Adam Prudhomme
Editor
Half the adult population of KFLA is expected to have received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine by the end of the weekend.
That was one of the highlights during KFLA Public Health Medical Officer of Health Dr. Kieran Moore’s weekly call with local media on Friday.
Moore said the immunization rate coupled with a 1.13 per cent positive rate of all tests and a 29.6 case rate per 100,000 in the region are steps in the right direction.
“Relative to the rest of the province we’re doing well,” said Moore. “But certainly for us in KFLA and the south east (of Ontario) that is a high rate for us generally speaking.”
Moore says the region continues to see great interest from the population in receiving their vaccine.
“From an immune vantage point we have done really well, so 90 per cent of over 60 years in our community have taken advantage of first doses,” said Moore. “Have to thank everyone that’s participating in our immunization strategy, including primary care, pharmacies, and hospital partners. That’s a remarkable achievement and all those that have volunteered at our clinics and thank the community. When we have that high a rate of immunization, that just means that we’re closer and closer to having a re-opening safely and further protection in our community against this aggressive, nasty enemy.”
Moore says there are still openings available at vaccine clinics and encourages people to check www.KFLAPH.ca to register.
Appointments are now open to those 40 and older as well as those who can’t work from home with those in their 30s expected to have an opportunity to register by the end of next week.
“It’s anticipated that this will be dropping week by week,” said Moore. “We have some confidence that the government will make a decision on the week of May 17, likely on the Thursday, to drop the age band to 30 and then by the end of the month dropping it further so that anyone 18 and over can be offered a booking to get the vaccine.”
Typical wait times are two to three weeks after booking an appointment. Moore says the region continues to see a reliable chain of Pfizer vaccine being delivered weekly.
Following up with the Premier Doug Ford’s announcement on Thursday on vaccines for students, Moore said KFLA would be offering family immunization clinics for children age 12-17 the week of June 14.
“This only further protects our children,” said Moore. “It’s anticipated the government would like if you get immunized at one of this clinics in June, July and then August be called back probably mid August to get your second dose so that children from 12-17 would have full protection, full benefit of two doses for school re-opening in September.”
When asked if he expected to see a return to in-class learning by the end of this school year, Moore remains optimistic.
“I’m hopeful now that we’ve opened up immunization for teachers as well as special education service providers that they take advantage of vaccine availability,” said Moore. “I am hopeful. That decision is made by the Ministry of Education and will look at a number of factors including immunization rates, the rate of illness in the community and the safety by which we can open up. I do want to emphasized that we’ve had a terrific partnership with the school board, parents, teachers, the workers in schools and students and have had a very low transmission rate in our schools for the last year. Now with the increasing immunization rate that only gives me greater confidence that even if we opened up for June, do so safely.”
Moore said if schools do return, he expects it to be around June 2, with an announcement expected one week prior.
Commenting on the extended stay-at-home order, Moore said it would assist with keeping the community safe by discouraging travel-related transmission.
With nearly half the population now with at least one shot, Moore said they’re closer to lifting mandatory masking that has been in place since last summer.
“We’re not there yet,” Moore cautioned. “As you can see by our rates of illness we still have a transmission of the virus across KFLA. As a reminder we have cases in Tamworth, in Sydenham, in Napanee, Sharbot Lake and the risk is still high in our region. Even with one dose we absolutely have to do everything to adhere to best practices and follow the province order of staying home, wear your mask have good hand hygiene, get tested if you develop symptoms, even if you’ve been partially immunized with the one dose of vaccine. We will reassess as we have a higher percentage of our population that gets their two doses and we will monitor the level of risk in the community, the number of people that test positive and make a recommendation to the community and potentially lift our Section 22 order that mandates masking in businesses and in personal service settings once we have a high level of immunization, a low level of infection and confidence that we can do so safely and effectively.”
Moore did add that he’s confident if people continue to follow the best practices they can have a safe re-opening by June 2, adding it could be a phased re-opening with restrictions lifted on a weekly basis.
Heading into the weekend KFLA saw its third straight day of nine new COVID-19 cases reported. There were 12 recoveries to drop the active case in the region back down to double digits at 99. There were six new variants of concern reported. According to KFLA Public Health, since the start of 2021, variants of concerns account for 65 per cent of hospitalizations in the region.