A newly released map reveals significant differences in vaccination rates across Ottawa's neighbourhoods, which health officials say comes down to inequitable access, a lack of trust and mixed messages.
One-quarter of the neighbourhood s residents are single parents, many with school-age children who are suddenly home indefinitely.
Sumaiya Hirsi, 11, worried about infecting her family after two classmates tested positive for COVID-19 at the end of March.(Jean Delisle/CBC)
Sumaiya Hirsi, 11, hasn t attended class since March 29, when her entire Grade 5 class at Sawmill Creek Elementary School was sent home after two students tested positive for COVID-19.
Hirsi, who shares a four-bedroom rowhouse on Bridle Path Drive with her mother, her aunt and four older siblings, worried about infecting her family. I had to stay upstairs until I got my test [results] back. I could have infected my mom and her daycare. My siblings all work, said Hirsi, who normally shares a bed with her mother, a child-care worker.
Posted: Feb 02, 2021 4:00 AM ET | Last Updated: February 2
African, Caribbean and Black communities in Ottawa and Toronto say COVID-19 has disproportionately affected them and they are asking for meaningful engagement from health-care providers, according to the preliminary findings of a study published to mark the beginning of Black History Month.(Jon Cherry/Getty Images)
African, Caribbean and Black communities in Ottawa and Toronto say health-care providers need to better understand their needs and create programs catered to them during the pandemic, according to the preliminary findings of a study published Monday to mark the beginning of Black History Month. We thought this is so timely, said Josephine Etowa, the study s project lead and professor at the school of nursing at the University of Ottawa. We re about 50 per cent of the way to completion of our data collection . and [we re] reminding people of some of the needs of people of African descent.
Immigrants and racialized populations withstand a high risk of contracting the coronavirus, she said.
Eleven per cent of the area s residents are newcomers, compared to Ottawa s rate of about three per cent. More than half of the people living in the community are first-generation immigrants, and 65 per cent are non-white.
The area also has the highest rate of low-income families, with poverty affecting 41 per cent of households, according to data from the Ottawa Neighbourhood Study. Three-quarters of the households rent, compared to about one-third in Ottawa overall, and families there tend to be larger.
Many residents speak neither English nor French as their first language, and tend to work in health care or other front-line jobs such as cashiers or delivery drivers, Mohamoud said.