Vaughan councillor, who lost 10 people she knows to COVID-19, urges people to get vaccinated

'Vaccine is not harmful,' Rosanna DeFrancesca says

Yorkregion.com
May 5, 2021
Dina Al-Shibeeb

Vaughan Coun. Rosanna DeFrancesca is urging local residents eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine to get their jab, just as she has done.

“I'm just doing my part to keep encouraging our own residents to do the same,” said DeFrancesca, who got her first vaccine dose at the International Centre clinic on Friday, April 30, and posted a video on Instagram celebrating the moment. “So, we can go back to somewhat of a normal life because at the end of the day, for me, it was very emotional.

“I'll be honest, it's almost like the beginning of the end of the pandemic,” she added. “I felt coming full circle, and I was excited to share with the community.”

Ontario is now redirecting residents who are above 40 and live in hot spots to go to neighbouring areas to get their vaccine in case it is not available in their own local areas, which was the case for DeFrancesca.

The councillor caught COVID-19 herself last year, and her daughter was hospitalized for five days with the virus as well.

Worse, she lost five close friends to COVID and another five she described as acquaintances, whose ages ranged from their 40s to their 60s.

“Most recently, it was a 42-year-old. It touches home base,” she lamented.

“When you hear younger people now are more in hospitals, you know it's definitely something that we should be taking seriously,” she said. “I wanted to show that the vaccine is not harmful.”

She rejected the “white noise” talk from those discouraging people from getting a vaccine.

“I wanted to show them that it's safe, that I'm taking it myself and when my children become eligible, they'll be taking it too,” she said.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford announced on Saturday (May 1) that the province would be sending 3,000 ventilators to India. The South Asian country added 392,488 new cases on Sunday alone, pushing its total number to 19.56 million.

The Canadian government also said it has identified medical equipment from its emergency stockpile that it is prepared to send overseas to help.

“I just wanted to show everybody that we all have to do our part together,” said DeFrancesca. “I mean, there's no borders; humanity has no borders.”