Almost time for another 6-Minute Escape to the arts

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April 1, 2021

The Arts Council Haliburton Highlands and Haliburton Reads & Writes committee is inviting anyone curious about the arts to save May 14 in their calendars and join them for their upcoming 6-Minute Escape on YouTube.

Spokesperson Kate Butler said building on the success of last fall’s inaugural event, the committee is delighted to host its second video premiere on the theme of transformation.

Butler said audiences can join in the multimedia extravaganza from anywhere in the world.

“This season’s collection will feature an entertaining mix of visual art, music and literary performance,” she said. “Each short video will allow viewers to experience firsthand the transformation of each artist’s creative practice.”

Marie Gage of the Haliburton Reads & Writes committee said: “The past year of lockdown, restrictions and uncertainty has affected us all. The Readers & Writers Committee of the Haliburton Highlands Arts Council hopes the creative imagery you will experience will lift your spirits and allow you to escape into another dimension.”

Organizers added the 6-Minute Escape will remind viewers that new experiences are waiting for us, while at the same time helping to raise much-needed funds to ensure support for the vibrant cultural community in the Highlands.

Visit youtu.be/9wtkHmqMzbU on May 14 at 7 p.m. There’s no cost to attend the launch but any donations would be greatly appreciated at gofundme.com/f/6-minuteescape.

Radio Playhouse coming to a wireless near you

By

Lisa Gervais

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April 1, 2021

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An upcoming Canoe FM show will not only allow theatre folks to get back in the saddle after a one-year intermission but provide a different kind of experience for listeners.

The Haliburton Highlands Arts Council’s Kate Butler said Canoe FM Radio Playhouse will air its pilot April 7 from 6-7 p.m.

From there, the plan is to continue the first and third Wednesday of every month, even post-COVID.

Butler said listening to radio dramas used to be an important piece of entertainment in people’s daily lives.

“I think that in the last while, with everyone spending so much time on Zoom, and other similar programs, people are looking for a bit of a different kind of experience. Radio theatre really encourages you to slow down and be present with a story as it unfolds. No matter our age, human beings love to be told a story,” she said.

Meanwhile, Rita Jackson said as on-air hosts and community theatre performers, she and her husband, John, have been discussing radio theatre for a number of months.

At Christmas, they were involved in Charles Dickens reading of A Christmas Carol on Canoe and said they knew immediately it was a program to pursue.

“With unanimous support from the Canoe program committee, and enthusiastic support from the local theatre groups, Canoe FM recognized it would be an exciting fit in its diverse and expansive program schedule,” she said.

Jackson, who has been involved in singing and community theatre every year for 25-plus years, added “my heart and soul missed this outlet so much. When all the Haliburton Highlands theatre groups gave a rousing yes to this opportunity, I knew that they all felt the same. I can confidently speak for the whole Haliburton Highlands theatre community when I say it is very cool.”

Butler said Highlands Summer Festival, Highlands Little Theatre and Rural Rogues Productions are looking forward to this “whole different kind of exciting opportunity.”

Butler said the local troupes will be involved in one of the shows every month while Canoe has purchased radio plays for the second monthly offering.

The first two plays in the pilot are Quotation is a Suitable Substitute for Wit, which Butler wrote, and Too Much Doubt, which Michael Clipperton and Butler penned together.

“Both plays are inspired by Haliburton County mysteries,” Haliburton Highlands museum director, Butler, said.

She said Quotation is a Suitable Substitute for Wit was inspired by a story she came across even before she started working at the museum. It was an account of a woman who had vanished from Eagle Lake in 1892 while visiting her daughter and her daughter’s family.

“There was no evidence as to what had happened, so I decided to let her enjoy an adventure. To say much more would be to give too much away, so people will just have to tune in.”

Too Much Doubt was inspired by another mystery – this one with its roots in 1917, when Jack Laking, the son of the owner of the Laking Lumber Company disappeared along with the company payroll, on Drag Lake.

