WECHU wish list: Half of Windsor-Essex to be fully vaccinated before mask pull back
A 50 per cent full vaccination rate is what should be required before any easement of mask restrictions can be considered in Windsor-Essex, according the local health unit.
Medical officer of health Dr. Wajid Ahmed says a wait and see approach regarding true transmission is needed, while other countries around the world relax mask requirements.
“We’ll have to wait and see, especially when you are connecting with people in different settings,” says Ahmed.
Ahmed says the region is currently 25 per cent fully vaccinated, but notes he’d like figure that to increase before mask rules can be lifted.
“Outdoor setting versus indoor setting, people who you know or maybe people who are your friends or family versus people who are completely strangers in public space, private space,” says Ahmed.
Dina Misur of Windsor says she’ll keep putting masks on in public until more people get their vaccines.
“I don’t mind them at all, I haven’t had a problem with them from the beginning,” she says. “I think it’s wise to focus on fully vaccinated versus one shot because then you’re completely more effective.”
Beth Robinet says while she’d prefer not to wear a mask, she is willing to wait for others’ safety.
“It would be a matter of people starting to feel comfortable being closer together and stuff like that but it’s just going to take some time,” she says.
University of Waterloo public health professor Dr. Zahid Butt tells CTV News he believes masks remain important in preventing the spread of transmissible diseases, noting the Delta variant is a growing concern.
“If you are not wearing masks during this pandemic then you would see a lot more cases than what you’re seeing now,” Butt explains. “It’s more to err on the side of caution. You have to be cautious with this virus. If you give space to this virus, definitely it will spread.”
Ahmed says he’s “comfortable” with how many residents are currently fully inoculated against COVID-19, but stresses getting both doses will result in a speedier return to normalcy.
“If you want to celebrate, if you want to go out, if you want to hang out with people, get your vaccine, first and second dose quickly so we as a community can move forward quickly,” he says.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING Federal employees will be required to spend 3 days a week in the office
Starting in September, public servants in the core public administration will be required to work in the office a minimum of three days a week. The Treasury Board Secretariat says executives will need to be in the office four days per week.
Concerns about plexiglass prompt inspections at some Loblaws locations in Ottawa
Inspections are underway at more than one Loblaws location in Ottawa after complaints were filed about tall plexiglass barriers.
OPP officer said 'someone's going to get hurt' before wrong-way Hwy. 401 crash
As multiple Durham police cruisers were chasing a robbery suspect on the wrong side of Highway 401 Monday night, an Ontario Provincial Police officer shared his concerns, telling a dispatcher, "Someone's going to get hurt."
Canada's most wanted fugitive arrested in P.E.I. in connection with Toronto homicide
A suspect in a fatal shooting in Toronto’s east end last summer has been arrested in Charlottetown, just one week after he topped a list of Canada’s most wanted fugitives.
Poilievre returns to House unrepentant for calling Trudeau 'wacko,' Speaker not resigning
An unrepentant Pierre Poilievre returned to the House of Commons on Wednesday to pepper the prime minister about his drug decriminalization policies after being booted the day prior for refusing to take back calling Justin Trudeau 'wacko' over his approach to the issue.
Five human skeletons, missing hands and feet, found outside house of Nazi leader Hermann Göring
Archeologists have unearthed the skeletons of five people, missing their hands and feet, at a former Nazi military base in Poland.
Toddler of Phoenix first responder dies after bounce house goes airborne
A two-year-old child died after a strong gust of wind sent the bounce house he was in airborne and into a neighbouring lot in central Arizona, the Pinal County Sheriff's Office said.
Plane overshoots runway at airport in St. John's, N.L., no injuries reported
Investigators from the Transportation Safety Board of Canada are headed to St. John's, N.L., after a plane overshot a runway at the city's airport this afternoon.
A teen was found buried in a basement in New York. An engraved ring helped police learn her identity two decades later
For more than two decades, the unknown victim was nicknamed "Midtown Jane Doe" because she was found in the Hell's Kitchen neighbourhood of New York City. But this week, investigators finally revealed her identity.