Despite the continued spread of COVID-19 and deaths still being reported, few people in Windsor-Essex are choosing to receive booster shots.
According to the Windsor Essex County Health Unit (WECHU), 47. 6 per cent of Windsor-Essex citizens had received their third dose, as of January 4. The absorption rate of the fourth dose is lower, with 19. 9 percent of citizens having received the vaccine.
Both totals are approximately 3 percentage points below the provincial average.
Windsor-Essex’s Interim Medical Officer of Health calls this “concerning. ”
“I recognize that we are now in the third year of the pandemic, but our way of managing the pandemic and COVID-19 is to minimize the burden of disease in the network,” said Dr. Shanker Nesathurai. “Getting vaccinated is a key component of trying to save it or reduce the burden of disease on the network as a whole. »
Nesathurai’s recommendation comes as a new, more contagious subvariant called XBB. 1. 5 is driving case numbers in the United States. Known as the “Kraken” variant, this subvariant causes about 28% of cases south of the border, according to the Centers. for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The US firm also says that Monroe County, Michigan, is experiencing peak levels of COVID-19.
Dr. Wassim Saad, leader of Windsor Regional Hospital (WRH), told a meeting of the hospital’s board of trustees on Thursday that he believes the “highly infectious and highly transmissible” subvariant of Omicron is already in Windsor.
“We are going to be one of the first areas in Canada to see a variant like this enter our community,” he said, citing Windsor being a border community.
Nesathurai said disease activity has accumulated in Windsor-Essex so far in January compared to the entire month of December. Signs of COVID-19, such as the number of cases, the percentage of positive cases, and the number of hospitalizations, are rising, and there have been six deaths. Nesathurai said disease activity tends to build up as winter progresses.
WECHU is aiming to drive up vaccination rates at pop-up clinics across the county. A clinic in Leamington saw people come out to receive their vaccinations.
“We are thrilled to welcome netpaintings for, in general, their booster shots,” said Laura Strathdee, director of clinical practice at Windsor Essex Community Health Center (weCHC) in Leamington. “We are looking to offer two weekend clinics a month so that vaccines are available to those who work Monday through Friday or want access on weekends. “
Migrant staff also arrived at the temporary clinic on Sunday on a bus at 11 a. m. Strathdee said he is looking to bring in busloads of migrant staff to get vaccinated every Sunday.
“We have a wonderful relationship with farms to vaccinate them,” he said. “We use language support, nurses and providers who speak your language so that we can do a wonderful job of answering all your questions. Doses in other countries don’t fit here, so it’s a little harder to locate what they need. Get it and get them on the right track here.
Some are happy to get the vaccines and recognize the importance of receiving them.
“It is very important to get vaccinated because the situation is getting worse in some regions and countries,” said Benjae Ondoy, a migrant employee from the Philippines.
Ondoy and his friends Bryan Tiamsim and Dave Amada, also from the Philippines, say the situation is getting worse in their country and say a vaccination card is required to enter some public places.
Journalist
TJ is a reporter for CBC North in Iqaluit and previously worked at CBC Windsor. He can be reached at tj. dhir@cbc. ca.
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