THUNDER BAY - The city of Thunder Bay is expected to receive more COVID-19 vaccine doses as cases in the district continue to surge.
Thunder Bay Mayor Bill Mauro spoke with the chief of staff with the Ministry of Health about the ongoing COVID-19 situation in the district. Mauro said the chief of staff did say the district will be receiving more doses of COVID-19 vaccine next week.
“The good news on the call is the chief of staff did commit Thunder Bay will be receiving more vaccine of the Moderna type,” Mauro said. “She couldn’t tell me for how long or how much more. But I would take away from that that is good news piece for Thunder Bay. I hope it is significant enough. It’s a recognition of the situation we have been in for three or four weeks. We are a hotspot by any other definition. That is what a grey lockdown is.”
The Thunder Bay District Health Unit reported 82 new COVID-19 cases on Friday, bringing the total number of active cases to 435.
The district has remained under the grey lockdown zone since Feb. 26 after the province switched back to its colour coded COVID-19 response framework following the lifting of the province-wide stay-at-home order.
There have been calls online to label the city of Thunder Bay as a COVID-19 hotspot and hopes that the city would be included in plans to rollout the newly approved AstraZeneca vaccine to pharmacies in some regions of Ontario for people between the ages of 60 and 65.
Mauro said he asked the chief of staff about the hotspot designation and the AstraZeneca vaccine distribution.
“I said we are in grey, we are in lockdown, that to me is a hotspot and we need your assistance in a number of ways,” Mauro said. “I was told that these regions were chosen based primarily on their ability to get the vaccine out as quickly and efficiently as possible because of the vaccines expiry date of April 2."
Mauro added he was told that because of the small numbers of AstraZenica vaccine available, the Ministry of Health didn't see the particular batch of the vaccine as valuable in stemming a surge seen in Thunder Bay. If more doses of AstraZeneca vaccine become available, the chief of staff said the city will be considered
In terms of the hotspot designation, the chief of staff explained it is related to systemic issues associated with geographic regions. For example, having the same capacity to manage isolation.
“Getting the larger doses of vaccine is what we want, whether it’s from the AstraZeneca or Moderna,” Mauro said. “So at the end of the day it will be good news for the city.”
But just because more COVID-19 vaccines are heading to the city, Mauro said it is not the time to breathe a sigh of relief.
“No, this isn’t about being at ease,” he said. “We are still in the thick of this. Our numbers are still high. We are still seeing that consistent pattern that tells us all very clearly that there is still community spread.”
“I do believe it’s important we continue to mask and wash our hands and physical distance. The issue is the community spread is so broad right now that the public health guideline piece has become more difficult to achieve.”
