People will be able to get a COVID-19 vaccine and a flu shot at same time
Porcupine Health Unit officials are pleased with the COVID-19 vaccination rates in the Cochrane District. In a call with news media on Monday, Dr. Lianne Catton said the first dose rate is a percentage higher than the provincial average and a percentage lower for second doses.
With news from the province announcing a million more influenza vaccines this fall than last year, they are encouraging people to get both a flu shot and COVID-19 vaccine -- if they haven't already gotten one -- and said they can get them both at the same time.
"We’ll be rolling out that program with primary care pharmacy and our own vaccine clinics with the Porcupine Health Unit team and others across the region over the next few weeks and into November," said Dr. Lianne Catton, medical officer of health for the Porcupine Health Unit.
Catton also said families with children aged five to 11 years old can prepare to have them receive their COVID-19 vaccines once Health Canada approves it. She is expecting those clinics to begin in November.
And, when it comes to the abusive behaviour of some people lately at clinics, Catton said it won't be tolerated.
"Please put kindness first; put respect first; put the wellness of all our community members first. We need to come out of this stronger, not come out of it more divided," she said.
Timmins police officials said no charges have been laid yet against people for being uncivil at vaccine clinics, but a couple of weeks ago, they charged a man with trespassing for refusing to leave a local gym when he wouldn't show proof of vaccination.
"He was asked to leave; he refused, the police attended and he was escorted from the property," said Marc Depatie, communications coordinator for the Timmins Police Service.
Catton added, for the time being, the health unit has turned off the comment option on some of its social media posts as a result of what some people are saying. She said people can contact the health unit via email or telephone with their questions or concerns.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
Northern Ont. lawyer who abandoned clients in child protection cases disbarred
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Maple Leafs fall to Bruins in Game 3, trail series 2-1
Brad Marchand scored twice, including the winner in the third period, and added an assist as the Boston Bruins downed the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-2 to take a 2-1 lead in their first-round playoff series Wednesday
Cuban government apologizes to Montreal-area family after delivering wrong body
Cuba's foreign affairs minister has apologized to a Montreal-area family after they were sent the wrong body following the death of a loved one.
'It was instant karma': Viral video captures failed theft attempt in Nanaimo, B.C.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
What is changing about Canada's capital gains tax and how does it impact me?
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
New Indigenous loan guarantee program a 'really big deal,' Freeland says at Toronto conference
Canada's Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland was among the 1,700 delegates attending the two-day First Nations Major Projects Coalition (FNMPC) conference that concluded Tuesday in Toronto.
'Life was not fair to him': Daughter of N.B. man exonerated of murder remembers him as a kind soul
The daughter of a New Brunswick man recently exonerated from murder, is remembering her father as somebody who, despite a wrongful conviction, never became bitter or angry.