8 in 10 seniors 80+ vaccinated in Windsor-Essex: health unit

On the same day that vaccination appointments are opening to a new age group, the Windsor-Essex County Health Unit (WECHU) announced that the vast majority of people aged 80 and up are now vaccinated.

Theresa Marentette, CEO of WECHU, said 82.8 per cent of seniors in the region within that population have been vaccinated as of Monday.

"It's really pretty impressive and we're celebrating. That's quite good coverage right now," she said at the health unit's daily briefing on Tuesday.

The health unit expects to be finished with vaccinating everyone pre-registered in the 80-plus population by the end of the week.

Vaccination appointments will be available to people who are 75 and older as of noon, when registration opened up on the health unit's website. Those eligible can sign up here.

The WECHU website was temporarily down on Tuesday morning, with officials saying there was heavy traffic ahead of the opening of the portal.

The bookings are happening through a new system that, unlike the previous system, allows eligible people to book a vaccine appointment slot at one of the mass vaccination clinics. There are three in Windsor, one in Leamington and one opening up in Amherstburg by the end of the month. Vaccines for those 60 and over are also being offered at 57 local pharmacies through a provincial pilot project.

So far, 55,730 people in Windsor-Essex  — or about 13.9 per cent of the population — have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.

The health unit reported 21 new cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday.

Of these cases, four cases are close contacts of confirmed cases, one is related to an outbreak, two were community acquired, and four are under investigation.

There were no new COVID-19 deaths announced Tuesday, and overall 401 residents of Windsor-Essex have died from the illness. 

Twenty-one people are in hospital, including four in ICU.

There are currently 13 active outbreak, including a new outbreak declared at a school, W.F. Herman Academy.

Five community settings are in outbreak:

• The Welcome Centre.
• The Salvation Army.
• The Downtown Mission.
• Victoria Manor.
• South West Detention Centre.

Six workplaces are in outbreak:

• One in Kingsville's agriculture sector
• One in Essex's manufacturing sector.
• One in Tecumseh's manufacturing sector.
• One in Windsor's public administration sector.
• One in Windsor's retail sector.
• One in Windsor's repair and maintenance sector.

An outbreak is active at one long-term care or retirement facility, Leamington Mennonite Home, with one staff case.

COVID-19 in Chatham-Kent, Sarnia-Lambton

Lambton Public Health announced 17 new cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday. The total number of active cases stands at 220.

In Chatham-Kent there were eight new cases on Tuesday, and the current active case count is at 104. Ten people have died from COVID-19 in the municipality.