While there's reason for optimism as COVID-19 vaccinations ramp up and spring weather takes hold, Lambton's medical officer of health remains concerned about Variants of Concern.
The first local evidence of a coronavirus variant was reported March 3 and, as of Tuesday March 23, the health unit website showed 71 variant cases.
Dr. Sudit Ranade says we're on the cusp of vaccinating substantial numbers of people every day but the variants spread very quickly and can cause serious symptoms in younger people.
"And when we get to that place that's going to be a good thing, the weather is turning, that's going to be a good thing, but the thing I'm also concerned about is that we have a lot of variants in this community now," said Ranade. "They spread more easily and there's some evidence that at least one of them can cause some more severe disease and so we might start to actually see more severe disease in younger people in populations that we haven't been able to get to to immunize yet."
Cases have increased significantly of late in Sarnia-Lambton schools. The two school boards report at least one student or staff case in a total of 25 Lambton schools. There were 18 student cases at Forest's North Lambton Secondary School, eight at Petrolia's LCCVI, and seven at Great Lakes Secondary School. As of Tuesday, St. Patrick's High School had seven closed classes with 182 students isolating at home. There were active outbreaks declared at St. Pat's, Northern Collegiate, Confederation Central, King George VI, Holy Trinity, North Lambton Secondary, and Brooke Central schools.
The latest stats from Lambton Public Health show 60 per cent of local cases are in the age groups ranging from zero to 49 including 15 per cent aged zero-to-19 and 17 per cent in the 20-to-29 age demographic.
Dr. Ranade told Sue Storr on CHOK (103.9 FM, 1070 AM) Tuesday morning that they're still trying to confirm if the majority of variants in the community are the U.K. strain.
"We're still waiting to know exactly which variant it is. Having said that, the highest probability is that it will be that B-1-1-7 variant from the U.K. which is more transmissible and seems to be causing some severe disease, so that's concerning to us."
About 750 people lined up for shots on Monday. Over 530 of those were administered at the newly launched mass vaccination clinic at Point Edward Arena. Dr. Ranade said they hope to eventually get to 1,500 shots a day, possibly more, as they become more comfortable and efficient with the high-output model and vaccine supplies increase.
-With files from Sue Storr
