canadian border, increasing its lagging business by around 50 per cent, Boccio said. "I'm more thankful than I could even put into words." Buffalo Limousine charges about $120 US to drive a couple from the Buffalo airport across the border to neighbouring Fort Erie, Ont., or Niagara Falls, said Boccio. A trip to downtown Toronto costs around $300 US. Crossing by land has different rules The federal government suprised snowbirds abroad when it changed the travel rules on Feb. 22, requiring air passengers entering Canada to take a COVID-19 test upon arrival, and spend up to three days of their 14-day quarantine in a hotel to await the test results. Ottawa introduced the hotel quarantine requirement to discourage international travel and help stop the spread of COVID-19 infections, which are surging due to more contagious variants. But travellers entering Canada by land face no hotel quarantine requirement. Instead, they must quarantine at home for 14 days and take multiple COVID-19 tests, including one in the U.S. within 72 hours of arrival at the Canadian border. According to Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) data, land entries into Canada jumped by 15 per cent during the first three weeks of March, compared to the same period in February (when the hotel quarantine rules were not yet in effect). Those entries include both leisure travellers and essential workers who aren't truck drivers. WATCH | What it's like to stay at a quarantine hotel: To avoid the hotel quarantine requirement, snowbird Jaroslaw Stanczuk said when he returns home from Florida later this month, he will fly to Buffalo, and take a taxi across the border to his home in Fort Erie, Ont. Stanczuk, who got the COVID-19 vaccine in Florida, said he's taking the necessary safety precautions during the pandemic and feels the hotel quarantine is a needless step. "You want me to get a COVID-19 test? I'm happy with that. You want me to get one when I arrive? I'm happy with that. But why punish me with three days of quarantine in a hotel?" Canadian snwobird Jaroslaw Stanczuk said he plans to fly to Buffalo when he returns to Canada from Florida and then take a taxi across the Canadian border.(submitted by Jaroslaw Stanczuk) Other snowbirds are also travelling by cab. Since the hotel quarantine rule took effect, Buffalo Airport Taxi said it has driven, on average, 20 to 30 customers a day across the Canadian border, increasing its business by at least 50 per cent. "They want to go home. They don't want to go to quarantine prison," said Buffalo Airport Taxi manager, Saleman Alwhishah. "It boosted our business tremendously." Why can U.S. drivers cross the border? John Arnet, general manager of 716 Limousine in Buffalo, said he's been inundated with requests for transport across the Canadian land border and questions about the rules for entering Canada during the Canada-U.S. land border closure to non-essential traffic. "Most of the questions are ... 'Can you take us across the border?'" said Arnet. "Yes, we can take you across the border. We're an essential service." CBSA said that foreign transport workers such as taxi and bus drivers can enter Canada during the border closure, if they establish they're employed as a driver and are performing a service related to their job. CBC News asked the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) for comment about Canadians travelling home by land to avoid the hotel quarantine requirement. The agency did not provide a direct response. Instead, it listed the types of fines and other penalties Canadians can face if they violate quarantine rules.