“It’s important for listeners to remember that these are plays and creative works inspired by historical events, especially since both mysteries remain unsolved to this day,” Butler said.

Butler said each theatre group has a slightly different mandate, so they’ll be presenting different types of pieces, “which will make the show really exciting, as there will be such a variety. After the shows air, they’ll also be archived on the Canoe website, so listeners will also be able to check them out at their leisure (or catch-up if they missed a show),” Butler said.

She said doing radio plays is different.

“Radio theatre is a totally different way of performing, because, of course, everything has to be communicated through sound alone. That’s meant the scripts have gone through an editing process to ensure that everything is as clear as possible in the absence of the visual.

“We needed to think carefully about cast size and structure to ensure that we could adhere to current COVID guidelines and keep everyone involved safe. The plays actually don’t feature narration. We’ve decided to let the characters speak for themselves but there will be sound effects, thanks to Ron Murphy, the wonderful head of production at Canoe.”

Butler added while the show was spurred into action by the current situation, it will continue long after the pandemic is over and live theatre is happening again.

“Because it’s a whole different way of connecting with audiences and sharing stories.”

Phase 2 vaccines candidates

By

Lisa Gervais

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April 1, 2021

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by Dr. Nell Thomas

Ontario has announced the anticipated Phase 2 vaccine rollout from April to July, 2021. This phase included mass vaccination to approximately nine million residents, targeting: High-risk congregate (shared living) settings (such as shelters, community living); individuals with high-risk chronic conditions and their caregivers; those who cannot work from home and at-risk populations.

Vaccines will be provided through mass vaccination clinics, pharmacies, primary care doctors’ offices, site-specific clinics, mobile sites and public health units.

To find out if you meet the criteria, you can revie the Ontario vaccine website for a more detailed list of who’s eligible. I offer the following description of candidates here:

HIGHEST RISK: organ transplant recipients, hematopoietic stem cell transplant recipients (bone marrow or blood cell, used for leukemia and lymphoma patients), people with neurological diseases (stroke, MS, traumatic brain injuries, cerebral palsy) that affect breathing, cancers of the blood system diagnosed within the past year, kidney disease.

HIGH RISK: obesity (body mass index greater than 40), treatments that suppress immune systems such as chemotherapy or some rheumatological or psoriasis medications, intellectual or developmental disabilities (Down Syndrome).

AT RISK: immune deficiencies (diseases affecting bone marrow, lymph nodes, spleen, thymus), stroke, dementia, diabetes, liver disease, cancers, respiratory/lung diseases, spleen diseases, heart disease, high blood pressure, mental health disorders, substance use and addictions anemias, pregnancy, disabilities and immunocompromised conditions requiring direct support.

PRIMARY/ESSENTIAL CAREGIVERS FOR: organ transplant recipients, hematopoietic stem cell transplant recipients, people with neurological diseases with damage to lung function, blood cancers diagnosed within the last year, kidney disease with estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) under 30.

PEOPLE WHO WORK AND LIVE IN GROUP SETTINGS: supportive housing, developmental services or supported independent living, emergency homeless shelters, homeless populations not in shelters, mental health and addictions group settings, homes for special care, violence against women shelters and anti-human trafficking residents, children’s residential facilities, youth justice facilities, indigenous healing and wellness facilities, provincial and demonstration schools, farm workers who live in group settings, including temporary foreign workers, bail beds and Indigenous bail beds, adult correctional facilities.

CAREGIVERS IN THE FOLLOWING SETTINGS:developmental services, mental health and addictions group settings, homes for special care, children’s residential facilities, indigenous healing and wellness facilities.

ESSENTIAL FRONTLINE WORKERS WHO CANNOT WORK FROM HOME: elementary and secondary school staff, police, fire, compliance, funeral, special constables and other workers responding to critical events, childcare and licenced foster care workers, food manufacturing workers, agriculture and farm workers, high-risk and critical retail workers in grocery stores and pharmacies, remaining manufacturing labourers, social workers, including youth justice, courts and justice system workers, including probation and parole, lower-risk retail workers (wholesalers, general goods), transportation, warehousing and distribution, energy (propane, hydro), telecom (data and voice), water and wastewater management, financial services, waste management, mining, oil and gas workers.

