Olivia Bowden

thestar.com • 2nd July 2021

‘Another political extravaganza?’ Muslim academics, community members skeptical about what might be achieved at Islamophobia summit

A National Summit on Islamophobia will be held this month, in the wake of a deadly truck attack in London, Ont. that left multiple members of the same family dead and as violent incidents of street harassment against Muslim women have been reported in Alberta.

thestar.com • 22nd June 2021

‘Botched messaging’ is leading some Ontarians to refuse Moderna vaccines over a ‘Coke and Pepsi thing’

Some Ontario residents are refusing to take a shot of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine. And as the need for second doses becomes urgent with the spread of the highly infectious Delta variant, pharmacists worry vaccine shopping could slow efforts to immunize the population.

thestar.com • 21st June 2021

First Indigenous Hub in Ontario set to offer crucial health services, and provide a ‘home’

It’s being hailed as a first for Ontario — an Indigenous Hub that will provide crucial services around health, employment and culture.

thestar.com • 18th June 2021

Waterloo Region’s Delta-fuelled COVID-19 surge is having the greatest impact on the homeless population

Waterloo Region is grappling with a continued surge of COVID-19 infections bolstered by the highly infectious Delta variant — and the homeless population has experienced the brunt of the outbreak.

thestar.com • 15th June 2021

Scramble for COVID vaccines in Peel prompts calls for more community clinics

Jaskaran Sandhu says the community vaccine clinic he helped lead at a Peel Region gurdwara had something the average mass clinic may lack — immediate comfort and familiarity to residents.

thestar.com • 14th June 2021

The TDSB is re-examining the names of its 583 schools. Can it find the right way to reflect the city’s diversity?

Canada’s largest school board approved the creation of a panel of students, parents, educators and community members who will conduct a citywide evaluation of its elementary and high schools in an effort to “better reflect the diversity of the city.”

thestar.com • 7th June 2021

Will Ontario schools be ready in September? Here’s where some GTA boards stand on COVID-19 health measures

Teacher Vickita Bhatt is stunned to find herself in the exact same position she was in last year.

thestar.com • 4th June 2021

‘Nope, it’s not worth it anymore.’ Attendance sliding at Ontario’s virtual schools as parents and kids burned out

June often comes with a buzz in the school hallways, with students excited about outdoor excursions, class parties, or end-of-year events like prom and graduation.

thestar.com • 25th May 2021

Seniors over 80 have lower vaccination rates in Toronto and Peel than other age groups. How groups are working to change that

Hot-spot neighbourhoods in Ontario are seeing lower COVID-19 vaccination rates for seniors over 80 than neighbourhoods with lower incidence of the virus — indicating the most at-risk populations are still being missed for the vaccine.

thestar.com • 21st May 2021

Do Ontario children 12-15 need parental consent to get COVID-19 vaccines? It depends where you live

Dozens of children flocked to the playground of Gordon A. Brown Middle School on Wednesday afternoon, to eagerly await their first dose of the Pfizer vaccine.

thestar.com • 18th May 2021

Ontario’s hotspot vaccine strategy has ended — but Toronto and York Region stick with their own versions

Hot-spot postal codes in Ontario, generally home to more racialized, low-income people, are no longer receiving half the province’s vaccine supply as the strategy to get those who need the vaccine the most was halted on the weekend, just two weeks after it launched.

thestar.com • 14th May 2021

Workplace clinics, targeting some of the most vulnerable, have delivered smallest share of Peel’s vaccines so far

Workplace clinics in one of the province’s hardest-hit regions have so far delivered the fewest doses of COVID vaccines, behind hospitals, mass sites, pop-ups and even family doctors, according to data from Peel Public Health.

thestar.com • 11th May 2021

Ontario just paused AstraZeneca first doses — but some people were already vaccine ‘shopping’

Before Ontario announced a pause on first doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine on Tuesday, residents had already begun snubbing it in favour of Pfizer or Moderna.

thestar.com • 7th May 2021

Language can be a barrier to COVID-19 vaccine access. The Star is asking doctors to help

Ontario’s vaccine rollout has brought not only frustration, but anguish for many residents, as those in the hardest hit neighbourhoods were not initially prioritized for shots.

thestar.com • 4th May 2021

Uncertain about the AstraZeneca vaccine? Here’s what you need to know about the benefits — and the rare side effects

Canada’s national vaccine advisers sowed confusion around the AstraZeneca vaccine Monday when they recommended those at a lower risk of COVID-19 wait for a mRNA shot that doesn’t seem to carry a rare chance of a blood clot.

thestar.com • 1st May 2021

‘An inferno’: Why this Brampton neighbourhood is at the centre of Ontario’s devastating third wave

At the Brampton Gateway bus terminal, which sits along Steeles Avenue West where Hurontario ends — a man is on his way to work during another provincial stay-at-home order.

thestar.com • 27th April 2021

A new portal is launching to help identify and track COVID-19 variants across the country. Here’s why not all variants are labelled a ‘concern’

The vast majority of new COVID-19 cases in Ontario are variants of concern that are continuing to spread rapidly — and are fuelling a devastating third wave of the virus.

thestar.com • 23rd April 2021

Employers in COVID-19 hot spots can apply to bring vaccinations directly to workers, but the requirements are confusing and pricey

Essential workers in factories, construction, and manufacturing — sectors that have been hit hard by COVID-19 in the past year — remain ineligible for vaccination in Ontario based on their employment status alone.

thestar.com • 22nd April 2021

Ping-pong, free food, beer on tap — but no support for Black employees. Tech companies are rushing to create new policies, but are they willing to do the real work?

Catered lunches. Beer on tap. Workplace excursions. A round of office ping-pong — these “perks” once made Melissa Allen, a former project manager at Workopolis and prior to that an account strategist at Google, the envy of her friends.

thestar.com • 16th April 2021

These employers hope to host workplace vaccination sites as experts urge priority for essential workers at greatest risk

The Toronto Transit Commission, Maple Leaf Foods, and UPS are among the employers in COVID-19 hot spots who have approached — or been approached by — the province about hosting workplace vaccination clinics, the Star has learned.