Everyone 60 and older eligible for vaccine starting Monday – Windsor Star

Article content

Everyone in Windsor and Essex County who is at least 60 years old will be eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccine starting next week.

But which vaccine you get and where you get it will depend on your age.

The Windsor-Essex County Health Unit expects to begin vaccinating people ages 75 and up at mass clinics starting next week. There are about 15,000 people between the ages of 75 and 80 in the region.

“If all of those people book, it will be easy to get them all vaccinated based on the various sites we have and the vaccine,” health unit CEO Theresa Marentette said Friday.

Windsor-Essex is expecting almost 17,000 doses of mostly Pfizer-BioNTech and some Moderna vaccine next week. There are two mass vaccination clinics now, at the WFCU Centre in Windsor and Nature Fresh Farms Recreation Centre in Leamington.

Two more will open — at St. Clair College, which has already been used to vaccinate health-care workers, and the university’s Windsor Hall in the former Windsor Star building. The city is offering free parking on the street and in nearby lots for those getting vaccinated at downtown’s Windsor Hall.

Article content

The Ontario government is also opening it’s booking system to those age 75 and older starting Monday.

In addition, starting Monday, people ages 60 and older will be eligible to receive the AstraZeneca vaccine at pharmacies in three regions of Ontario, including 57 pharmacies here. That vaccine was originally limited to those ages 60 to 64, but Canada’s National Advisory Committee on Immunization now recommends its use in seniors, too.

The Downtown Windsor Pharmacy was administering shots to people ages 50 and up but was told by the heath unit to stop.

“We were aware of the rules,” the owner, who declined to give his name, said Friday. “There weren’t enough people. We didn’t want to waste it.”

The pharmacy began receiving more calls when AstraZeneca was recommended for seniors. It received 500 doses that expire April 2.

Eight or nine family health teams also began vaccinating eligible patients this week.

The health unit’s existing online booking system for vaccination clinics will close Saturday at 4 p.m., leaving a short “blackout period” when there will be no online booking. A new system is expected to be completed this weekend.

People ages 80 and older who have already pre-registered for their shots will still be called to arrange appointments. They can also continue calling 519-251-4702 to book appointments.

The health unit is continuing to use its own booking system, not the Ontario government’s.

To book an appointment at a pharmacy, call the pharmacy. A list of participating pharmacies is on the health unit’s website.

Article content

About 16,000 people ages 80 and older who don’t live in long-term care homes have pre-registered for the vaccine. All are expected to get their shots by next week.

“I think it’s great progress, great vaccine coverage in our community,” Marentette said.

A total of 57,234 vaccine doses had been administered as of Friday morning, including 11,921 people who have received both shots.

Twenty-nine new infections were reported Friday. Six are close contacts of confirmed cases, and three are related to outbreaks. Two were acquired in the community, and 18 are still being investigated.

There are 11 outbreaks — five in workplaces, four in the community and two in long-term care and retirement homes.

Twenty-one people with COVID-19 were in hospital, four in intensive care.

Forty-one cases have been identified as one of the more contagious, potentially more lethal, virus variants.

There have been 401 deaths in the region due to COVID-19. No new deaths were reported Friday.

There have been a total of 13,534 COVID-19 cases in Windsor-Essex since the first case a year ago Saturday. As of Friday, 279 cases are active.

Cases and hospital admissions in Ontario overall have been rising, evidence that a third wave is starting.

But cases in Windsor-Essex are steady, though high, and hospital admissions are decreasing.

“Our numbers have plateaued but still remain high, similar to what we’ve seen in the first wave,” health unit epidemiologist Ramsey D’Souza said during the weekly case summary.

Article content

There are about 30 cases a day, he said. Fewer people ages 80 and older are being infected.

“This can potentially be attributed to the vaccine rollout,” D’Souza said.

The number of deaths has decreased “dramatically,” he said. Friday was the third straight day with no deaths reported.

The most recent seven-day case rate is 46.5 cases per 100,000 population. The percentage of tests that are positive is 2.7 per cent, up from 2.4 per cent last week. And the reproduction number or average number of people who will contract the virus from an infected person, is 0.9, down from last week, though it fluctuates.

Most new cases are close contacts of confirmed cases or were acquired in the community.

The region will remain in the red zone of Ontario’s colour-coded system of public health restrictions.

ajarvis@postmedia.com