When BMO opens up for TFC games?

[leedsandTFC]

It's not just about people in their seats, you have to take into consideration the flow of people on the concourses, getting into the stadium and for that matter the area around the BMO Field. BMO Field presents challenges as many of us know there are train tracks between the the stadium and King Street. That tunnel would be a nightmare. The city would not want anyone going through it in mass. I think the province in partnership with the city will totally err on the side of caution with any sporting events, concerts etc. I think being fully vaccinated will be a requirement to attend at least early on. 25% capacity would be 7,500. I think even at that level someone who wants to go will have no problem getting a ticket, there will a lot of people who would not go anywhere near something like attending a soccer game even during the summer.

By the time the Reds could possibly return in late July/early August the number of fully vaccinated should rise greatly I assume. I really believe caution will be the driving force behind this by all involved. We are not going to see the packed house the Texas Rangers did for their home opener vs. the Jays anytime soon in these parts.

my counterpoint to this is that vaccines work, actually, and if cases are as low as projected by august, the danger of walking in a crowded tunnel around a bunch of other people who have also been vaccinated is not a risk at all.

i bet the first game, maybe 2 will have limited capacity, but would be absolutely shocked if BMO is not full by september.

if it's not full then, basically an admission that we're never having a full bmo field again. vaccine uptake will likely never be as high.

[Oldtimer]

my counterpoint to this is that vaccines work, actually, and if cases are as low as projected by august, the danger of walking in a crowded tunnel around a bunch of other people who have also been vaccinated is not a risk at all.

i bet the first game, maybe 2 will have limited capacity, but would be absolutely shocked if BMO is not full by september.

if it's not full then, basically an admission that we're never having a full bmo field again. vaccine uptake will likely never be as high.

All that would make sense if people were completely rational and trusted in the science. However we know that people aren't completely rational, so anything can happen.

[Red CB Toronto]

All that would make sense if people were completely rational and trusted in the science. However we know that people aren't completely rational, so anything can happen.

They could also got the route like teams are south of the border by having sections for the vaccinated which are full and others for those that are not with social distancing in place with the a requirement of a negative covid That offers up more challenges, especially from a logistics standpoint, especially if giving season ticket holders their options, as we know some with their shots may still want to be distanced from others in a pod. But as you said anything can happen, so we shall wait and see.

[Red CB Toronto]

The plans for AZ shots will be announced at 10 am today by the province. Looking forward to my second shot.

https://www.cp24.com/news/ontario-to...cine-1.5437741

[Oldtimer]

The plans for AZ shots will be announced at 10 am today by the province. Looking forward to my second shot.

https://www.cp24.com/news/ontario-to...cine-1.5437741

I understand they want to be cautious, but there's practically zero risk for a second shot, and being fully immunized is significantly safer than being half there. Seems like a no-brainer. The whole thing is overblown anyway. The risk from taking a three hour flight is much higher than from the AZ shot, and nobody is talking about banning flights.

[glaze]

I interpreted it as half full stadiums by August. Spreading out 20k in BMO isnt an issue, as much as how will you do ticketing, how will the stadium be set up to distance crowds (several logistics issues, west concourse, essentially 2 gates for crowd to enter and exit, the tunnel, etc).
Also MLSE has to staff the events.
And determine what the vax policy is, and how it wiĺl be enforced.
My friends and I have decided to pass on thr season, if thats an option and just defer to 2022. While I have no problem golfing each week, I'm just in no rush to be around 20k people.

[Red CB Toronto]

I understand they want to be cautious, but there's practically zero risk for a second shot, and being fully immunized is significantly safer than being half there. Seems like a no-brainer. The whole thing is overblown anyway. The risk from taking a three hour flight is much higher than from the AZ shot, and nobody is talking about banning flights.

That was pretty good news earlier, for those who were unable to watch it live, first doses of AZ still paused, but second doses of AZ are a go. The first administration of second doses of AZ will begin May 24th. They will be offered to those who got first doses March 10-19th (10-11 week interval). That should make sure none of the current 55k doses expiring May 31st go to waste. Everyone else who got their first AZ dose later on should be expecting to have a second AZ dose available to them at the 12-week interval. I got mine on Tuesday, April 20th so if everything goes as planned I would be able to get my shot the week of Tuesday, July 13th.

