Vaccination efforts in Chatham-Kent continue to pay off as active case counts in the municipality have dropped to single digits for the first time since the fall of 2020.
As of Tuesday morning, there are just six active COVID-19 cases in Chatham-Kent. Overall, local health officials have recorded 1,872 COVID-19 cases in Chatham-Kent since the pandemic started, along with 1,849 recoveries and 17 deaths. Two people are currently hospitalized locally.
When it comes to the local vaccination campaign, Chatham-Kent Medical Officer of Health Dr. David Colby said the municipality is in good shape and he's pleased with how local efforts have been going.
According to Colby, around 70 per cent of all adults in Chatham-Kent have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. In addition, 89 per cent of adults over the age of 60 in Chatham-Kent, which Colby said are the most vulnerable to bad outcomes from the virus, have received at least one dose.
"Those numbers are going up. The ability for Ontario to go to the next level of restrictions relaxations is really dependent on vaccination levels," he said. "So we're very happy to turn in these kinds of numbers."
According to Colby, the mass vaccination clinic at the John D. Bradley Centre in Chatham is mainly receiving supply of the Moderna vaccine.
He said there have been residents coming in for their second vaccine dose who were expecting to receive Pfizer-BioNTech but turn it down when they are offered Moderna instead.
However, he is reminding residents that the two vaccines are interchangeable because they both use mRNA technology and "go after the same target."
"That's really unfortunate. We want to get as many people with the second dose of vaccine as possible...That's kind of like saying 'I'll get the next taxi, I'm waiting for a Chevrolet, I don't want to get in a Ford.' Either one will get you where you want to go, safely and effectively," Colby explained.
Meanwhile, a vaccine clinic is planned for Ridgetown on Thursday, June 17 starting at 9 a.m.
The clinic will be held at the University of Guelph, Ridgetown Campus in Wilson Hall. The clinic will be administering Moderna vaccines to anyone from the public aged 18 years and older.
The clinic will accept walk-in appointments as available. However, residents are being encouraged to book an appointment by calling 519-354-0070 ext. 614. The clinic will accept individuals for their first dose or second dose of Moderna as long as they meet the provincial eligibility for the second dose interval.
Colby said municipal health officials always make sure that the vaccines that are supplied to Chatham-Kent get into residents' arms.
"If it looks like we're going to have a surplus, we will call people in rather than throw it away," he said. "We just don't do that."
More information about who is currently eligible for a second vaccine dose can be found by clicking here.