COMMUNITIES AT GREATEST RISK: Black and other racialized populations, Hot spots with historic and ongoing high rates of death, hospitalization and transmission.

What you need to know:

Provincial booking system: Ontario.ca/bookvaccine; phone 1-888-999-6488

COVID-19 vaccination clinics – Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge District Health Unit (hkpr.on.ca)

Follow the prompts to see if you are eligible and where you can receive your vaccine.

Well done, U-Links

By

Lisa Gervais

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April 1, 2021

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Over the past year, like many of you, I’ve attended numerous online meetings and events. I love the platform because I can cover these events from home. I hate it because you don’t get the personal touch and hours behind the screen are mindnumbing. I find them challenging when my internet, or my host’s, isn’t up to speed. Council meetings, for example, are often paused for 10 minutes so that someone who has dropped out can re-connect or call back in by phone.

I attended the virtual U-Links celebration of research this past Saturday, March 27 and I can honestly say it was the best online presentation that I have seen to date. The folks at Trent University in Peterborough really strutted their stuff in a seamless two hours that attracted more than 100.

The introductory speakers were brief. Three students were chosen to share their research projects with the entire audience. Then there were three sessions of breakout groups whereby attendees could pop into a research project of their choice and listen to a short presentation from the student before being able to ask questions.

There was not one glitch in the entire operation. My only complaint – and it is a mild one – is that I wish the breakout sessions were longer than 15 minutes because I had to pick one, and maybe two projects at most, to pop into.

I was disappointed by that aspect since, as usual, I was overwhelmed by the number of very good projects that students from Trent and Fleming College worked on with Haliburton County organizations.

There was a decided focus on the environment in a lot of this year’s projects.

Lots of people popped into the ‘benthic’ presentation. Benthics are aquatic, spineless organisms that live on the bottom of water bodies. The use of benthics as an indicator of water quality is now used throughout the world. The students looked at a number of County lakes.

Other topics included: biodiversity planning and protection in The Land Between; Planet Haliburton radio show ideas; a Kennisis Lake history book; a number of projects with the Land Trust, including GIS database migration and development, and bird, frog, moss, dragonfly monitoring; natural shoreline stabilization and shoreline stewardship and blue-green algae mitigation strategies. There was research into a composting project at Abbey Gardens.

There were also a few social servicetype projects, including sustainable procurement and factors securing employment in Haliburton County and the City of Kawartha Lakes as well as diabetes and dental decay.

It wasn’t just the technology that blew my mind (and I have to say, I liked the midway mark stretch). The work the students do with County partners provides valuable information every year that can lead to real change in the Highlands to make this a better place to live, work and play.

So, we congratulate the U-Links team, including committee members, faculty and students for the work they continue to do and offer kudos to the first-ever virtual celebration of research, the 30th, for tackling the challenges of delivering students’ finding in a pandemic world – and acing it.

Creating a comforting space for victims of crime

By

Lisa Gervais

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April 1, 2021

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A former Toronto police officer is now using her design expertise to help victims of crime and the people investigating them.

Andria Cowan Molyneaux of ACM Designs is currently working on a “passionate project” to redesign the soft interview room at the detachment in Minden.

ACM Designs is donating the $15,000 project.

They have created a storyboard and are now working to complete the space.

“After 22 years of policing in Toronto, a large portion as an investigator, I remember how uncomfortable, non-functional and unwelcoming those spaces are,” Cowan Molyneaux said.

“I think they rarely get a line in a budget and I remember sitting on furniture that someone dropped off because they were throwing it out.

“It is difficult enough for a victim to tell their story in a comfortable space, let alone one that looks like an afterthought.

“Then you add the detective’s experience, trying to write notes during the interview on whatever they can find as a tabletop or sit in a chair that you can barely get your firearm into.”

