The local vaccine supply is expected to nearly double next week.
The Windsor Essex County Health Unit has been notified that it will be receiving around 22,000 vaccine doses the week of May 3 and the week of May 10. For the month of April, the region received around 10,000-12,000 doses a week. The allocation is expected to go back down to the base supply following the week of May 10.
Many of the additional doses will be dedicated to hot-spot areas in the community.
“We are talking about doing a pop-up in the downtown area so we are just trying to finalize those details but we are looking at doing one or two,” said CEO and Chief Nursing Officer Theresa Marentette.
With many vaccine appointments still available for this week and the Windsor Essex County Health Unit is considering opening up eligibility criteria further. An announcement is expected in the coming days. To book an appointment, or to see if you are eligible, visit wevax.ca
“We want to ensure our community that we have enough vaccines. We have to follow our risk based criteria to ensure we are vaccinating the right people, so that is the critical piece,” said Medical Officer of Health Dr. Wajid Ahmed. “In a few weeks we will be in a better position to target all of these people who are at risk.”
However, Dr. Ahmed said there are still many people in the current categories who have not been vaccinated yet. According to the latest statistics on the health unit’s website, about 73 per cent of people ages 60-64 have received a vaccine, and 80 per cent of residents 70-74 have gotten a vaccination.
“Anytime we are seeing some available appointments we want to make sure we are filling it up with the right people to get the vaccines,” said Dr. Ahmed.
As of Monday morning, 138,370 individuals in Windsor-Essex had received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.
The health unit also reported 54 new cases of COVID-19 in the region on Monday. Among the new infections, 15 were close contacts of previously confirmed cases, eight were community-acquired, and two are outbreak-related. The health unit continues to investigate 29 new cases.
There are currently 482 active cases in the community. About 34 per cent of the active cases involve a variant of concern.
