We Vaxxed Ourselves Into a Corner
Too much Moderna? Closing clinics? Green status? Did we beat this things?
Welcome to the Guelph Politico Tip Sheet, a thrice-a-week newsletter meant to “tip” you off about some of the important stuff going on in the Royal City. It arrives directly in your inbox on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.
PUBLISHER’S NOTE: Starting this coming Tuesday, July 27, the Tip Sheet will be dropping to twice-per-week on Tuesday and Friday mornings for the rest of the summer. We’ll be back to full time hours on August 31.
You can now walk-in to any clinic, any time, and get either your first or second dose of a COVID-19 vaccine as Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Public Health are looking to wind down their mass vaccinations clinics in August.
Public Health is warning that hundreds of doses of the Moderna vaccine at area pharmacies are set to expire over the next several weeks.
The University of Guelph has joined other post-secondary institutions in requiring students staying in residence to be fully vaccinated before moving in this September.
The ground was finally broken on a new integrated youth services building in Guelph’s north end, while the Federal government is spending a couple of hundred thousand dollars more to support local mental health coverage.
Some restaurants and bars that are sharing the vaccine status of employees are finding themselves harassed by the vaccine hesitant, resulting in the shutdown of a website meant to promote support for businesses where the staff have been fully vaccinated.
Green! Although we technically don’t measure infection status with colours anymore, the 7-day moving rate of confirmed cases in our area is officially green at just 8.7 per 100,000, while the test positivity rate is now 1.6 per cent. There were no new cases in the region on Friday, and the number of active cases fell by three to now sit at just 32.
Vaccine progress continues to grow. Now, 80.6 per cent of people in Wellington, Dufferin, and Guelph have received one dose, and 65.5 per cent have been fully vaccinated. In Guelph alone, 86.4 per cent of eligible people have gotten one shot, and 72.3 per cent have been fully vaccinated.
New case counts in the rest of Ontario have been a little on the high side in the last few days with 185 on Thursday and 192 on Friday. The number of active cases is up slightly to 1,363, which is about 10 more than what there was just a few days ago, but the moving rate of confirmed cases is holding steady at 9 per 100,000. Toronto and Peel saw the biggest jump in new cases on Friday, doubling their day-over-day case count.
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Guelph MPP and Green Party of Ontario leader Mike Schreiner has joined the chorus of people demanding that Marineland be closed and that it’s animals be freed after renewed charges of neglect.
Elora Riverfest is hosting a smaller, mini-festival on the weekend of August 20 with live, in-person (but physically distant) appearances by Kardinal Offishall, the Trews and the Barr Brothers at the Elora Centre for the Arts.
The Region of Waterloo has reached a tentative deal with 900 inside workers represented by the Canadian Union of Public Employees Local 1883 who were ready to start a strike this morning.
The City of Guelph is looking for feedback about your thoughts on the parking of trailers, recreational vehicles (RVs), detachable trailers and utility trailers parked in residential neighbourhoods.
A court has ordered the demolition of a $3 million home in Aylmer that was built too close to the road.
The permafrost in Russia is melting at an alarming rate, and releasing long frozen carbon and methane into the atmosphere, but at least we’re finding some cool stuff along the way.
Committee of the Whole Meeting – September 7, 2021.
The agenda for this meeting will be posted on the City of Guelph’s website on Thursday August 26.
Planning Meeting of City Council – September 13, 6:30 pm.
The agenda for this meeting will be posted on the City of Guelph’s website on Thursday September 2.
Placeholder Reserved for Special Meeting of City Council – September 20, 6 pm.
If there is a meeting for this date, the agenda will be posted on the City of Guelph’s website on Thursday September 9.
Placeholder Reserved for Special Meeting of City Council – September 22, 6 pm.
If there is a meeting for this date, the agenda will be posted on the City of Guelph’s website on Thursday September 9.
Regular Meeting of City Council – September 27, 6:30 pm.
The agenda for this meeting will be posted on the City of Guelph’s website on Thursday September 16.
For more information on Guelph City Council meetings, from agendas to live-tweets to recaps, you can visit that page on Guelph Politico here.
Space Jam: A New Legacy comes back for another week at the Mustang Drive-In, and this week it will be played with the prequel Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins.
Hillside Homeside runs all weekend.
Guelph Black Heritage Society will mark Emancipation Day with a jamboree at Heritage Hall on August 1 from 3-6 pm.
A community sacred fire gathering is being held on Monday August 2 at the sacred fire site in Royal City Park starting at 2:30 pm.
Past and present staff of the Holiday Inn Guelph Hotel & Conference Centre will meet for a reunion and a group photo at 2 pm on August 8 outside the hotel.
The Children’s Foundation of Guelph and Wellington is holding their second annual “Patio for a Purpose” fundraiser at the Italian Canadian Club starting on Tuesday August 17.
A gathering will take place to mark Overdose Awareness Day in St. George’s Square on Tuesday August 31 at 12 noon.
30 Days till Pumpkin Spice is everywhere!
And finally, feel free to reach out to be by email at adamadonaldson [at] gmail [dot] com, or find me on Facebook, Twitter, and, of course, GuelphPolitico.ca!