Over 1,000 vaccines are expected to be administered at two pop-up clinics in hotspot regions in Windsor, but that is just a fraction of the allocation expected this week.
The Windsor-Essex County Health Unit will receive 22,000 doses of the vaccine for COVID-19 this week, half of which will be used in hot spots across the region.
The health unit saw a positive turnout at both pop-up clinic locations held in Windsor on Monday. Both sites had fully assigned the vaccine allocation by 1:00 p.m.
“We are pleased with the excellent community response to the Windsor-Essex County Health Unit Mobile Pop Up Clinics in the N9A and N9C area codes. We have now reached the end of our vaccine allocation for these clinics and will not be taking in any new clients. Those who received a card indicating an appointment time today should still attend their scheduled appointment. Anyone with an appointment card will get a vaccine and should report back to the site about 20 minutes in advance of their scheduled time," said CEO and Chief Nursing Officer Theresa Marentette.
People who began lining up for the vaccine Monday morning were given cards with appointment times on them so that they did not have to wait outside in the rain. Clinic staff will be administering vaccines until around 4 p.m.
The health unit's vaccine booking system has also been opened to all residents 18 years and older living in hotspot regions. The hotspot regions in Windsor-Essex have postal codes that start with N8X, N8Y, N9A, N9B, N9C, N8H, N9Y.
The booking system has also been opened up for all residents 50 and older, following the guidelines set out by the provincial government.
“As soon as we get to a comfort zone where we feel that we have vaccinated, or we have provided good coverage to that age group, we’ll continue to drop the age-band further to ensure that we utilize the vaccine as quickly as possible,” said Medical Officer of Health Dr. Wajid Ahmed.
At this time, around 37 per cent of people aged 50-54 in Windsor Essex have received one dose of the vaccine. In the following age bracket, 55-59 years of age, around 47 per cent of people have had a shot.
As of Monday morning, 154,788 residents had received their first dose of the vaccine.
“Getting a vaccine does not mean that you can lose your guard and become complacent in following public health measures. Unless we reach a certain threshold of vaccinated people in our region or the public health guidelines are updated to reflect the ongoing risk in the community, it is absolutely critical that we all follow the public health measures,” said Dr. Ahmed.
The health unit reported 41 new cases of COVID-19. Among the new cases, 20 are close contacts of confirmed cases, four are community-acquired, and one is outbreak-related. Case and contact management staff continue to investigate 16 positive cases.
There are currently 427 active cases in the region, 114 involving variants of concern, and 20 people in the hospital with the virus.