Tuesday, March 16, 2021

Vaccination clinic opens at Health Sciences Campus

President Feridun Hamdullahpur and Vice-President, Research and International Charmaine Dean look on as a patient receives a dose of vaccine.

This article was originally featured on Waterloo News.

The Health Sciences Campus Clinic for COVID-19 vaccination has opened at the corner of King and Victoria in downtown Kitchener. This large clinic, led by the Centre for Family Medicine, is an integral part of Region of Waterloo’s vaccine rollout strategy. It will run from March 15 until the end of August and will ramp up to be open seven days a week when a steady supply of vaccines is available.

All vaccination clinics in Waterloo region are by appointment only. Residents who belong to one of the eligible priority groups, including the 70+ age group, can pre-register for the vaccine on the Region of Waterloo website.

“This is a tremendous opportunity for the Region of Waterloo to partner with the University of Waterloo and the Centre for Family Medicine to bring another vaccination clinic to Waterloo Region,” said Shirley Hilton, Deputy Chief for Waterloo Region Police Service and head of the Waterloo Region Vaccine Distribution Task Force. “This large clinic will make it easier to get more vaccines into more people’s arms as quickly as possible.”

The clinic is a testament to the strong collaboration and dedication of health-care providers and administrators throughout the Region. Several core partners support the clinic including the Region of Waterloo Public Health, the Kitchener Downtown Community Health Centre, the Andrew St. Family Health Centre, McMaster University and the University of Waterloo School of Pharmacy.

“I am so proud that the University and our School of Pharmacy are partnering with the Centre for Family Medicine and Region to meet the challenge of vaccinating our community,” said Feridun Hamdullahpur, president and vice-chancellor of the University of Waterloo. “I am grateful to the team of faculty members, students and employees for their efforts and sacrifices to help our region. The University will continue to find other ways to partner with the region on the roll out of vaccines as our entire community works together to overcome COVID-19.”

Over the course of the pandemic, the School of Pharmacy has provided more than just a convenient location for a clinic. Students, alumni, faculty and staff have served patients on the front lines in community pharmacies, hospitals and more. Professor Kelly Grindrod has been a go-to resource for media, creating popular COVID-19 educational materials, and serves on the Waterloo Region Vaccine Task Force.

Pharmacists, pharmacy technicians and pharmacy students are eligible to administer COVID-19 vaccinations under Phase Two of Ontario’s vaccine rollout plan. Many School faculty, staff and students have registered to support the vaccination campaign, and some are already actively engaged with the vaccine task force or delivering other timely projects like developing injections training materials.

“The School of Pharmacy has embraced this opportunity to contribute to our local community,” said Andrea Edginton, Hallman Director of the School of Pharmacy. “Planning and implementing this clinic on a tight timeline has been a challenge and was made possible by the steadfast commitment and exceptional work ethic of many people at the Centre for Family Medicine, the School, the University and the Region. I am proud of how we have come together to be a part of the solution.”

Concept $5K finalists named

A message from Concept.

The Winter 2021 Concept $5K Finalists have been selected and are ready to take the virtual stage. After two action-packed nights featuring 35 student led teams pitching their startup ideas, a panel of judges comprised of Velocity Business Advisors and a member of the Student Venture Fund reconvened and identified the top 10 teams to advance to the Finals.

These student led teams will have the opportunity to practice, refine, and pitch on March 25 and convince a group of new judges as well as the audience that they have the most promising start up idea. The judges will select the top four teams to take home $5K each in grant funding to help turn their concepts into a reality. Meet the Finalists and register in advance to get a glimpse into the future of UWaterloo startups and learn more about these high potential startup ideas.

Read the full story on Concept's blog.

2020 Co-operative Education annual report now available

A message from Co-operative and Experiential Education.

The 2020 Co-operative Education Annual Report is now available.

“As we reflect on another record-breaking year, it's impossible not to acknowledge the impact COVID-19 has had on Co-operative Education at the University of Waterloo,” writes Executive Director Ross Johnston. “Practically overnight, Co-operative Education shifted our operations to ensure we could work with our students, employers, faculties, academic support units and staff to provide quality work-integrated learning experiences during this time.”

“I'm proud to say that we also developed a number of new innovations in our programming - such as moving all co-op interviews and services to a digital landscape, introducing bulk hiring opportunities and leveraging additional funding to create more jobs,” Johnston writes. “Throughout all of this rapid change, the resilience of our students, the collaboration with faculty and the unwavering support from our employers, has enabled us to grow and thrive.”

