Over 15,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been administered in Windsor-Essex so far, but the region's top doctor says if there was a steady supply that many doses could be given out daily.
The Windsor Essex County Health Unit began administering second doses of the Moderna vaccine to long-term care home residents on Friday. At this time, the health unit is only administering second doses and is not vaccinating any new residents.
A new shipment of the Moderna vaccine is expected in the region this week. Once the health unit confirms the number of doses it gets, it will be able to determine if it can start to vaccinate more residents.
To date, 5,296 doses of the Moderna vaccine and 9,858 doses of the Pfizer vaccine have been administered.
According to the region's medical officer of health, if a greater supply of vaccines was available, the health unit and its health care partners throughout the community could vaccinate 10,000 -20,000 people a day.
“The only limiting factor right now is the supply of the vaccine and the responsibility to share and distribute these vaccines in a much more fair and equitable way and ethical way to the right people,” said Medical Officer of Health Dr. Wajid Ahmed.
Once the region receives a steady supply of vaccines, the health unit will start to prioritize adults receiving chronic home care, seniors over the age of 75, seniors 60-75, essential workers, and communities at risk.
During that stage, vaccines will be administered through primary health care providers, pharmacies, and targeted mass vaccination clinics.
On Monday, the health unit reported 60 new cases of COVID-19 in the region. There are now 629 active cases in the community. Of those, 73 are receiving treatment in hospital and 12 people in the intensive care unit.
The health unit is monitoring 40 active outbreaks in the community.
