October 31st Weekly Update

Free Flu Shot and New Covid-19 Vaccine Available for All Ontarians Six Months of Age and Older 

Ontarians can now receive their free flu shot and the new, most recent COVID-19 vaccine at local pharmacies, public health units and primary health care providers across the province. Staying up to date on vaccinations continues to be the best way for people to stay safe and healthy this respiratory illness season and avoid unnecessary visits to the hospital.

“Getting your COVID-19 vaccine and flu shot is the best way to keep yourself, your loved ones and your community healthy,” said Sylvia Jones, Deputy Premier and Minister of Health. “Our government is ensuring you have access to the tools you need this fall respiratory season by making COVID-19 vaccines and flu shots available in convenient locations close to home, at no cost to Ontarians.”

It is safe and convenient to receive both a COVID-19 vaccine and flu shot at the same time, reducing the need for multiple visits. The new COVID-19 vaccines now available are specifically designed to target the XBB variant and were approved by Health Canada earlier this fall.

All Ontarians six months and older can receive their next COVID-19 dose if it has been a recommended six months since their last dose or confirmed COVID-19 infection. Ontarians are encouraged to speak with a health care professional to help determine their appropriate vaccination schedule.

Click this link to find a provider offering the flu and Covid-19 vaccine near you

Ontario Strengthening Holocaust Education in High Schools

The Ontario government is introducing new and expanded mandatory learning about the Holocaust in the compulsory Grade 10 History course. In addition, the province is investing $650,000 in community partnerships that provide resources for students and educator training to expand learning on fundamental Canadian values, including the importance of safeguarding democracy from extreme and harmful ideologies.

Starting September 2025, new expanded learning about the Holocaust in the Grade 10 History course will explicitly link the Holocaust to extreme political ideologies, including fascism, antisemitism in Canada in the 1930s and 1940s, and the contemporary impacts of rising antisemitism.

This expanded learning will build on the current Grade 10 History curriculum about how the Holocaust impacted Canadian society and the attitudes of people in Canada toward human rights. The course complements new mandatory learning on the significance of the Holocaust included in Grade 6 Social Studies, strengthening students’ ongoing understanding of how to identify, respond to and change harmful assumptions and stereotypes that can lead to tragic events like the Holocaust, including antisemitism and other forms of racism.

To help students learn about historical and present-day discrimination, Ontario is investing $650,000 (2023-24) in community partnerships including:

• Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center for Holocaust Studies to create an Antisemitism Classroom Toolkit curriculum resource for Grades 5 to 8 and a training workshop for teachers on how to teach students about the Holocaust
• the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs to continue their work on a resource hub for educators and parents to learn about, identify and take action to address antisemitism
• Liberation75 to provide Holocaust and antisemitism education resources/supports for educators and students, as well as an online teacher resource to support Grade 6 Holocaust education
• the Canadian Society for Yad Vashem to provide teaching materials related to the story of the MS St. Louis, a ship carrying Jewish Germans fleeing Nazi Germany to Cuba in 1939
• UJA Federation of Greater Toronto’s Holocaust Museum to create virtual and in-person tours for teachers and other Holocaust-related resources

This historic expansion will help more than 305,000 people connect to important screening services to detect and treat breast cancer sooner. It is estimated that this will add an additional 130,000 mammograms that can be completed per year.

Research has shown that regular screening, including mammography can help detect breast cancer before it has the chance to spread. By lowering the age of self-referral for mammograms, eligible Ontarians aged 40-49 who don’t have a primary care provider will be able to connect to screening more easily by self-referring through any OBSP site. It also encourages more woman to have conversations with their health care provider about their risk factors and benefits of screening to determine if it is right for them.

As part of Your Health: A Plan for Connected and Convenient Care, the Ontario government is connecting more people to the services they need, when they need it. Over the coming months, OBSP sites will prepare for this expansion by increasing capacity and working with the Ministry of Health to develop a public reporting tool that allows people to view appointment wait times across the province.

“We are making our province stronger and more resilient by helping communities prepare for emergencies,” said Caroline Mulroney, President of the Treasury Board, Minister responsible for Emergency Management Ontario and Minister of Francophone Affairs. “These prudent and targeted investments are another step this government is taking to ensure communities have the resources they need to keep people safe when the next flood, wildland fire or severe storm impacts our province.”

Funding will ensure communities can respond to any type of emergency and will be tailored to their unique needs. It can be put towards purchasing equipment such as sand bagging machines and generators or investing in emergency management training and awareness.

The Community Emergency Preparedness Grant is part of the $110 million the government earmarked over the next three years to strengthen emergency preparedness in Ontario. The investment builds on the Provincial Emergency Management Strategy and Action Plan’s vision to enhance the resiliency of local governments, First Nations communities, and organizations to prepare for emergencies.