COVID-19 vaccine clinic held at St. Joseph's after students return to class

A mobile vaccination clinic was held at St. Joseph's Catholic High School on Friday, one day after students returned to in-class learning. 

The high school was shut down on Sept. 15 due to a COVID-19 outbreak, forcing students and staff to pivot to online learning.

Fulvio Valentinis, chair of the Windsor-Essex Catholic District School Board, said the intention behind the clinic was to make vaccinations accessible.

Voice messages were sent to parents telling them about the opportunity and encouraging them to discuss it with their children, he said.

But students don't need parental consent to choose vaccination. The Windsor-Essex County Health Unit said students can consent if they understand what vaccination involves, why it's being recommended and the risks of accepting or refusing to get a shot.

"The school board is not really involved ... it's the health-care provider that makes the final determination [that] this person is giving their consent voluntarily or is not in a position to do so," Valentinis said.

Protesters turn up

Friday's clinic prompted a small group to stage a protest outside of school. Valentinis said that while the group is entitled voice opinions, it was important to ensure that students didn't feel intimidated.

"That's the last thing you want is one of these confrontations between the pro-vaxxers, the anti-vaxxers taking place on your school property," he said.

According to the board's website, there are 10 active cases at St. Joseph's, including two among staff members.

Across the Catholic board, 28 COVID-19 cases are active, and within the public board, 37 people have tested positive for COVID-19.

In total, seven school outbreaks are ongoing in Windsor-Essex.

Students returned to the classroom physically on Sept. 7 for the first time since the spring. One St. Joseph's student, Lance Calit, said students were getting used to online learning again when the school reopened.

"But most of us were already used to it because we did it for like the whole year last year," he said. 

Shadrack Etiene said he didn't like switching back to learning at home.

"I prefer being at school, so it's kind of weird, going to school and then coming back," he said.

While Calit has gotten vaccinated, Etiene isn't in a hurry to do so.

"So far, I don't trust it — personal thing," Etine said, adding that he isn't planning to get vaccinated unless he's required to in order to play sports.

In Windsor-Essex, the youth (12-17) vaccination rate is lower than the rest of Ontario. So far, 59.4 per cent of youth have gotten both doses, while across the province, the rate is 69.6 per cent.