The Grey Bruce Health Unit says since the COVID-19 virus Delta variant has become the dominant strain , the region will need a higher vaccine target of 90% coverage.
Medical Officer of Health and Chief Executive Officer Dr. Ian Arra said there's no question vaccination is the only way to prevent a 4th wave of the pandemic.
Dr. Arra said, "We see the Delta variant is as advertised; extremely efficient and effective in its transmission, and unfortunately, similarly effective in causing sever disease leading to hospitalizations and deaths"
Dr. Arra said a surge analysis found the majority of transmission was in individuals who were not fully vaccinated, with the main drivers being transient people, crowded housing, and private gatherings. But he says they found no increased risk of transmission in workplaces or regulated settings .
The health unit will take a two-pronged approach to continue to address the situation. It found robust Case and Contact Management was indispensable in bringing this latest Delta variant surge under control. And Dr. Arra believes an aggressive roll-out of vaccine is needed to ensure it does not return.
Dr. Arra said, "it was through enormous effort in reaching hundreds of cases and high-risk contacts to direct them to appropriate measures that the team was able to plateau the number at 20 new cases per day for over the past 3 weeks. That has been reduced to 9 new cases per day over the past week."
He explained, "The CCM in Grey Bruce Health Unit is second to none with robust protocols and most importantly a committed and experienced team. Over the past 16 months, the team was able to bring down every surge keeping the number of new cases to a manageable level of less than 5 per day with many days without any new cases."
A media release from the Grey Bruce Health Unit added that both mass and targeted vaccinations reached about 70,000 people, or 50% of eligible public in Grey Bruce, in just the past 4 weeks. The mass vaccination system is ramping down, but now there are Drop-In Vaccine Clinics every day in Grey Bruce. Vaccine Schedule