Senior doctor denounces anti-vax protests outside clinics and schools

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Those planning to protest in front of the Devonshire Mall mass vaccination clinic and local schools and hospitals in an effort to deter children from receiving the COVID-19 vaccine should find another way to “voice their disagreements,” the main doctor in the region.

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The message from Medical Health Officer Dr. Shanker Nesathurai comes in response to posts circulating on social media about the demonstrations scheduled for Thursday, the first day Windsor-Essex children ages five to 11 can receive a dosage of Health Canada approved Pfizer-BioNTech jab. In the past week.

“Find some other way to voice your complaints beyond where people are receiving medical treatment,” he said during a morning briefing by the Windsor-Essex County Health Unit. “For the most part, the people who come there are not the ones making the decisions for these policies.”

While Nesathurai reiterated that the public health unit welcomes dialogue and acknowledged that people have the right to demonstrate, she expressed concern that children and families are encountering the protesters.

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“Parents who take their children to a vaccination center, a doctor’s office, or school should not put their children under additional psychological stress by walking alongside people who might be expressing an opinion adverse to the decision. that the family has taken, ”he said.

“When it comes to children and people who have already made a clinical decision, their decision must be respected and they must not be prevented from making that decision.”

People have recently been seen handing out anti-vaccination flyers to children outside of various local schools.

Additionally, a Facebook post from the failed local PPC candidate Victor Green urged people to sabotage Windsor’s vaccination appointment system to prevent children from taking the hit by booking appointments they do not intend to attend. .

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The executive director of the health unit, Nicole Dupuis, called that message “disappointing” and said that her team would be monitoring the vaccine stock. If necessary, they will verify that the reservations are legitimate by following up on the people who have made appointments.

“There are a number of safeguards on the website that make it a bit more cumbersome for someone who is just trying to reserve and enter information that is not really correct or factual, so we have implemented a few things,” said Dupuis. .

The health unit will do “everything possible to make sure that young people who are eligible for the vaccine” and whose “parents want them vaccinated” can get vaccinated, Nesathurai said.

To book an appointment for a child over the age of five, visit wevax.ca or call 226-773-2200. All children ages five to 11 must be accompanied by a parent or legal guardian to receive a vaccination.

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Parents can also contact participating pharmacies and primary care providers to schedule immunization appointments.

The health unit reported an additional 64 cases of COVID-19 and the COVID-related death of a man in his 60s on Wednesday.

To date, 21,374 local residents have tested positive for the new coronavirus, including 470 people who have died, 374 active cases, and 20,530 cases considered resolved.

Twenty-three COVID patients are in local hospitals.

COVID-19 outbreaks are active in seven workplaces, 15 community settings, seven schools, two long-term care homes, and one hospital.

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