SLOW AND STEADY WINS THE RACE......and for many of us, this is the race of our lives.

Let's start right here. Click on this link: https://www.covid-19canada.com/graphs Look at 'New cases by date' and follow the blue line. New cases today in the Province of Ontario, 3947. The numbers are levelling off, not convincingly declining yet, but levelling off as they are in BC and Quebec and Alberta. Scroll down to the 'New Cases Analysis by Date' under the ON graphs and click on the 7 day rolling average. On April 18th, the 7 day rolling average reached a peak of 4370. Now, on April 25th it is 4094. 4370 4094 For seven days that rolling average has been dropping. Well done. This time round, the control of the third wave is the result of two things: the national effort of all Canadians to adhere to strict COVID-19 public health restrictions and.....vaccinations. Wave one and wave two, restrictions worked. Wave three is far worse, but vaccines are here and they work. This has been so tough and we are all struggling. The fear of these new variants is intense and it affects even the most resilient and the most protected to the core. There is hope on the horizon. 136,000 vaccines were given in the province of Ontario on Friday and 99,000 were given yesterday. We have now immunized 36.77 % of the eligible adult population with at least one dose of vaccine, over 4 and a 1/2 million vaccines in total. Source: https://howsmyflattening.ca/#/home For totals of the entire population, this is a good source: https://covid19tracker.ca/provincevac.html?p=ON When countries or states/provinces get to 40 %, the spread of COVID-19 starts to fall dramatically. Get to 60 % and we can breath. Get to 75 % and restrictions will be lifted slowly and carefully. Some national perspective, Canada has now immunized 27.6 of it's population with at least one shot. Note, this number is lower than the above number quoted for Ontario because it is a percentage of the entire population, not just the vaccine eligible populations. People under 18 are not being vaccinated yet. At the beginning of March, that number was less than 5 %. Next week, the federal government is expecting deliveries of a total of 1.9 million doses and will be able to immunize 3.1 million Canadians...the ramp up begins. Ontario's new targeted strategy for vaccinations, residents 18 and older in 114 hotspot communities will be prioritized for the vaccine, should, according to our expert epidemiologists and modellers, noticeably reduce transmission rates by mid-May to early June, two and a half weeks away. THE ASTRAZENECA VACCINE There have been 5 cases of rare blood clots in Canada out of over 1.1 million doses given. These clots, called Vaccine-induced Immune Thrombotic Thrombocytopenia or VITT, are still considered very rare with an incidence of 1 in 250,000 to 1 in 1 million world wide. Much research is being done to determine who is at risk. I am following this research very carefully. There will be guidelines that give us more direction soon which will help us determine who is at greatest risk and if anyone should avoid this vaccine. For now, the recommendations have not changed. Take the first vaccine that is offered to you. Side effects are common for any vaccination, and can include pain and tenderness at the site of the injection, chills, low grade fever, headaches, muscle aches and pains, joint pain and tender lymph nodes in the armpit on the side of the injection site. A widespread rash should be discussed with your primary care provider before receiving the second dose of any of these vaccines. The signs of VITT include: shortness of breath, bruising, one sided leg swelling, chest or abdominal pain, blurred vision, confusion, and severe headache. If these symptoms develop seek emergency medical treatment. VITT is treatable. TAKE HOME MESSAGE: The risk of serious complications and death from COVID-19 at this point in the third wave in Ontario is high. All of the available vaccines dramatically reduce that risk. Get the first vaccine that is offered to you. Anne-Marie Please share. For mental health support here: https://familyserviceguelph.on.ca/ For local assistance with anxiety and depression: www.here4help.ca CMHA WW Website: www.cmhaww.ca Here 24/7 at 1-844-HERE-247 or www.here247.ca. And for post-secondary students, Good2Talk https://good2talk.ca/ For non-Facebook users, you can find this post here: https://braceletofhope.blogspot.com/ And if you'd like to help Bracelet of Hope work towards making sure that Lesotho has access to these vaccines, donate here: https://www.braceletofhope.ca/ways-to-