She and detachment commander, Liane Spong, were on the same page.

“The OPP promotes the use of a soft interview room as a means to make the sharing of difficult, often embarrassing or traumatic stories less challenging,” she said. The commander added one of the steps in ensuring trauma-informed care and a victim-centered approach to investigations is that the room “will have a more comfortable environment to help make the process easier.”

Cowan Molyneaux said the overall intention of the project is to make the very important space feel safe and comfortable for the victims and witnesses retelling their stories and making the same space functional for the investigators while they are conducting those interviews.

First, they used the science of colour to help them with picking the right hue and that took them to blue. She said the colour blue makes people feel safe even though it is a cool colour. Next, they looked to the outside and the beautiful countryside and by using browns were able to create a serene complimentary colour scheme.

She added the space is pretty small and they were limited with furniture options. Two things they knew were that the textiles had to be able to be cleaned and very durable and that the investigators are usually wearing all their use of force options when sitting in the chairs taking notes. She said the seating for the detectives is generous and swivels so that they can reposition during the interviews without being imposing. “We actually had them come into the studio and try the chair out,” Cowan Molyneaux said. She added the acoustics were extremely important in the project because generally speaking, the interviews are video and audio recorded and the furniture plan had to support that critical element.

The designer said many other people and companies are saying thank you to our first responders, and this is ACMs way.

“Everyone at ACM Designs played a role in this project and even had to consent to criminal record checks. They were committed to making a difference for both the officers and victims.”

Spong had a huge thank you for the ACM team.

“They worked with our crime unit to meet specific needs in relation to the acoustics during an interview. I think it is a wonderful testament to the talent and compassion found within the County of Haliburton Highlands. We thank Andria and her team for greatly enhancing our safe place for victims and witnesses.”

Haliburton entering four-week shutdown

By

Lisa Gervais

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April 1, 2021

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A poster outside a retail store in downtown Haliburton. Photo by Joseph Quigley.

The County of Haliburton is going back into a shutdown alongside the rest of the province April 3 for four weeks.

Premier Doug Ford announced the move April 1 in response to rising cases of COVID-19 cases and people going into intensive care units. Measures include: prohibiting indoor organized events; limiting outdoor public events or social gatherings to five people except within the same household; implementing a 50-per cent capacity for food stores and 25 per cent for all other retail; prohibiting personal care services; closing all restaurants except for takeout and drive-through; prohibiting the use of sports facilities with limited exceptions and requiring day camps close.

“We are facing a serious situation and drastic measures are required to contain the rapid spread of the virus, especially the new variants of concern,” Ford said.

The province said case rates rose 7.7 per cent between March 26 to 28, to 101.1 cases per 100,000 people. ICU admissions are over the peak of the second wave and are projected to exceed 650 beds in a few weeks. The province said the rise is driven by more infectious COVID variants.

Other measures include limiting capacity at weddings, funerals and religious ceremonies to 15 per cent indoors. Museums and cultural amenities, theatres will also close. However, schools will remain open, with spring break still planned to happen April 12. Childcare spaces will also remain open during the shutdown.

Minister of Health Christine Elliott said the province wanted to avoid the same stay-at-home order from Dec. 26 due to mental health harms. She said the province wanted to encourage people to enjoy the outdoors while still following public health protocols.

“Implementing a province-wide emergency brake was not an easy decision to make and is not one we take lightly,” Elliott said. “As we continue to vaccinate more Ontarians, the end is in sight, but right now these necessary measures will help to stop the spread of variants.”

Vaccinations ongoing

Government officials say the local region will continue to receive a steady supply of vaccines in the coming weeks.

The Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge District Health Unit has received 26,910 Pfizer vaccines and 4,800 Moderna vaccines to date, with more than 28,000 doses administered.

Another 11,700 Pfizer and 5,900 Moderna doses are expected from April 5 to April 12.

