Waterloo region hits 75% of eligible people vaccinated against COVID-19

Waterloo region has hit a new COVID-19 vaccination milestone: 75.04 per cent of people aged 12 and up have received both doses of the vaccine.

But, health officials say they still want to do more.

"The target truly is 100 per cent, right? That's what we would really want to see," said Vickie Murray, who is the director of pharmacy at Grand River Hospital and St. Mary's General Hospital in Kitchener. She's also the lead of operations for the vaccine distribution task force. 

"Our foot is still on the pedal. Yes, we've reached those provincial targets but we're not stopping. We're going to keep doing outreach we're going to keep working on goals and increasing our vaccination no matter what the target says.

Murray says the region is entering what the province has dubbed "the last mile" in the vaccine roll out. It means two mass vaccination clinics will close at the end of the day Friday, including the one in Wellesley and the one at the University of Waterloo Health Sciences Campus in downtown Kitchener, as they focus on more pop-ups and the vaccination bus, which has been going into high priority neighbourhoods.

She said there are approximately 35,000 people in the region eligible to get their second dose of the vaccine. Some people have appointments for September or even October, and Murray recommended those people move up their appointments to get the second dose as soon as possible.

She noted regional staff have emailed, texted and are now calling people to get them in for their second dose.

Expanded home visits, pop-ups in malls to come

Murray said the region is doing everything it can to make it easy for people to get their vaccine. Along with keeping two mass clinics open, one at Pinebush in Cambridge and one at The Boardwalk in Waterloo, which offer the vaccine on a walk-in basis, several pharmacies and family doctors also have the vaccine.

Starting on Monday the region will expand home visits as well to people unable to get out to a clinic, pharmacy or primary care. That includes people who can't leave their home for any reason, people or families who have missed opportunities to go to a pop-up clinic or vaccine bus, or people who have issues with transportation.

As well, people who want privacy or discretion in getting their vaccine.

"People will be able to order home-based vaccination by using a form link on the Region of Waterloo vaccine task force website. We are also working on plans to be able to provide this service for people by calling our Service First call centre so that technology does not act as a barrier to vaccine access," Murray said.

The phone number for Service First is: 519-575-4400.

Murray said pop-up clinics are also being planned at malls in hopes of giving younger people an easy opportunity to get their first or second doses.

"We hope that people will think back-to-school shopping and back-to-school vaccination go together," she said.

26 new cases

The region's medical officer of health, Dr. Hsiu-Li Wang, said case rates "remain relatively stable at this time" in the community.

Region of Waterloo Public Health reported 26 new cases of COVID-19 on Friday. There were no new deaths reported.

There were 147 active cases.

There were 17 people infectious with COVID-19 in the region's three hospitals, a rise of seven cases from Thursday. There were also 12 people in the intensive care unit. People in the ICU may not be infectious with COVID-19, but still required specialized care.

There were eight active outbreaks:

• Workplaces/Facility: Seven.
• Hospital: One.

Outbreak at church

There is one significant outbreak at Nazarene Christian Congregation at 448 Lancaster St. W in Kitchener where there were 25 cases reported, and Wang said more cases are expected. The outbreak is listed as a "workplace/facility."

Anyone who was at the church on Aug. 1 is considered a high-risk contact, Wang said.

Wang said there was factors at play in the outbreak that increased the risk at the church including a lack of masking and distancing while people were inside and "there was also singing, which increases the risk."

Wang encouraged everyone to get vaccinated as soon as they can to better protect those in the community, including children 11 and under, who cannot be vaccinated yet.

"Vaccination offers the best protection," Wang said. "Let's keep working together to protect ourselves, our loved ones and our community."