Casting a wider net for booster shots, Waterloo Region will begin giving third doses of vaccine to those over the age of 50 starting on Monday, provided it’s been at least six months since their second shot.
That extends a push to give third jabs to the higher-risk candidates, with the region reporting third doses have already been administered to 27,260 residents.
Booster doses are given at participating pharmacies, doctor’s offices and at regional vaccine clinics.
“With the recent increases in new cases and the emergence of the new Omicron variant the importance of vaccine as a significant strategy to fight the COVID-19 virus continues to grow. There are many appointments available at our regional vaccine clinics for first, second and third doses. A huge thank you to everyone in our community who have gotten theirs,” said Vickie Murray, director of pharmacy at Grand River and St. Mary’s hospitals, during the region’s weekly pandemic briefing on December 3.
At midweek, the region was reporting that 84 per cent of eligible residents – those over the age of 5 – had received at least one dose of vaccine, with 79.5 per cent fully inoculated. That number rises to more than 95 per cent for residents over the age of 70.
As winter approaches, public health officials expect the number of cases to rise, as was the case last winter.
“COVID-19 continues to circulate widely in our community. Our wastewater data has also been showing widespread presence of the virus,” said medical officer of health Dr. Hsiu-Li Wang.
The region was reporting 293 active cases at midweek, the highest number in a few months.
That’s up from 231 a week earlier. There are 14 active outbreaks, nine at schools and five at workplace facilities. There were 11 people hospitalized and three in ICU due to the virus.
Officials have yet to see a local case of the Omicron variant, and they remain confident the vaccine will provide protection should it appear in the community.
“A small number of cases have been identified so far in Ontario although no local cases have been identified; I would not be surprised to hear of identified cases in Waterloo Region. Even when cases are identified here, it is important to remember that we would not go back to ground-zero. We know what we can do to effectively slow the spread,” said Wang.
“We know some things about it and based on some preliminary findings in regard to the features of the variant itself and the mutations it has, it could be more transmissible, there could be a degree of vaccine escape. Those are kind of the two key things were worried about. There are things we can do that put as a step ahead for when Omicron arrives because the more community is vaccinated, the more the spread slows in the community, the more difficult it will be for Omicron to spread.”
In the likelihood the new variant may soon be seen in the community, Wang reminded residents to follow public health precautions, wear a mask, socially distance and get vaccinated. A high wall of protection is the best defence, she said.
