THUNDER BAY - In an effort to curb the ongoing spread of COVID-19 in hotspot areas, the provincial government has revised its vaccine rollout strategy to target neighbourhoods and people most at risk.
With the number of COVID-19 cases in the district still on the decline, Dr. Janet DeMille, medical officer of health with the Thunder Bay District Health Unit, said she is expecting the number of doses available here will be reduced.
Last week, more than 7,300 vaccines were administered by the health unit’s vaccination clinic and partner organizations. DeMille said there will be a slight reduction in the number of Pfizer doses allocated to the district in the coming weeks and some Moderna shipments will be delayed. The number of anticipated doses this week is 6,500.
“We know there is a lot of people who really want to be vaccinated and coming forward. We have good capacity to deliver the vaccine,” DeMille said.
“What we may feel some pressure is around our vaccine supply. We are going to continue to get vaccines every week, but it might not be at the same level as the last couple of weeks, at least for the time being. We will continue to deliver a very good amount of vaccines, but maybe not quite at the 7,500 we were close to last week.”
As part of phase two of the provincial vaccine rollout, those aged 60 and over are eligible for the shot. Earlier this week, the health unit announced all available vaccine appointments have been filled and it will announce when more become available.
There are also four pharmacies in Thunder Bay administering the AstraZeneca vaccine to those over the age of 55. According to DeMille, the health unit is awaiting more information on the allocation of the AstraZeneca vaccine from the province but she anticipates more should be coming to the district.
The provincial government has recently stepped up its vaccination rollout in hotspot areas and neighbourhoods in southern Ontario most at risk.
DeMille said the Thunder Bay District was in a much different position a month ago when cases were surging and the city of Thunder Bay had one of the highest COVID-19 incident rates in the entire province.
“I think that was recognized and we were maintained at a higher level,” DeMIlle said regarding vaccine allocation.
“Now we are seeing a lot of pressure for increasing vaccination for parts of the province that are disproportionally impacted right now by COVID-19. I think the province is just navigating through that and managing some uncertainties around vaccine supply.”
DeMille added the health unit has vaccination clinics booked for the next few weeks and anticipates it will be able to move forward with all appointments.
