OrilliaMatters received the following Letter to the Editor from reader Liza Hancock, who hopes for more inclusion in Phase Two of local vaccine rollout:
I am a 61-year-old who alone lives alone in COVID isolation in rural Ontario.
I have tried to contact the Ministry of Health (MOH) to give my citizen input regarding the inclusion of all essential workers who have to go into work be included in the Phase 2 vaccine roll out.
I called my MPP and their assistant said they would pass the message along. I asked them for the MOH contact information and after calling this number, I was told they could not take my input and referred me to two places to call; my local Public Health Unit and the Vaccine Booking line. Neither of these could take my input as it is not their role.
I want the inclusion of all essential workers who have been growing, transporting, selling and checking out our food to feed us be included in the Phase 2 Vaccine rollout in the "certain workers who cannot work from home" category.
And I want the inclusion of all the essential workers of the factories, shipping warehouses, garbage collectors Canada Post workers, etc. who have been given no choice but continue to work so that the rest of us can be safer; those who have lost our jobs, can work from home or are rich and have the choice to do so.
I will be offered a vaccine in Phase 2 and I will be so very happy, relieved and grateful to get one. It will allow me to live in less fear and do some things that bring me pleasure and comfort.
All my life I have witnessed and benefited from this country's white-dominated governments' long standing priority of the pleasure and comfort of white people through racism, poverty and pollution. This has intensified with many of the COVID decisions made by our governments. These are the people deciding who amongst the "certain workers'" lives deserve protection in the next phase.
I can stand aside here until all the people who have to go to work to provide services to me have been given the option of the protection these vaccines bring. It is a small thing because I am fairly healthy and amongst the most virus safest people and environments in the whole world. Standing aside and trying to get my input to the people of power making these life-saving critical decisions are some of the things I can do.
In addition to health workers these are the people many in the community banged pots for.
Let's bang pots again to say to this government: Include the people who serve us and take care of us in Phase 2. Hopefully those who deemed these jobs essential to us in the first place will also deem their lives essential and make the decision that these lives deserve protection next.
Liza Hancock
Woodville, ON
