There may not be a sufficient supply of COVID-19 vaccines available for distribution across Ontario at present, but that doesn’t mean that the Town of Innisfil isn’t getting ready to do its part.
“Things are moving quickly, and the pivot never stops,” said Mayor Lynn Dollin in Weds. night’s virtual meeting of Innisfil Council.
Dollin said that she had been invited to sit in on a call with General Rick Hillier, chair of Ontario’s COVID Vaccine Distribution Task Force; Health Minister Christine Elliott and Solicitor General Sylvia Jones last Thursday, “talking about vaccine rollouts.”
Even though there’s not a lot of vaccine supply right now, she said, the Ontario government is asking municipalities to “wrap around their health units and provide support and assistance so that when these vaccines do come… we can administer them quickly."
That will mean a vaccination site in the Town of Innisfil.
Further details were presented by Communications Co-ordinator Jenn Rae, who provided an update on the Innisfil Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) COVID-19 response, and recent provincial actions.
The province conducted a COVID-19 regulation enforcement blitz last weekend in Simcoe County, with help from community partners that included the Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit, South Simcoe Police and Town of Innisfil By-law officers.
The blitz targeted big box stores, checking to make sure that they were in compliance with provincial COVID safety regulations, including capacity limits and COVID screening.
While only 50 percent of the 372 stores inspected county-wide were in full compliance, and more than 2 dozen stores received fines that ranged from $750 to $1,000, in Innisfil “overall, the operation was successful, with compliance being higher than expected,” Rae said.
Many businesses were given the opportunity to change their procedures and comply, before further measures were taken or fines issued – and did so.
“We did see a lot of great examples of compliance from local businesses,” Rae said, promising that Innisfil will release its own statistics next week.
She noted that the Town has been participating in the Stay At Home Ontario campaign since the end of January, and urged residents to continue to be vigilant in wearing face masks and avoiding unnecessary travel outside the home, now that new more transmissible variant strains of the virus have been detected.
“The town continues to communicate with residents through virtual and digital channels,” Rae said, providing more services online. And, she said, there is one more very positive piece of news:
“We’re actively working with the health unit and other local health partners to determine a local COVID-19 immunization site in Innisfil,” Rae told council. “We’ll be sure to update our residents when more information is available.”
She added, “We’re continuing to wait for more details on vaccination roll-out, but this is certainly a positive step forward for our community and our neighbouring municipalities.”
Mayor Dollin acknowledged that residents are finding the ever-changing recommendations and regulations “frustrating… but it’s the nature of the beast.”
It’s also one reason why the Town of Innisfil continues to operate its EOC, she said. “We have to be able to pivot.”
Plans are underway to establish mass vaccination locations in each of six regions within Simcoe-Muskoka next month, including one in South Simcoe.
-with files from Marg. Bruineman
