'Most of the city is evacuating': Gridlock on Alberta highway after evacuation order in Fort McMurray
Four Fort McMurray neighbourhoods were ordered to evacuate on Tuesday as a wildfire gets closer to the city.
With September around the corner, some doctors are urging parents of children aged 12 to 17 to get vaccinated in time to build full immunity before school starts again.
“If you look at the minimum interval of time between vaccines, plus factor in that you're not considered fully vaccinated until two weeks after your second dose, now is the time to get vaccinated,” explained infectious disease expert Dr. Isaac Bogoch in a telephone interview Tuesday with CTVNews.ca.
Bogoch urged “school-age children out there” who are eligible for vaccination and want to get the jab -- along with parents -- that this is the time to do it, as “it’s never been easier.”
“It's never been easier to get a COVID-19 vaccine in Canada,” Bogoch said, referencing Canada’s recent glut of supply. “I appreciate some people might not watch the news cycle as closely as others and may just recall headlines of scarcity and long lines…[but] that just doesn't exist right now.”
In Ontario, provincial data shows fewer residents in the 12 to 17 age cohort were signing up for a first shot over the month of July, with a demand for a first dose increasing by only 13 per cent – while demand for a second dose in that age range shot up by 500 per cent.
With six weeks until students are back in school, Ontario’s data shows 65 per cent of youth aged 12 to 17 have received one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, while 42 per cent have been fully immunized, with the province’s top doctor warning that vaccinated and unvaccinated students will have different sets of rules when schools starts up again.
Nationally, the latest data set from July 17 shows that just under 70 per cent of children aged 12 to 17 have received at least one dose, with 43 per cent partially vaccinated and 26 per cent fully vaccinated.
Bogoch said he recognizes that some find vaccinating children against COVID-19 a touchy subject, but hopes “parents and people will hopefully look at good data and high quality information and think about the benefits, the risks, the context of where they live and hopefully they choose to get vaccinated.”
“I'm not here to arm wrestle anybody, I’m just here to have an open discussion about what the vaccines do, what COVID-19 does, what people's true risk of exposure is - not just today or tomorrow, but over time -- who their close contacts are, including vulnerable populations that may or may not be vaccinated,” Bogoch continued.
Bogoch said that “when it all boils down” the data favours getting vaccinated. While ultimately it’s an individual choice, he said “it’s pretty clear that most people are choosing to get it –[but] people have to come to that decision on their own.”
---
With files from CTV News’ Queens Park Bureau Chief and Video Journalist Colin D’Mello
Four Fort McMurray neighbourhoods were ordered to evacuate on Tuesday as a wildfire gets closer to the city.
Saskatchewan RCMP have revealed that a historic sexual assault investigation has led to the discovery of alleged crimes against children dating back to 2005.
Less than a week after two public sculptures featuring a livestream between Dublin, Ireland, and New York City debuted, 'inappropriate behaviour' in real-time interactions between people in the two cities has prompted a temporary shutdown.
The Edmonton Oilers will start Calvin Pickard in net Tuesday for Game 4 of their playoff series with the Vancouver Canucks.
Kansas City Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker railed against Pride month, working women, President Biden's leadership during the COVID-19 pandemic and abortion during a commencement address at Benedictine College last weekend.
King Charles III has unveiled the first portrait of the monarch completed since he assumed the throne, a vivid image that depicts him in the bright red uniform of the Welsh Guards against a background of similar hues.
The annual list of Canada's top restaurants in the country was just released and here are the places that made the 2024 cut.
The province has released more information on its plan to break up Alberta Health Services and replace it with four sector-based health agencies.
The Biden administration has told key lawmakers it is sending a new package of more than US$1 billion in arms and ammunition to Israel, two congressional aides said Tuesday.
A team is ready to help an entangled North Atlantic right whale in the Gulf of St. Lawrence.
A $200 reward is being offered by a North Vancouver family for the safe return of their beloved chicken, Snowflake.
Two daughters and a mother were reunited online 40 years later thanks to a DNA kit and a Zoom connection despite living on three separate continents and speaking different languages.
Mother's Day can be a difficult occasion for those who have lost or are estranged from their mom.
YES Theatre Young Company opened its acclaimed kids’ show, One Small Step, at Sudbury Theatre Centre on Saturday.
An Ottawa pizzeria is being recognized as one of the top 20 deep-dish pizzas in the world.
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.
The threat of zebra mussels has prompted the federal government to temporarily ban watercraft from a Manitoba lake popular with tourists.