Chatham-Kent's top doctor says there are still some hurdles to overcome when it comes to protecting residents against COVID-19 and the Delta variant.
As of Tuesday morning, Chatham-Kent is now at 29 active cases of COVID-19, a number that has more than quadrupled compared to last Tuesday, when there were seven active cases.
According to Chatham-Kent Medical Officer of Health Dr. David Colby, a majority of the latest cases involve the Delta variant.
Colby said the rising numbers in Chatham-Kent reflect just how transmissible the Delta variant is.
"We don't have a lot of unlinked cases," he explained. "We're able to link all of our active cases to other cases. Just like it was previously, most of our cases are linked to family and social contacts rather than being transmitted in public places."
Colby added that a majority of the active cases in Chatham-Kent are also in unvaccinated individuals.
Recently, Ontario's Ministry of Health made changes to its daily COVID-19 reporting website and now compares how many daily cases were in unvaccinated vs vaccinated individuals.
According to Colby, the Chatham-Kent Public Health Unit is currently looking into doing something similar for its daily reporting.
"Almost all the cases we're seeing are in unvaccinated people and a very small number in single-vaccinated people," he explained. "It's very unlikely that double-vaccinated people are going to get infected and if they do, it's with a very mild kind of medical syndrome."
Currently, 69 per cent of Chatham-Kent residents aged 12 and up are fully vaccinated.
Colby said that's close to the province's target of a 70 per cent vaccination rate and added that pop-up clinics across the municipality were a big help is raising local vaccination numbers.
However, he stressed that the push for administering vaccines isn't over yet.
"In order to achieve that almost mythical herd immunity that we're trying to get to, we basically have to get 20 more per cent vaccinated," he said. "So we've got lots of work to do still in Chatham-Kent."
On Monday, London Mayor Ed Holder expressed anger over the fact that the Middlesex London Health Unit had to throw out around 10,000 doses of the Moderna vaccine that had expired.
According to Colby, vaccines can be kept in a freezer for a long, long time" but must be used within a specific timeframe once the vaccines are thawed, which creates a challenge for the multi-dose vials that the vaccine comes in.
He said waste hasn't been an issue in Chatham-Kent.
"Our pop-up clinics were just spectacular at trying to find out just how many they needed," Colby explained. "We had as close to zero waste as you can get...I'm hoping soon the manufactures will have single-use vials so you can just thaw them as you need them for office and pharmacy use where you have people trickling in"
Although the mass vaccination clinic in Chatham closed earlier this month, pop-up clinics continue across the municipality.
On Wednesday, vaccines will be given from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. at the Merlin Library. A pop-up clinic will also be held on Thursday from 3 p.m. until 8 p.m. at Blenheim Talbot Trail Place Park and on Saturday at Wallaceburg District Secondary School from 10 a.m. until 3 p.m.
To date, a total of 133,568 COVID-19 vaccine doses have been administered in Chatham-Kent.