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Unvaccinated population at the centre of concern during fourth wave

Almost all of the recent COVID-19 cases reported in our area are in people who aren’t fully vaccinated but are eligible.

“Over the past 14 days, 94 percent of individuals eligible for the vaccine who tested positive for COVID-19 were not fully immunized,” says Louise Gagné, Executive Director of Community Services. 

Fifteen cases of COVID-19 were reported in the last seven days.

Dr. Jim Chirico, our area’s Medical Officer of Health, says his main concern with the fourth wave is the potential for the unvaccinated population to become really ill and die. 

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“We know that currently in Ontario the ones that we’re seeing ending up being admitted to hospital, ending up in the ICU and on ventilators, the vast majority are the unvaccinated,” he says. 

Dr. Chirico says that has the potential to significantly impact the healthcare system, with secondary effects. 

“Where normal healthcare isn’t at the same level for people that need investigations, or cancer treatment, or surgeries.  As we saw earlier in the pandemic, that all gets delayed,” he says. 

Dr. Chirico also says he’s supportive of the provincial vaccination certificate announcement for certain non-essential businesses. 

“The certificate is an added step in the whole strategy to keep the numbers low and reduce the spread of the virus,” he says. 

The Health Unit’s mobile vaccine clinic, a retrofitted city transit bus, was launched this week with officials encouraging workplaces or groups of 50 or more people to book the mobile vaccination team.

“We’ve had some requests for clinics within organizations, I think a total of eight, not all specifically for the bus but we’re looking at how we can use the bus to accommodate the requests that we have,” says Andrea McLellan, Director of COVID-19 Immunization Strategy. “We have a number of locations scheduled over the next few days and we will continue to roll out the bus across our district.” 

School vaccination clinics for youth ages 12-17 are taking place the week of September 13th. 

 

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