[Yuushalinsky]

So, I just got some season seats, thought it was about time for me. my AM said that they were targeting August pretty hard for ticketed games.

[Auzzy]

That did not come off right, I am not hockey guy at all, could care less, its just I could really see some push back if the Habs are allowed to have a small reduced crowd from those that are fatigued. Doug Ford just annoys the heck out of me, makes my blood boil at times because there sometimes no rhyme or reason to what he is saying. I think everything stops and starts with being fully vaccinated. I do wonder how they are going to reconcile someone's vaccine record if they do have one dose here and the other is the US. If some one is fully vaccinated in Ontario right now, would they not have their certificate from the Ministry of Health? i have my first does one that was sent to me the moment the pharmacist checked me out from my appointment.

I have always wondered, doctors have a hippocratic oath so for the chief medical officer of a county, state etc in the US that have their medical obligations how did things open so fast in some places. I get that Florida, Texas are nuts but even some of the level headed states like New York have things opens. A lot of this was going on even before the vaccine roll out got on track. What has Canada done wrong that we can not even take part in outdoor activities and so on that pose little risk at this point and those to the south can do all sorts of things and have been since the fall. My frustration has been that we did not go full lockdown right out of the gate, no one was even on the streets and nip this quick like Australia for example. We let this thing drag on.

Thanks I agree with everything. I got way too anxious before the Ontario re-opening announcement. I just feel we kept failing the marshmallow test. I think it actually came out pretty reasonable for once. If they don't cave too much to lobbying, cases will keep receding while vaccines keep scaling up, and businesses will have a solid foundation to plan for opening and staying open.

You asked about chief medical officers of health in the US. They don't really have anything equivalent. States and the fed have medical advisers of various types, but they don't have any formal power or say. It's more purely political. (The medical officers don't always have much say here either in reality, or don't use their theoretic power, but there is this veneer at least.) In the US they generally accepted a much higher rate of death. Places like NY got pretty careful after their initial huge failures though, and NY had extremely low test positivity and a bunch of measures in place for a long time, plus lots of vaccines in the last few months, which got them to the level of opening they have now. We'll be there in a few weeks.

The other big thing in the US is that they have WAY more hospital and ICU capacity. Lots of people don't make it out of ICU alive especially after having COVID for a long time, both in the US and Canada. But with the larger ICU capacity generally in the US, they could deal with a higher level of disease and death in many areas w/o getting as close to system collapse as in Ontario a few weeks ago. Granted it's also extremely expensive there, and there are lots of people in the US going broke now or starting GoFundMe's after extended COVID hospital stays, and needing a way to pay for extensive rehab afterwards (including friends of mine).

All my family incl. 16-year-old daughter now vaccinated one time. I'm looking forward to my 2nd shot of AZ a day after CB. I gotta chill on this topic and especially stay away from Twitter, it's just endless and mostly useless.

[Ponderosa]

It was awesome watching the season closing game from Anfield today, about 10k in the stands - just hearing the fans sing YNWA at the beginning and before the last whistle was awesome. Watching the game was so different than a game in front of an empty stadium and banners.

I've been double vaxxed for sometime now but still hesitant around crowds - I think tho - if BMO were to open up - I'd shed the pandemic PTSD real quick to raise a scarf and belt out Oh Canada or Legend TFC, I won't ever complain again about the ineebs on a forever loop with their chants (well for the first few games anyways).

[Red CB Toronto]

The vaccines have been skyrocketing across the province, and it's pulling up great numbers. So far, we have 51% of Ontario vaccinated, with 62% of it being adults. With this speed, we might see 70% of adults vaccinated by June 1st. Based on these numbers, is it fair to say that Ontario might open up large indoor gatherings, including dining/gyms, earlier than planned?

We might not see Ontario open up till the start of July or longer. However, things have changed due to high amounts of people getting vaccinated daily. Are going to be in an insane situation possibly by mid-July where we have sub-100 cases daily, zero deaths and we will still be a month away from stage three? Then people will start wondering what the risk is with over 75% of the population having had one dose. Just some food for thought as we move forward. Another big thing for some is their second doses are getting pushed up. Things are moving fast.

[Canary10]

BC released their re-opening plan today. Looks like September for fans at sports events.

