“We are moving from a BA.1 wave to a BA.2 wave." This is an article by Elizabeth Payne published by the Ottawa Citizen on March 16.

RNAO’s CEO Doris Grinspun made a deputation to the Toronto Board of Health on Jan. 17. RNAO recognizes the importance of our public education system for all children’s learning, physical, social and emotional development. In principle, there is no question – school is where kids and youth ought to be. However, the provincial government’s response to school safety has mirrored its response to the pandemic generally. Public health measures have been too little, too late – undermining our capacity to ameliorate the damage caused by the virus, and jeopardizing recovery.

Two weeks after the World Health Organization designated Omicron a variant of concern, it has dominated headlines, sparking renewed fears about the spread of COVID-19 and forcing countries to strengthen their vaccination campaigns with booster shots. This is a 10 December 2021 article by Nicole Bogart, CTVNews.ca, @nlynnbogart.

This month, RNAO spoke to the media about many timely issues, including the expanded booster dose eligibility, the Ontario government’s fall economic statement and most prominently, our call to the premier to immediately #RepealBill124. Our virtual Fall Tour with members also generated lots of media coverage.

The Ontario government’s move to expand eligibility for the COVID-19 booster dose comes at a critical time in the fight against the virus. RNAO continues to ask the government to make vaccination for healthcare workers mandatory. With another winter approaching, the government must urgently address the crisis in nursing human resources, starting with the repeal of Bill 124. The emergence of the Omicron variant is the result of global vaccine inequity.

We are in the midst of a fourth wave driven by the Delta variant. This July 5 article from Michael Toole, Professor of International Health at the Burnet Institute in Australia, summarizes what we know about this variant.

RNAO is considering the question of a third dose of COVID-19 vaccine. The following article from Sheena Cruickshank reflects our current thinking on the matter. Basically, we believe it is too early to launch a vaccine booster program in Canada, except for immunodeficient persons and adults 80 years and older.

The government announced today an earlier reopening of the province to step 3. The news did not come as a surprise given the successful vaccination rollout and decreased hospitalization rates. In several media interviews I expressed that although the five day advanced reopening is not a major concern, the lack of capacity restrictions in indoor activities is.

Even during the COVID crisis in Ontario, we should not forget that this is a global calamity. The massive third wave in Ontario is driven by COVID variants of concern that appeared in other parts of the world where the virus ran unchecked. In the most literal sense, we are all in this together. Unfortunately, we don’t behave as if that is the case. With the goal of increasing our awareness and actions on COVID-19 global justice, I am posting another article, dated March 10, by Michael Toole, a Professor of International Health at the Burnet Institute in Australia.