“As we work to adapt to an evolving work reality, one thing remains clear: co-op opportunities are still important to help students develop critical skills for a complex and unprecedented future workforce. While we remain one of the pre-eminent institutions in co-operative education, with more than 23,000 co-op students across six faculties, and 7,100 employers in over 60 countries, the current global situation has encouraged us to be more flexible and look for creative ways to solve the complex problems facing our communities.”

Read the full message from the Executive Director on the 2020 Co-operative Education annual report.

Tuesday's notes

Human Rights, Equity and Inclusion has announced a number of workshops and webinars for later this month:

• Strength & healing through the Arts: A panel discussion and screening of the acclaimed short documentary, "Ballet After Dark." All welcome at this free, community event hosted by the Equity Office. Friday, March 26, 11:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Please note: this event has been postponed.
• Responding to Disclosures of Sexual Assault: In this interactive three hour workshop (split between two-days), attendees will develop tools, strategies, and resources to respond effectively to disclosures of sexual violence. March 22 and March 25, 2:30 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.
• Virtual Wen-Do Women’s Self-Defence Workshop: Women and non-binary campus community members are welcome to join a virtual Wen-Do Self-Defence workshop. In this workshop you'll gain self-protection skills and strategies within a feminist, anti-racist, anti-oppression framework. Friday, March 26, 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m.
• Policy 42 and You: Find out more about key updates to Policy 42: the Sexual Violence Prevention and Response Policy and Procedures, the process for making a complaint, as well as your roles and responsibilities as a university employee when someone has been impacted by sexual violence. March 30, 1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m.

The Andromeda Trio returns for the latest Noon Hour Concerts @ Home series event tomorrow at 12:30 p.m. Noon Hour Concert: Uplifting Brahms will feature the Andromeda Trio, made up of Marcus Scholtes on violin, Miriam Stewart-Kroeker on cello and Heidi Fewster on piano, performing Brahms Trio No.1 in B major.

Here's the latest Nutrition Month "Myth vs. Fact" supplied by Health Services Dietitian Sandra Ace:

Myth:  It’s hard to avoid food waste.

Truth:  Nearly everyone can make small changes in their household that collectively make a big difference.

Nobody likes to throw away food, but as much as 40 per cent of what we buy ends up in the garbage. Almost half of all food waste generated in Canada originates from individual households. And since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, the average Canadian household is generating 13.5 per cent more food waste, according to a Dalhousie University report. The report notes the increased cost of discarded food amounts to an additional $238 per household, or $1,766 annually. On a national level, annual domestic food waste is responsible for 2.16 billion kilos of discarded food worth about $20 billion.

These startling figures are even more troubling when one considers how pandemic-related losses in income have caused financial hardships for so many. In May 2020, one in seven Canadians reported food insecurity within the past 30 days according to StatCan.

In addition, the environmental impact of wasted food is staggering. Food is the largest category of material discarded in municipal landfills where it rots and emits methane, a powerful greenhouse gas that contributes to climate change. Uneaten food also wastes the energy used to produce it – water, electricity and fuel for transportation.

Waste comes from food we purchase with every intention of using, but never do. You can reduce personal food waste by taking time to plan your meals. Before you shop, plan out a menu for the week ahead. Check your cupboards, refrigerator and freezer so you can include foods you have on hand that need to be used up. Write out a shopping list and stick to it, avoiding impulse buys which typically increase grocery bills, waistlines and household waste. Shopping without a plan makes it difficult to estimate the right amount of food, with the tendency being to buy too much.

Plan to use highly perishable foods, like berries, fresh greens and ground meat, fresh fish and poultry, earlier in the week. If you’re not already doing so, use a green bin to compost organic waste. Find out how long you can safely store food and label and freeze leftovers you can’t use right away. You can find many creative ways to use leftovers online. FoodKeeper is a useful, free Android or iPhone App developed by Cornell University’s Department of Food Science and the US Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service that provides guidelines on safe storage of food in the pantry, refrigerator and freezer. You can find other strategies to reduce food waste in these resources: Health Canada: Food Waste and Loss, Dietitians of Canada UnlockFood.ca Tips On Reducing Food Waste At Home and University of Waterloo’s Sustainability Guide