[Red CB Toronto]

If anyone thinks the US is giving us any more vaccine (AZ or otherwise) without significant movement by us on the border issue... they would be mistaken, imho

(In reality the US can break us over their knee any time they feel like it over this issue, we would have no choice but to do as they say...)

https://www.wkbw.com/rebound/report-...-canada-border

This is where it gets interesting, it starting to look like the US could open up the border their way regardless if Canada does for our side. I would have to think the Trudeau government would feel real pressure if this does happen. The border state governors have been pushing this for this, knowing the tourism dollars that come within especially during the summer months. Now could more vaccines come our way from the US including the AZ needed for second doses as part of a reopening, absolutely.

It will also put a lot of pressure on the Liberals as they’ll be faced with the prospect of large volumes of travellers with right of entry, which will require measures that make actual sense and are based on science (as opposed to what is in place now) so non-compliance isn’t rampant.

Canada won't have a choice but to change it. With hundreds of thousands of returning Canadians, the current quarantine rules and follow up will become un unmanageable.


https://globalnews.ca/video/7894591/...en-on-june-22/
Link changing in real time, so here's the text:

The Canada U.S. border has been shut down for more than a year amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, but according to a well-known immigration lawyer, that might be about to change.

Len Saunders, based in Blaine, Wash., said high-level meetings were held in Washington D.C. on Tuesday and officials from the Peace Arch port of entry were involved.

“And what I was told is that instructions came out of headquarters that the border will be fully reopening, the U.S. border on June 22, in just over three weeks,” Saunders told Global News on Wednesday.

This would apply to just the U.S. side of the border, not the Canadian side.

Global News has reached out to both U.S. and Canadian border officials.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has said previously he will not reopen the border until Canada’s population is at least 75 per cent vaccinated.

Right now, about half of the Canadian population has received at least one dose of a vaccine with 20,328,984 doses of the approved COVID-19 vaccines having now been administered.

Even if the U.S. border is opened on June 22, anyone travelling to Canada or back to Canada would still have to quarantine.

“It’s not going to have your average traveller coming over the border, the day-trippers,” Saunders said, “but I think what it’s going to do is put a lot of pressure on the Canadian government to come up with a plan to open up, at least partially, the Canadian border. Especially when you have the Americans making this decision to open up the border themselves with no restrictions.”

The joint restrictions have been in place since March 2020 and were mutually agreed upon by both countries. The ban has been rolled over several times since.

However, the border remains open for essential travel throughout the COVID pandemic in a bid to avoid disrupting the flow of food, medical supplies and other crucial goods between the two countries.

“Who knows what’s going to happen but at least one side is going to fully reopen so it’s a step in the right direction,” Saunders added.

Trudeau announced last week that the Canadian border will remain closed until June 21.

[Canary10]

This is where it gets interesting, it starting to look like the US could open up the border their way regardless if Canada does for our side. I would have to think the Trudeau government would feel real pressure if this does happen. The border state governors have been pushing this for this, knowing the tourism dollars that come within especially during the summer months. Now could more vaccines come our way from the US including the AZ needed for second doses as part of a reopening, absolutely.

It will also put a lot of pressure on the Liberals as they’ll be faced with the prospect of large volumes of travellers with right of entry, which will require measures that make actual sense and are based on science (as opposed to what is in place now) so non-compliance isn’t rampant.

Canada won't have a choice but to change it. With hundreds of thousands of returning Canadians, the current quarantine rules and follow up will become un unmanageable.


https://globalnews.ca/video/7894591/...en-on-june-22/
Link changing in real time, so here's the text:

The Canada U.S. border has been shut down for more than a year amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, but according to a well-known immigration lawyer, that might be about to change.

Len Saunders, based in Blaine, Wash., said high-level meetings were held in Washington D.C. on Tuesday and officials from the Peace Arch port of entry were involved.

“And what I was told is that instructions came out of headquarters that the border will be fully reopening, the U.S. border on June 22, in just over three weeks,” Saunders told Global News on Wednesday.

This would apply to just the U.S. side of the border, not the Canadian side.

Global News has reached out to both U.S. and Canadian border officials.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has said previously he will not reopen the border until Canada’s population is at least 75 per cent vaccinated.