Haliburton’s COVID vaccination clinic at the Haliburton Highlands Health Centre has closed. Acting medical officer of health Dr. Ian Gemmill said mass vaccination centres will open at the S.G. Nesbitt Arena in Minden April 6 and A.J. LaRue Arena in Haliburton April 12. Appointments are available for anyone 70 and older.

To book a vaccine, use Ontario.ca/bookvaccine or call 1-888-999-6488.

Region remains steady on cases

Haliburton County has one new COVID-19 case April 1, the only confirmed active case.

Colour-coded restrictions are on hold during the shutdown. The district was in a yellow zone under the provincial COVID-19 response framework, the second-least restrictive. Gemmill said that was probably correct based on the local data.

“I’m hearing people say the pandemic is out of control in some parts of Ontario, it’s not true here,” Gemmill said. “But I still want to reinforce over and over again anything can happen.”

He said people need to understand the importance of the measures – and that just because vaccinations are starting, does not mean people can be lax.

“One dose of vaccine, it’s a great first step, but it doesn’t mean we necessarily got the population base protection. We got to get enough people immunized to do that,” he said.

Storm’s ‘most challenging’ season ends early

By

Lisa Gervais

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March 31, 2021

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JQ - Highland Storm returns - 2 — File photo.

The Highland Storm announced March 18 its season would be ending prematurely with the A.J. LaRue arena due to become a COVID-19 vaccination centre.

The Storm announced that with the arena becoming a clinic at the start of April and bookings closing, the second part of the season would close more than a month early. This came after the organization had already put hockey on a two-week pause March 15 due to rising COVID-19 cases in the area.

Storm president Jason Morissette said it was bittersweet.

“You have to look at the positives. You can’t be entirely negative about it,” he said, adding local hockey players got to be on the ice far more than any others in their region. “We really were kind of looking out for each other and making sure we tried to do the best job we could to keep kids on the ice as much as we could.”

The Storm faced plenty of hurdles operating amidst COVID-19. Only inter-league play was possible, with the pandemic disallowing travel. The pandemic forced reductions in the number of players on the ice. A December-February lockdown shortened the season. Finally, the second session ended well short of its April 17 end date.

But Morissette said it was worth it to give youth something to do in a difficult year.

“Just the mental health side of our youth, our community. It’s been a real, real struggle. We heard time and time again from parents, a lot of thanks for providing something for the kids to go to each week, a distraction that was good for their physical and mental wellbeing,” he said.

Storm player Darian Maddock said it was a choppy year with the stoppages due to lockdown, but added it meant a lot to get to play.

“I would have just been sitting at home, doing nothing really,” Maddock said. “It was nice to have something to look forward to after school.”

Morissette said there is planning to come. Besides the pandemic, the league faces challenges such as a shortage of referees.

But he said after weathering the past year, the executive will have the experience to draw from for whatever restrictions could remain.

“It has been the most challenging of seasons in the history of Highland Storm, without a doubt. But we have strong numbers, we have strong volunteer numbers, we have strong parents that are supportive and our executive is very united.

“We did it because the truth is, we really, really are passionate about the Highland Storm,” he added. “But we’re also really caring about the health and wellness of our kids.”

Firefighters get training in frozen lake rescue

By

Lisa Gervais

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March 28, 2021

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JQ - Ice rescue course - 1 — Firefighters carry a raft onto Grass Lake for an ice rescue training course March 20. Photo by Joseph Quigley.

After years of delay, Highlands East and Dysart et al fire departments received ice and water rescue training at Grass Lake March 20.

The Algonquin Highlands Fire Department taught the course. A handful of firefighters – four from Highlands East and six from Dysart et al – were instructed on how to conduct rescues on frozen lakes.

The course is required for the departments to perform such rescues should someone get in trouble on the ice. Instructor and Algonquin Highlands firefighter George Sharp said it is an important skill for County departments given the number of lakes in the area.

“We’ve got people, ratepayers and visitors spending time out on the ice,” Sharp said. “Need to be able to support the visitors and the locals when they get into trouble.”

