The top health official in Chatham-Kent is reporting that 60 per cent of residents who are 16 and older and are eligible to get the COVID-19 vaccine have received at least one dose.
Chatham-Kent Medical Officer of Health Dr. David Colby made the announcement on CFCO Mornings with Dave and Cheryl on Tuesday. Dr. Colby also said that the region should hit 50,000 vaccine doses sometime this week. Chatham-Kent Public Health reported it has put 47,309 total doses into arms as of Tuesday. Colby added good progress is being made in administering the shots and second doses will start for many people beginning next month.
"We're hitting 60 per cent and rising rapidly," said Colby. "We'll be starting in June to do second doses for a lot of people. So, good news all around."
Chatham-Kent Public Health has added more vaccine appointments throughout the week, including at the Bradley Centre on Saturday. The health unit said for people waiting for a second dose appointment past June 19, those should be added soon. Colby also said more vaccine mobile clinics will be added in the future.
"The mobile clinic in Wallaceburg was very, very busy and we got a lot of positive feedback about that. People really like it when the vaccine comes to their neighbourhood. So, we'll certainly be taking the show on the road," Dr. Colby added. "Viruses can't exist without host cells. They don't reproduce on their own. So, when we get people immune they're not going to be vessels for variants to arise."
Colby also noted vaccines are very effective in preventing transmission of the virus.
The local health unit also reported a huge drop in the number of active cases. Public health officials said active cases are down to 24 after three new cases and 14 resolved cases were reported on Tuesday. The outbreaks in the Medicine Unit at the hospital in Chatham and an undisclosed local workplace continue. The hospital outbreak has four active cases while the workplace outbreak doesn't have any active cases but has yet to be officially declared over. Six active cases are listed as unknown and one is listed as travel.
The Chatham-Kent Health Alliance said there are eight patients in the hospital with COVID-19, a drop of three from Friday. All of them are residents and there are zero transfer patients in the hospital. Two COVID-19 patients are in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and one of them is on a ventilator. Hospital officials also said there are six COVID-19 patients in the Medicine Unit.
The ICU is 86.4 per cent full, an increase from the 60 per cent occupancy all of last week. The Medical, Surgical, Critical Care Unit is at 88.1 per cent capacity. Two non-COVID-19 patients are using a ventilator in the ICU.
