THUNDER BAY – Mayor Bill Mauro said it’s a great sign that more than 40 per cent of those 16 and older living in the District of Thunder Bay have gotten a vaccine.
However, the city and surrounding communities aren’t out of the COVID-19 woods just yet.
The 64-year-old on Friday joined the growing number of local residents who have received at least one vaccination, but cautioned the public not to let down their guard just yet.
“We’re still concerned, I think, as a community, as a province and as a country with the variants of concern here. We know they’re more infectious and we know that the illness resulting from the variants can be more severe,” Mauro said on Friday, outside the Thunder Bay District Health Unit’s clinic at the Canadian Lakehead Exhibition’s Coliseum building.
“I think that we’re all encouraged by more vaccines becoming available by a larger percentage of the population becoming vaccinated. But I think we still need to be sure to remind people to please be cautious and adhere to the public health guidelines because we still need to wrestle this piece to the ground.”
Thunder Bay, like the rest of Ontario, is midway through a province-wide shutdown, facing continued restrictions on businesses and school and a pause on most outdoor recreational activities.
Because Thunder Bay is in such a good spot – there was just one new case announced on Friday and the seven-day, per-100,000 count is about 31, well beneath the threshold to return to Orange under the provincial colour-coded framework.
Unlike parts of southern Ontario, the city and district are doing quite well when it comes to case counts, with vaccine supplies being diverted to help hot spots in other parts of the province.
While Mauro said he’s not had any recent talks with the province about returning the city to the framework using a regional approach, he maintained the signs the government is sending suggest that likely should be the case.
The mayor recently asked council to support a motion against the closure of many outdoor amenities, including golf courses, and another to support equitable distribution of vaccines.
“If you don’t think we need as many vaccines as the rest of the province, to me that’s sending the signal that we’re at less risk and they should consider a regional reopening, certainly at least on the outdoor amenities and recreational activities,” Mauro said.
The stay-at-home order in Ontario is expected to be in place until at least May 20.
Thunder Bay has been under a lockdown or stay-at-home order since early March.