Right now, about half of the Canadian population has received at least one dose of a vaccine with 20,328,984 doses of the approved COVID-19 vaccines having now been administered.

Even if the U.S. border is opened on June 22, anyone travelling to Canada or back to Canada would still have to quarantine.

“It’s not going to have your average traveller coming over the border, the day-trippers,” Saunders said, “but I think what it’s going to do is put a lot of pressure on the Canadian government to come up with a plan to open up, at least partially, the Canadian border. Especially when you have the Americans making this decision to open up the border themselves with no restrictions.”

The joint restrictions have been in place since March 2020 and were mutually agreed upon by both countries. The ban has been rolled over several times since.

However, the border remains open for essential travel throughout the COVID pandemic in a bid to avoid disrupting the flow of food, medical supplies and other crucial goods between the two countries.

“Who knows what’s going to happen but at least one side is going to fully reopen so it’s a step in the right direction,” Saunders added.

Trudeau announced last week that the Canadian border will remain closed until June 21.

Signs seem to be pointing to the border opening when the agreement expires June 21. Hopefully TFC will be back playing at BMO shortly after that. Supporters will probably come a bit later. But really this looks like good news as we're at a major disadvantage playing out of Orlando.

[OgtheDim]

In theory....in theory...the first possible home game at BMO with a cross border team would be June 26th against Cinci.

A LOT has to happen to get there though, including TPH, Provincial & Federal approval.

[reggie]

maybe they can play at woodbine beach,the govt dont seem to care that there are 10k every weekend drinking ,partying ,littering,but 2500-5000 vaccinated fans cant watch mostly vaccinated players play in 30k stadium with real strict protocols

[Red CB Toronto]

Ford and company looking at stage 1 starting earlier than planned.

Check out this tweet at https://twitter.com/CityCynthia/status/1397686653502869510?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1397686653502869510%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.redditmedia.com%2Fmediaembed%2Fnlvcpr%3Fresponsive%3Dtrueis_nightmode%3Dfalse

Alberta also announced today that they expect to be fully open by early July after the first of three stages starting on June 1st. Interesting to see they plan on going through their three stages quite quickly with any eye towards big events going ahead.

"We are optimistic that we'll enter Stage 3 by early July," Kenney said. "And what a great day that will be. Events like K-Days and Calgary Stampede can proceed at that point with full participation."

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/alberta-reopening-plan-covid-19-jason-kenney-1.6040694

[Chevy]

All that would make sense if people were completely rational and trusted in the science. However we know that people aren't completely rational, so anything can happen.

You mean my Facebook medical degree ain't count for nuthin?

[Auzzy]

When I want to decide what not to do, I look to Alberta.

Other than that things looking pretty good.

[Red CB Toronto]

This will go a long way in getting open after Doug Ford announced the pushing up second doses today, Some people will be able to get their second doses of Mrna vaccines in as little as 28 days after their first doses depending on when they took it. AZ is now being recommended on a 12 week interval.

Here is a list of when residents are expected to become eligible for a second dose, according to the province’s timeline released Friday:
Week of May 31: Individuals aged 80 and over will be able to book their second dose.
Anyone who received Astrazeneca from March 21 onward will become eligible on May 31 at a 12-week interval from their first dose.
Week of June 14: Individuals aged 70 and over will be able to book their second dose.
Week of June 28: Individuals who received their first dose between the weeks of March 8 and April 18 will become eligible. This could include individuals with the highest-risk health conditions and special education workers.
Week of July 19: Individuals who received their first dose between the weeks of April 19 and May 9 will become eligible. This can include individuals aged 50 and up, as well as individuals with high-risk conditions.
Week of August 2: Individuals who received their first dose between the weeks of May 10 and May 30 will become eligible. This can include people who cannot work from home, as well as individuals with at-risk health conditions.
Week of August 9 to 16: Anyone between the ages of 12 and 25 will become eligible to book a second dose.
Week of August 9: Individuals who received their first dose from the week of May 31 onwards on a “first-in, first out” basis. The government says hat dose intervals could be as short as 28 days.

[Auzzy]

I dunno, the socialists that tore my family apart and oppressed part of them in East Germany for decades would have been about dumb enough to come up with idea of vaccinating people at the Stampede. Like putting on a condom after sex. They were also about as bad at managing their economy as the current Alberta government.