The training comes after the Office of the Fire Marshall announced Jan. 13 it was closing the physical Ontario Fire College building to push a locally-based online model. The college had also stalled for years putting out an approved ice-and-water rescue course over a 2017 inquest into two Ontario firefighters who died in that type of training.

Departments such as Highlands East waited for an approved course before proceeding to train. That college course was set to go in spring 2020 – the first since 2014 – but was sidelined by the pandemic. But the course became deliverable this year and firefighters organized an in-house course, using instructors from Algonquin Highlands who had maintained training, Highlands East fire chief Christ Baughman said.

Highlands East is covering ice rescue costs using a community GoFundMe from 2017, which raised more than $20,000 after the death of cottager Bob Bell, who fell through the ice on Dark Lake. Baughman said they plan to train four more personnel in the fall so that each station would have one or two capable of starting a rescue before more backup arrives. After that, he plans to have the municipality modify its bylaws to include ice and water rescue by next winter.

“It’s a great success for us to be able to add this service, not only for the safety of our firefighters but the community,” Baughman said. “Something we weren’t able to do in the past. Now with the proper training, a firefighter won’t have to make a difficult decision or do something uninformed and ill-equipped.”

Dysart et al fire chief Mike Iles said his department has maintained ice rescue in its service, but it had been many years since it had been able to get new training while it waited an approved course.

“It was great to be working with several departments. The training itself was very informative and very worthwhile,” Iles said.

Sharp said the course included classroom time for theory, as well as practical time on the ice. Participants wore wetsuits and entered the icy waters of Grass Lake, performing different techniques.

Algonquin Highlands has maintained the rescue training for years, Sharp said. But he added it is more cost-effective to study with other departments, which is happening more often.

“The municipalities in the last two or three years are working more cooperatively than they have in the last decade. Things are going in the right direction,” Sharp said.

Community outcry alters arena vaccine plan

By

Lisa Gervais

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March 27, 2021

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JQ - Arena clinic - 1 — Local youth gathered outside the A.J. LaRue Arena for a demonstration March 22. Left to right: Chase Winder, Lexie Tait, Autumn Winder, Tyler McGovern, Darian Maddock, Nick Phippen, Colin Glecoff, Tyler Martin, Braedyn Robinson, Benjamin Robinson. Photo by Joseph Quigley.

Dysart et al is shortening the amount of time its A.J. LaRue Arena will be used as a COVID-19 vaccination centre in response to public outcry.

The municipality announced the clinic March 18 and said it would close all bookings from March 20 to the end of September. The next day, the municipality changed course and said it would only run from April 5 to June 12 before a new location is found.

The initial announcement prompted community outrage, with people concerned about summer ice and the start of the next minor hockey season. Mayor Andrea Roberts said the initial proposal was accepted at the request of the Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge District Health Unit (HKPR).

“We are all trying to do the right thing and get everyone vaccinated, so Dysart’s EOC (emergency operation centre) group said yes. Thankfully, the decision was re-evaluated,” Roberts said.

The health unit is preparing the A.J. LaRue Arena and the S.G. Nesbitt Arena in Minden as the County vaccination centres, with both expected to be ready in early April. The health unit is also working on pop-up clinics, including one for first responders at the Pinestone Resort March 18, which Roberts said could be part of a viable alternative.

“Everyone is working so hard to ensure we have places so we can all get our vaccine. With more temperature-stable vaccines, the possibility of pharmacies administering, and the S.G. Nesbitt centre booked, there are other options this summer,” Roberts said.

Local youth held a demonstration outside the Haliburton arena March 22, initially intended as a protest but shifted to a celebration after the municipality’s decision. Organizer and camp owner Greg Sadlier said people mobilized quickly to respond, with a petition garnering 75 signatures. He added the municipality needs to consider and consult youth more in the future.

“The youth came to me, and they said, ‘what can we do about this? How can we change this’?” Sadlier said. “For the youth to see something work so effectively, to see a way that they could make their voices heard in a substantial way, is really amazing to see.”

