IN PHOTOS Northern lights dance across the night sky in southern Ont.
From London, to Mildmay, Collingwood and St. Thomas, here are some highlights of Friday night and Saturday morning's northern lights display.
The Canadian Medical Association (CMA) and the Canadian Nurses Association (CNA) are calling for COVID-19 vaccines to be mandatory for health-care workers.
In a news release, the CMA and CNA stated jointly that in the face of the highly contagious COVID-19 variants and the plateauing of Canada’s vaccination rate, the mandatory vaccination of health-care workers is “an additional measure to protect patients, the health workforce and health-care system capacity.”
“What we're seeing is that these variants of the COVID virus are much more contagious and that makes the cry for vaccination even stronger,” said CMA president Dr. Ann Collins in a telephone interview with CTVNews.ca Tuesday. “And at the same time, we're seeing a plateauing in vaccine uptake and we know that vaccines are what are going to get us through and out of this pandemic. So we felt it was important, along with our nursing partners, to bring this forward.”
Collins said that so far, reaction to the announcement has been positive because the public recognizes that the organizations are “putting patients at the centre of their call-to-action.”
The organizations are also calling on all levels of government and employers to implement strategies to lower barriers to vaccine access, the statement says.
“While vaccines are readily available across Canada, we recognize that the history of inequity within the health-care system impacts trust,” the statement continues. “Therefore, governments and employers must continue to support and address vaccine hesitancy and system barriers to achieving the highest rate of vaccination among the public and health workforce.”
Health-care workers were among the first to receive COVID-19 vaccines to protect them and their patients from infection and to prevent outbreaks, but specific data on how many chose to get inoculated is not readily available.
As of Tuesday, 67 per cent of Canada’s eligible population has been fully vaccinated against COVID-19.
Requiring vaccinations as a condition of employment in health-care settings like hospitals and long-term care homes is not a new phenomenon, as many workplaces require doctors, nurses and support staff to be fully immunized against diseases like tetanus and hepatitis B.
In Europe, France has ordered all health-care workers to get vaccinated by mid- September, with Greece and Italy following suit with their own mandates in the face of the Delta variant driving COVID-19 cases up.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford told reporters in July that health-care workers have a “constitutional right” to opt out of vaccination, saying he doesn’t “believe in forcing anyone to get a vaccination that doesn’t want it.”
Alberta Premier Jason Kenney also flatly dismissed the idea of mandatory vaccines, going so far as to amend Alberta’s Public Health Act and removing a century-old order that allows the government to force people to be vaccinated.
“We have an incredibly powerful tool at our disposal to combat this virus and its variants,” Collins said. “We should be using everything that we can to get people vaccinated.”
From London, to Mildmay, Collingwood and St. Thomas, here are some highlights of Friday night and Saturday morning's northern lights display.
A cyclist turned herself in and received a fine after striking a four-year-old girl who was crossing the street to catch a school bus.
For decades, North Bay, Ontario's water supply has harboured chemicals associated with liver and developmental issues, cancer and complications with pregnancy. It's far from the only city with that problem.
The Netherlands' contestant in the Eurovision Song Contest was dramatically expelled from competition hours before Saturday's final of the pan-continental pop competition, which has been rattled by protests over the participation of Israel.
The rolling hills leading to the hamlet of Rosebud are dotted with sprawling farms and cattle pastures -- and a sign sporting a simple message: No Race Track.
In the quiet and leafy Vancouver neighbourhood of South Cambie, best known for its botanical garden, playoff fever is about to set in.
Evan Bouchard scored 5:38 into overtime and the Edmonton Oilers bounced back for a 4-3 win over the Vancouver Canucks in the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs on Friday.
Biden wants the 2024 election to be a referendum on Trump's record and plans, but he also wants voters to look favourably on his own policies and actions
Irresponsibly using a credit card can land you in financial trouble, but personal finance columnist Christopher Liew says when used properly, it can be a powerful wealth-building tool that can help grow your credit profile and create new opportunities.
A family of fifth generation farmers from Ituna, Sask. are trying to find answers after discovering several strange objects lying on their land.
A Listowel, Ont. man, drafted by the Hamilton Tigercats last week, is also getting looks from the NFL, despite only playing 27 games of football in his life.
A small Ajax dessert shop that recently received a glowing review from celebrity food critic Keith Lee is being forced to move after a zoning complaint was made following the social media influencer’s visit last month.
The Canada Science and Technology Museum is inviting visitors to explore their poop. A new exhibition opens at the Ottawa museum on Friday called, 'Oh Crap! Rethinking human waste.'
The Regina Police Service says it is the first in Saskatchewan and possibly Canada to implement new technology in its detention facility that will offer real-time monitoring of detainees’ vital health metrics.
The stakes have been set for a bet between Vancouver and Edmonton's mayors on who will win Round 2 of the Stanley Cup playoffs.
A grieving mother is hosting a helmet drive in the hopes of protecting children on Manitoba First Nations from a similar tragedy that killed her daughter.
A chicken farmer near Mattawa made an 'eggstraordinary' find Friday morning when she discovered one of her hens laid an egg close to three times the size of an average large chicken egg.
A P.E.I. lighthouse and a New Brunswick river are being honoured in a Canada Post series.