Ontario reported another 3,056 COVID-19 cases and 51 more deaths Saturday as the province announced plans to account for a temporary cut to vaccine deliveries from manufacturer Pfizer beginning later this month.
The seven-day average for new cases fell slightly to 3,218 cases daily, or 155 weekly per 100,000, according to the province’s latest report released Saturday morning. Ontario’s seven-day average for deaths rose to 59.7 daily, a record for the second wave.
Ontario’s reported infection rate is down somewhat this week while the rate of fatal cases continues to near the highest levels seen so far — that daily average is just shy of the province’s worst period in the first wave in early May, when it hit nearly 62 deaths daily.
Ontario has administered 14,460 more doses of the vaccine since its last daily update, with 189,090 vaccines given in total as of 8 p.m. the previous night. The province also says 19,333 people have completed their vaccinations, which means they have had both shots.
On Saturday, Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. David Williams said the province will delay giving second doses of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine to some patients after the pharmaceutical giant announced a production delay will cut deliveries to Canada by half early next month.
On Friday, Pfizer said it was cutting promised vaccine deliveries to several countries, including Canada, amid efforts to expand a production facility in Belgium. The move means that in the week of Jan. 25, Canada will see deliveries fall to about a quarter of the more than 200,000 doses it had expected, and to about half the schedule in early February.
Staff and residents of long-term-care homes and high-risk retirement homes who have already received their first doses of the Pfizer-BioNtech COVID-19 vaccine will receive their second dose within 27 days, Williams said in a statement. Everyone else who has been given their first dose will now get their booster shot between 21 and 42 days later, he said.
Anyone receiving does of the vaccine produced by Moderna will still get their second shot at the existing schedule of 28 days, Williams said.
There are 1,632 people currently hospitalized with COVID-19 in the province, including 397 patients in intensive care. There are 281 people on ventilators.
Locally, Health Minister Christine Elliott says 903 new cases are in Toronto, 639 in Peel, 283 in York Region, 162 in Durham and 152 in Ottawa.
Meanwhile, 27 more residents in long-term care have died for a total of 3,112 since the pandemic began, in the latest report released by the province.
Ontario is reporting three more LTC homes in outbreak, for a total of 246.
There are 90 more active positive cases among residents than the previous day for a total of 13,104.
Additionally, there are 65 more staff members with an active case, for a total of 5,134.
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Since the pandemic began, 10 staff members in Ontario’s long-term care homes have died due to the virus, according to the province.
This data is self-reported by the long-term care homes to the Ministry of Long-Term Care. Daily case and death figures may not immediately match the numbers posted by the local public health units due to lags in reporting time.
