Staff at COVID immunization clinic.  25 June 2021.  (BlackburnNews.com file photo)Staff at COVID immunization clinic. 25 June 2021. (BlackburnNews.com file photo)
Windsor

Burden of COVID-19 remains the same and residents flood website for booster shots

It would appear a lot of Windsor-Essex residents are eager to get their COVID-19 booster shot.

The Windsor-Essex County Health Unit opened up online booking for appointments on Wednesday afternoon. The CEO said there were a few issues with the website, presumably from an increase in traffic.

CEO of the Windsor-Essex County Health Unit, Nicole Dupuis on November 4, 2021. CEO of the Windsor-Essex County Health Unit, Nicole Dupuis on November 4, 2021.

"For anyone who is eligible for the booster, we have had a pretty significant response," Nicole Dupuis said.

However, the priority remains convincing the 55,000 residents in the region to get their first dose of the vaccine. There is also a significant number who still haven't had their second.

When the health unit began its mass vaccination efforts, it had up to five mass vaccination clinics across the region. It has just the one now at Devonshire Mall. However, Dupuis believes there is enough capacity to get all of those who need a booster shot their third dose, along with those who remain unvaccinated.

"We didn't have the volume of health care providers offering vaccination. Things have kind of gradually shifted," she said. "The mass vaccination clinic at Devonshire -- the capacity for that clinic is considerable. In the beginning, we didn't have the mobile outreach like we do now."

Dupuis is also confident the health unit will have enough doses for everyone who needs one.

The health unit also released its weekly epidemiological summary on Thursday, which showed an uptick in the case rate. For every 100,000 residents in the region, there were 39.3 infections.

The rate at which the virus replicated increased slightly from last week to 1.01, meaning every confirmed case will result in just over one more infection in the community.

However, the percentage of tests coming back from the lab positive slid to 2.7 per cent, down 0.9 percentage points from a week ago, and hospitalizations are down.

Acting Medical Officer of Health Doctor Shanker Nesathurai on November 4, 2021. Acting Medical Officer of Health Doctor Shanker Nesathurai on November 4, 2021.

Acting Medical Officer of Health Doctor Shanker Nesathurai characterized the latest data saying, "the burden of COVID-19 is about the same this week as it was the previous week."

On Thursday, the health unit reported one more death in the region from COVID-19. A woman in her 60s passed away.

There were also 18 new infections. Eight cases are from community transmission. The same number came from close contact with other confirmed cases, and two are still under investigation.

There are 176 active cases as of Thursday, of which 112 involve a variant of concern.

Nine people are in the hospital. Seven of them are not vaccinated, while two have had both doses of the vaccine.

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