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in si de ha lto n. co m O ak vi lle B ea ve r | T hu rs da y, A ug us t 11 ,2 02 2 | 18 PICK YOUR FAVOURITE VOTING NOW OPEN It's in your hands. The Readers' Choice Awards were created for you to tell us which local businesses and service providers are the best at what they do! The nominations have been submitted and now the top 10 nominees have been shortlisted and are ready for your VOTE! VOTE TODAY to help make your favourite local business become a Readers' Choice Winner. insidehalton.com August is not off to a good start in Halton region when it comes to COVID-19. For the week of Aug. 1-6, there have been 197 cases (56 in Bur- lington, 80 in Oakville, 44 in Mil- ton and 17 in Halton Hills) with two deaths (one in Oakville and one in Milton). There have been nine hospi- talizations from COVID-19 for the week, according to Halton Re- gion, including two outbreaks at Georgetown Hospital. There is some encouraging news though on the vaccination front, with 85 per cent of all Hal- ton residents, including those un- der five years of age, have re- ceived two doses of a COVID-19 vaccine. Of all Halton residents who have received at least one dose, just 0.16 per cent had an adverse event following immunization, including 0.01 per cent who had a serious adverse event following immunization. There are currently 39 people with COVID-19 in Halton's four hospitals, an increase of 33 from last week, according to the latest reports by Halton Healthcare and Joseph Brant Hospital. Children aged six months and over are now eligible to receive a COVID-19 vaccine. The province announced that as of July 28 parents and care- givers of children aged six months to five years will be able to book appointments for the pe- diatric COVID-19 vaccine. Dr. Joanna Oda, associate medical officer of health for Hal- ton Region, said in a recent video post for Halton Region, that chil- dren can be seriously infected with COVID-19. "We also know that some chil- dren develop multi-system in- flammatory syndrome, which is a serious disease often requiring ICU care," she said. Dr. Kiran Cherla, a family phy- sician with Halton Hills Family Health Team, said Kids often spread infection to adults, "so...we do have to appre- ciate that when kids get an infec- tion, it's not just them we're wor- ried about, but it's their family and friends." Cherla said the main benefit to children getting vaccinated is that it helps them "live with the virus." "If you can prevent it, that's the best way to live with it," he said. WEEKLY ROUNDUP: MORE COVID DEATHS AND HOSPITALIZATIONS REPORTED IN HALTON Here's a weekly look at COVID cases and news. Metroland file photo LOUIE ROSELLA lrosella@metroland.com NEWS SOME ENCOURAGING NEWS THOUGH, ON THE VACCINATION FRONT SCAN THIS CODE to view COVID cases tracker.