Local parents, students, teachers react to voluntary vaccines for back to class
Back to school planning is back on, but the one thing parents don’t have to plan on is getting their children a COVID-19 vaccine if they don’t want to. The provincial government says it will not make vaccines mandatory for students or teachers.
London parent Priscilla Deluca, who was enjoying Wednesday afternoon at Gibbons Park with her eight year old daughter, says she’s disturbed the government would keep vaccines voluntary. “This is the world we live in with COVID. This is the reality. And it should be one of those mandated vaccines for sure.”
For planning purposes, this past spring both London area school boards required families to decide whether their children would go back to class in the fall, or continue with learning at home. It was a decision families had to make before anyone knew whether vaccines would be mandated for schools.
Deluca opted for in class learning for her child. And while she wouldn’t have decided differently had she known, she says she still has reservations.
“The fact that the teachers are not mandated to get vaccines, it concerns me as well.”
Vaccines are not yet available to children under 12, but they are for high school aged children. According to COVID-19 Tracker Canada, ages 12 to 17 have the lowest overall vaccination rate of any eligible age cohort in the province. Just 23 per cent have one shot, and 16 per cent have two doses.
Ingersoll high school student 14 year old Ryan Knox received his second dose at local pop-up clinic. He says he’s not concerned about vaccine hesitancy among his peers.
“Some people take it seriously, some don’t. It’s all based on the person that you’re talking to.”
Retired high school teacher Cory Rochon Ratko, who could be found for an evening walk at London’s Springbank Park Wednesday, says she’s worried for her colleagues.
“Teachers, retired and otherwise, and I still have qualifications, are terrified to go into the classrooms. Some of us are immune compromised. Our supply teachers are older, they’re retired, and they’re coming back to supply.”
In the meantime, the president of Elementary Teachers Federation of Ontario, Thames Valley, Craig Smith, says the province’s back to school plan is based on “hope” that nothing goes sideways.
“The government is hoping that there isn’t a spike in numbers. They’re hoping that people don’t get sick and spread the Delta variant. They’re hoping they don’t have to, sort of deploy outbreak management plans. They’re hoping that the vaccines hold, and I would underscore all that by saying hope is never a strategy.”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
More than 115 cases of eye damage reported in Ontario after solar eclipse
More than 115 people who viewed the solar eclipse in Ontario earlier this month experienced eye damage after the event, according to eye doctors in the province.
Last letters of pioneering climber who died on Everest reveal dark side of mountaineering
George Mallory is renowned for being one of the first British mountaineers to attempt to scale the dizzying heights of Mount Everest during the 1920s. Nearly a century later, newly digitized letters shed light on Mallory’s hopes and fears about ascending Everest.
Toxic testing standoff: Family leaves house over air quality
A Sherwood Park family says their new house is uninhabitable. The McNaughton's say they were forced to leave the house after living there for only a week because contaminants inside made it difficult to breathe.
Decoy bear used to catch man who illegally killed a grizzly, B.C. conservation officers say
A man has been handed a lengthy hunting ban and fined thousands of dollars for illegally killing a grizzly bear, B.C. conservation officers say.
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau on navigating post-political life, co-parenting and freedom
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau says there is 'still so much love' between her and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as they navigate their post-separation relationship co-parenting their three children.
An emergency slide falls off a Delta Air Lines plane, forcing pilots to return to JFK in New York
An emergency slide fell off a Delta Air Lines jetliner shortly after takeoff Friday from New York, and pilots who felt a vibration in the plane circled back to land safely at JFK Airport.
B.C. seeks ban on public drug use, dialing back decriminalization
The B.C. NDP has asked the federal government to recriminalize public drug use, marking a major shift in the province's approach to addressing the deadly overdose crisis.
'I was scared': Ontario man's car repossessed after missing two repair loan payments
An Ontario man who took out a loan to pay for auto repairs said his car was repossessed after he missed two payments.
First court appearance for boy and girl charged in death of Halifax 16-year-old
A girl and a boy, both 14 years old, made their first appearance today in a Halifax courtroom, where they each face a second-degree murder charge in the stabbing death of a 16-year-old high school student.