Windsor Regional Hospital is stopping all first doses and delaying second doses of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine due to supply issues.
As of the end of the day Monday, the hospital has inoculated 7,091 people with the first dose of the vaccine and 2,154 of those have received the second dose.
The delay of the second dose will be in accordance with the Government of Ontario directions following the recommendations of the National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI). The committee recommends adhering to the provided schedule of 28 days when possible but states a 42-day window is expected to yield similarly high protection.
According to the hospital, only about 10 per cent of long-term care and retirement home staff, congregate care staff, essential caregivers, higher risk local Indigenous populations, and Windsor-Essex hospital staff who wanted the vaccine have not been vaccinated. They say about 20 per cent of the staff have chosen to delay or refuse the vaccine.
The Windsor Essex County Health Unit continues to focus on residents in long-term care and retirement homes. To date, they have completed the first visit to all homes however some residents are still waiting on the vaccine because of outbreak situations at their respective homes. The health unit will begin administering second doses if the Moderna vaccine on Thursday, January 28, 2021.
A shipment of the Moderna vaccine is expected to arrive in the area in the first week of February. This is expected to provide the health unit with enough doses to administer all second doses and complete first doses on residents who are still waiting for the vaccine.