When it comes to the COVID-19 vaccination shots, it can be a bit confusing to understand the rollout order and who gets the vaccine first.<\/p>\n
Centre Wellington Mayor Kelly Linton is clearing that up for residents. He said the province of Ontario establishes the priority, and it\u2019s handed down by them so that there is a consistent approach across all of Ontario.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd their decision has been for phase one, and their anticipating 1.5 million people will be vaccinated in phase one, that includes all the most vulnerable, and in all the long-term care homes, the high-risk retirement homes, and then the workers at those homes, so, that\u2019s going to be phase one,\u201d Linton said.<\/p>\n
Linton said they are hoping to have phase one completed by February.<\/p>\n
He said that then when the province of Ontario moves on to phase two, they are hoping to have an additional 8.5 million people vaccinated.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s a whole list of individuals in phase two, and then into phase three, that\u2019s when the general population will be vaccinated,\u201d the mayor said.<\/p>\n
When COVID-19 first hit in March, there were many unknowns on how it would impact Centre Wellington\u2019s 2020 budget.<\/p>\n
Linton said the township\u2019s revenues have definitely taken a hit, but expenses have gone down, especially on the recreation side because many things have had to be shut down.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat has been positive though is the province of Ontario has come through in a big way and provided COVID-19 funding for us to cover off some of our losses in revenues,\u201d Linton said.<\/p>\n
Linton said the thing that has been difficult is the township has lost over $2 million in money that they typically get from the slots, through Ontario Lottery\u00a0and\u00a0Gaming\u00a0Corporation (OLG)\u00a0from the racetrack in Elora, Ontario.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat will be challenging next year because the money that we get from the slots it\u2019s always spent the following year [2022] on capital projects, so we might have to push out a few capital projects,\u201d Linton said.<\/p>\n
Linton said that most municipalities that are going through COVID-19 don\u2019t have the benefit having OLG in their community.<\/p>\n
He said that the township has been rebuilding their financial reserve after years of neglect, over the last seven years, so they are in much better shape with or without OLG money.<\/p>\n
Linton said even in something as bad as COVID-19, there is still a silver lining.<\/p>\n
Linton said even though we are still dealing with COVID-19, people still need to find the positives, and some of the stories he\u2019s hearing are people are getting outside.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re enjoying their family, they\u2019re spending way more time outside than they have ever spent before, and that\u2019s really healthy to see,\u201d Linton said. \u201cI know I was driving around yesterday, and the number of people on the sidewalk, and the number of people on the trails has just gone up exponentially, so that\u2019s really good, and that\u2019s really healthy.\u201d<\/p>\n
Linton adds he hopes that stays after we\u2019re out of this because it\u2019s a feature of a real healthy community.<\/p>\n
Centre Wellington Mayor Kelly Linton:\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n\n