Vaccine registration opening for people aged 75+ on Tuesday: WECHU

Another group will soon be eligible for COVID-19 vaccines in Windsor-Essex — people who are 75 and older.

The Windsor-Essex County Health Unit says registration for people in that age group will open on Tuesday, when the health unit switches to a different online booking system.

On Monday, a new vaccination site opened up for those who are 80 and older. It's at Windsor Hall, the former Windsor Star building on Ferry Street in downtown Windsor, now part of the university. The St. Clair College Sportsplex, which was previously open for vaccinations for other priority groups, is offering shots for the 80-plus population too.

Theresa Marentette, CEO of WECHU, said that people receiving vaccines will be eligible to ride Transit Windsor to their clinic for free under a new program.

"People using this service will be required to identify that they're travelling to or returning from a vaccination site to receive this free service," she said at the health unit's daily briefing.

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

In total, there are four clinics offering vaccinations by appointment: three in Windsor and one in Leamington. The health unit plans to open a fifth location a week from today at the Libro Centre in Amherstburg.

As well, the region is participating in a pharmacy pilot project for adults who are 60 and older.

The health unit is using its own registration system rather than the province's vaccination booking portal. Local online registration has been closed since Saturday while the health unit transitions to a new system.

The new system allows those booking appointments to pick their appointment slot and site.

Marentette said that the region will be using the local booking system for at least the next month.

 For other regions in Ontario using the provincial vaccine system, registration is available for those 75 and older as of Monday.

So far, more than 52,000 people in Windsor-Essex  — or around 13 per cent of the population — have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.

On the weekend, there were 61 new cases of COVID-19 reported in the region, and on Monday, the health Unit announced 11 new cases.

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 Monday and overall 401 residents of Windsor-Essex have died from the illness. 

Twenty-five people are in hospital, including five in ICU.

There are currently 13 active outbreaks spread across sectors. 

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

Sarnia-Lambton saw an increase of 40 new cases on Monday. There are now more than 243 in the region.

In Chatham-Kent, which entered the red level of COVID-19 restrictions on Monday, there were 38 new cases. The active case count stands at 103.