The following letter was made available to SooToday. It was sent to:
Ms. Recce, Ms. Sarlo, Mr. Rankin, Ms. Edwards, Ms. Johnston, Ms. Myers, Mr. Bowman, Ms. Thayer, Mr. Provenzano, Mr. Romano, Mr. Sheehan, Mr. Lecce, Ms. Elliott, Dr. Moore, Dr. Loo and Dr. Tuinema.
We are writing to advocate for immediate actions to help control the recent surge of Covid-19 cases in Sault Ste. Marie.
The rapid spread of Covid-19 infections in our community is extremely alarming. We are aware that school-aged children are being infected and contributing to community spread, which endangers individuals in our community who are at high risk for adverse outcomes.
The recent approval of the Pfizer vaccine for the 5-11 age group will help; however, full vaccine efficacy is only achieved 10 weeks after a child receives their first shot, and some parents remain hesitant to have their child vaccinated. Previous experience tells us that the winter holidays will contribute to additional spread. It is clear that more than vaccination is required to reduce local infection rates.
We request your support in initiating several actions to help reduce spread within our schools.
First, Rapid Antigen Testing has been deployed to schools in Ontario; we ask that it be made available for students in Sault Ste. Marie immediately, to reduce the likelihood of an asymptomatic child bringing the virus to school.
Second, there is evidence that additional air filtering can reduce spread; we ask that these filters be deployed to our classrooms, even in newer schools with good ventilation, to further reduce virus particle presence in aerosols in classrooms.
Finally, we ask that other helpful actions be considered, like having vaccine clinics at schools to ensure widespread access to vaccines, and the deployment of home PCR tests.
Several of these actions have been put in place elsewhere in Ontario, and we see no reason why they should not be employed here to help decrease the impacts of Covid-19 on our students, and our community.
Respectfully,
Adrianna Schamp, MD, parent, FH Clergue PS
Brandon Schamp, parent, FH Clergue PS
Whitney Whitfield, HBSW, FH Clergue PS
Cara Yakasovich, parent, FH Clergue PS
Nikki Watkins, FH Clergue PS
Jessica McCarthy, FH Clergue PS
Lorraine Sharp, CCFP (COE), FH Clergue PS
Kerith Slagel, RPh, FH Clergue PS
Brad Slagel, parent, MD, FRCSC, FH Clergue PS
Annelise Iacoe, FH Clergue PS
Dr. James Curran, FH Clergue PS
Maija Laitinan, FH Clergue PS
MacKenzie Ludgate, MD, FH Clergue PS
April Ludgate, DVM, FH Clergue PS
Justin Campbell, parent, FH Clergue PS
Melissa Hemy, MD, parent, FH Clergue PS
Luca, student, FH Clergue PS
Mateo, student, FH Clergue PS
Eva Black, parent, Grandview PS
Fleur Nelson MPT, parent, Grandview PS
Anna Rendell, parent, Grandview PS
Jenn Anderson, parent , Grandview PS
Miranda Ableson, parent , Grandview PS
Tricia Mick, parent , Grandview PS
Dr. Amanda Roe, PhD, parent, Grandview PS
Dr. Chris MacQuarrie, PhD, parent, Grandview PS
Dr. Josh Johnston, PhD, parent , Grandview PS
Lynn Johnston, MSc, parent, Grandview PS
Dr. Katharine Dawson, parent, MD, MHSc (Community Health and Epidemiology), SAH Hospitalist, Grandview PS
Carrie Kuntz, parent, MD, Tarentorous PS
Nadia Bowen, Tarentorous PS
Mike Bonder, Tarentorous PS
Trish Parson, parent, Tarentorous PS
Geoff Skelton, parent, Tarentorous PS
Jennifer Entwistle PT, MPT, MClSc, parent, Tarentorous PS
M. Beduhn MSc, MD, Tarentorous PS
Isabel Molina, parent, Anna McCrea PS
Kristy McKay, MA and parent, Anna McCrea PS
Dr. Trevor Tchir, Anna McCrea PS
Jennifer Foote, parent, Anna McCrea PS
Michelle Dayboll, parent, Anna McCrea PS
Karen Booth, parent, MD, Riverview PS and Korah HS
Jonathan Coulman, Riverview PS and Korah HS
Ed Hirvi, parent, Boreal PS
Sara Giroux BSc, MD, CCFP, MPH, FRCS
Luke Fera, BSc, MD, MSc (clinical epidemiology)
Jenna Rebelo, MSc, MD, parent