Highland Storm president, Jason Morissette, said the next season would be delayed under the previous timeline, which might have meant the Storm would not play against other teams in the region if that becomes allowed.

“Our community, it’s not like we have tons and tons of organized activities that are here for youth,” Morissette said. “We wanted an arena available for everybody, not just for hockey … We really appreciate their (Dysart’s) understanding.”

The initial proposal would have also meant the end of summer ice, utilized in summer camp programming by Hockey Haven. Owner Troy Binnie welcomed the municipality changing course.

“It would have been a tough situation to try to run a hockey camp without hockey,” Binnie said. “We are thankful for all the community support and town council support to have the decision reversed.”

Vaccine rollout creates controversy

By

Lisa Gervais

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March 25, 2021

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Close-up medical syringe with a vaccine. — Vaccinations are underway in the County. Photo via Flickr.

Little Redstone Lake resident David Baker is trying hard to get a COVID-19 vaccination for his wife Linda Guest, a chronic home care patient.

Guest is 76 years old, though cannot attend a clinic in person. Several health units have prioritized home care patients for the first wave of vaccines, but Baker said the Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge District Heath Unit (HKPR) has not and he has been unable to arrange an appointment.

Baker has pushed to get his wife a vaccine sooner, to no avail. With HKPR holding a clinic for emergency responders at the Pinestone Resort and Conference Centre March 17-18, he is questioning how vaccines are being distributed locally.

“I see no reason why patients like her aren’t included in a prioritized vaccination rollout,” Baker said. “Let’s face it, there’s been a lot of confusion in how this vaccine has been rolled out province-wide.”

The province has opened vaccinations to the public for people aged 75 and older, though health units manage the process. The provincial rollout is in three stages, with phase one underway and phase two due to start in April. According to the provincial website, phase one is supposed to include long-term care homes, health care workers identified as high-priority, adults age 80 and over, Indigenous adults and chronic home care patients.

The second phase, due to start in April, includes other seniors and frontline workers ranging from school staff to social agencies to grocery stores.

Haliburton Highlands Health Services (HHHS) president and CEO Carolyn Plummer said clinics for health care workers were held March 6 at the Haliburton Family Medical Centre and March 17-18 at Pinestone. She said after a concerted effort to reach high-priority workers like first responders, some vaccines were offered to the next groups on the list. That included workers at places like grocery stores and banks.

But Plummer said HHHS was asked to hold off on this approach, as not all communities in the health unit district had completed phase one vaccinations.

“All parties are learning and improving processes as we proceed in order to ensure that all priority populations have access, in priority sequence, as directed by the Ministry of Health,” Plummer said.

The health unit said the vaccine priority list is decided by the province, with medical first responders on a high priority within phase one. Chronic homecare patients are the last group on the phase one list and the health unit said it is working to reach them.

“As the HKPRDHU covers a large geographic region, there may need to be a variety of options provided to meet the needs of residents,” the health unit said in an email.

Acting medical officer of health, Dr. Ian Gemmill, said the Pinestone clinic giving doses to people further down the list was a minor error. But he added no one will be left behind in getting a vaccine.

“People are kind of overly sensitive about what might be called queue-jumping, but I can honestly tell you that I am not aware of any situation in which this would have been done intentionally,” Gemmill said. “I am completely willing to forgive people and to say let’s just get on with more immunization rather than fuss or worry about it … Everybody is headed to get vaccine if they want it and it will only be a matter of a few weeks.”

With respect to homecare patients, Gemmill said they will be able to contact the health unit for a link to book with the provincial system. A step-by-step guide is being added to the health unit’s website.

But Baker said his wife should not have to wait.

“She should be getting it now,” Baker said. “She should be prioritized.”

Vaccination appointments are currently available for people born in 1946 or earlier using the provincial booking system. The system is available at Ontario.ca/bookvaccine or call 1-888-999-6488.