Then I saw your last post in this thread. Not worth debating.

Anyhoo right now things look on track for a limited number of fans at BMO Field by August, latest September.

[spe18]

FWIW - Vancouver Whitecaps have announced that their July home matches will be played in Utah.

https://www.whitecapsfc.com/post/202...m-july-matches

[Red CB Toronto]

I dunno, the socialists that tore my family apart and oppressed part of them in East Germany for decades would have been about dumb enough to come up with idea of vaccinating people at the Stampede. Like putting on a condom after sex. They were also about as bad at managing their economy as the current Alberta government.

Then I saw your last post in this thread. Not worth debating.

Anyhoo right now things look on track for a limited number of fans at BMO Field by August, latest September.

Anything that brings a significant number of people together should require being fully vaccinated , 14 days after the second shot. I would not go to being willing to put anyone at risk even though I know how careful I have been. Comparing this to the wall and those that suffers through the Cold War and the pain it brought , have your voice.

[ag futbol]

I dunno, the socialists that tore my family apart and oppressed part of them in East Germany for decades would have been about dumb enough to come up with idea of vaccinating people at the Stampede. Like putting on a condom after sex. They were also about as bad at managing their economy as the current Alberta government.

Then I saw your last post in this thread. Not worth debating.

Anyhoo right now things look on track for a limited number of fans at BMO Field by August, latest September.

Yes as a former Alberta resident I marvel at the attitudes of some. Lot of smart and busy savvy people in the province and there is a spirit of entrepreneurship that I would say is unique to Canada.

But some stuff just makes you question your own sanity.

[Wagner]

I've done a little bit of tidying up. Please keep it civil.

[Auzzy]

Let's cheer up folks, it's happening! Hospitals are already doing an amazing job reaching out to all the 80+ who got vaccinated at the regular & pop-up clinics organized by the hospitals, to re-book their 2nd shots earlier. 2nd doses for 80+ are going into arms starting June 1st. The hospitals obviously had everything ready, with a ton of staff & volunteers on standby as soon as they got the OK to make the calls (and emails & texts). Second doses for 70+ are supposed to start two weeks later, but I predict it won't take that long.

Another 1 million doses of AZ coming in June, in addition to the non-expiring doses already in storage. All the cool kids who want their 2nd dose of AZ will be able to get them.

Only thing I don't understand, with ongoing Moderna production problems in Europe, why won't the US send Moderna doses directly to Canada, like they are already doing with Pfizer? They don't know what to do with all the surplus vaccine in the US anymore. That would help with opening the border!

But despite that, Ontario alone will have enough vaccine next week to do more than 200k jabs per day, let's hope we can do it! In addition to all the staff required, I've been amazed at the massive number of volunteers at the vaccine clinics. Like the roofer who volunteered for the May 24 long weekend, and asked us the COVID screening questions before letting my daughter and me into the EllisDon HQ in Mississauga last week to get her vaccinated.

[spe18]

You would think that with the government granting an exemption to the NHL for back and forth border travel, that something similar should also be granted for the other US based leagues.

https://www.tsn.ca/travel-exemption-...nals-1.1647124

[OgtheDim]

Phase 1 to start June 14

Phase 2 - 3 weeks later


In THEORY

First home TFC game Saturday July 17

Health Minister has confirmed today that nothing has changed here in terms of dates


No indication that outdoor sports without fans will return earlier then that - the "Leafs 7th game with some people" thing did occur.

[Bushmancan]

Health Minister has confirmed today that nothing has changed here in terms of dates


No indication that outdoor sports without fans will return earlier then that - the "Leafs 7th game with some people" thing did occur.

I do like to bash MLSE occasionally but fair play to them for letting fully vaccinated first responder/healthcare workers be the first ones back. Class.

Unlike the money grubbing Habs. (hahaha). F-ck Montreal in both sports.

[spe18]

I do like to bash MLSE occasionally but fair play to them for letting fully vaccinated first responder/healthcare workers be the first ones back. Class.

Unlike the money grubbing Habs. (hahaha). F-ck Montreal in both sports.

To be fair though, I would think that if MLSE had the same amount of lead time as the Habs did, they would've more then likely done that same thing, and probably further too!