With increasing numbers of Simcoe Muskoka residents vaccinated, the Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit (SMDHU) plans to discontinue its mass COVID-19 immunization clinics by the end of August.
People who have appointments booked after Aug. 27 will be notified and encouraged to move their appointments to an earlier date or attend a walk-in clinic.
COVID-19 vaccines will still be available to eligible residents via pharmacies, health care providers, and pop-up clinics.
To date, 78.3 per cent of adults in Muskoka have received a first dose of a vaccine, while 62.2 per cent of those 18-plus have received a second dose. In the 12-17 age group, the last to become eligible for a vaccine, 62 per cent have had a first dose and 30 per cent have received a second. Children under the age of 12 are not eligible for a COVID-19 vaccine.
“We anticipate that we will have reached all people who are readily coming out to receive their first and second dose by that time,” said Dr. Charles Gardner, SMDHU’s medical officer of health, in a briefing today. “We are on a trajectory to get to 75 per cent coverage by mid-August for a second dose…after that we really need to be focusing on those who have a harder time coming out to be immunized and those who are hesitant.”
This week, the health unit is launching a campaign called ‘Don’t Wait, Vaccinate’ to reach those who have been vaccine-hesitant, focused particularly on youth and young adults, men under the age of 40, and both racialized and lower-income neighbourhoods, noted Dr. Gardner.
Although COVID-19 cases have decreased significantly in recent weeks, there was a slight increase in overall cases across the region last week for the first time in more than three months.
Since the start of July, there have been three new cases reported in Huntsville, three in Lake of Bays, eight in Bracebridge, and four in Gravenhurst. No new cases were reported in Muskoka Lakes and Georgian Bay in July. Muskoka currently has three active cases.
“We don’t want [the rise in cases] to continue,” said Dr. Gardner. “We want that to come back down again and stay down again, and so it’s important that everybody abide by really key control measures [during the coming long weekend].” He advised people to continue to physically distance from others outside their own household, and noted that outside is safer for meeting with others than inside. Wearing masks where required and where physical distance can’t be maintained, and good hand hygiene are still important.
Dr. Gardner noted that Ontario’s chief medical officer of health is anticipating a rise in cases this fall due to the transmissibility of the delta variant as well as the seasonality of this virus. “I would agree…that we are going to see some degree of rise,” he said. “I think the question would be how much. I fully anticipate that those who are immunized are going to be much better protected, much less likely to become cases, but at this point in time we still have a substantial portion of our population that is unvaccinated and we of course have children under 12 that cannot get vaccinated. So that’s enough people who could become cases and transmit for us to have at least some degree of a surge.”
As a result of the pending closure of mass vaccination clinics and a reduction in case numbers, the health unit will be reducing the number of casual staff it had hired on contract to help with its COVID-19 response, including immunization, case and contact management, and outbreak response.
“I want to take this opportunity to publicly recognize all our employees; those who have been with us for a long time and those who joined us specifically to help with the COVID-19 response,” said Dr. Gardner. “I applaud their dedication and tremendous contributions in responding to the COVID-19 pandemic, and to helping the people of Simcoe Muskoka to be safe and healthy throughout this unprecedented health crisis.”
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