THUNDER BAY - Those aged 50 and over can soon book a vaccine as the number of doses coming into the region is expected to increase in the coming weeks.
The provincial government announced that the age eligibility to book a COVID-19 vaccine through the province’s online booking system will be lowered to 50 and over starting Thursday, May 6 at 8 a.m.
According to Dr. Janet DeMille, medical officer of health with the Thunder Bay District Health Unit, there will continue to be some fluctuations in the number of available doses in the next two weeks, but shipments will be increasing.
“Overall we are expecting more Pfizer to come into our area starting in the middle of May and going right into June,” she said. “If our numbers do decline a little bit like last week and this week we will see them go up at that time.”
Last week, the health unit and partnering organizations, administered 7,179 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, which was down 1,231 from the week prior.
Vaccine shipments have been diverted to hotspot areas in southern Ontario, which are receiving 50 per cent of the allocation for two weeks in an effort to curb community spread.
DeMille said while there is some vaccine hesitancy in the district, which is to be expected, but local clinics are continuing to fill up.
“We have heard there are some people who do have some questions about the vaccine and I think people need to have their questions answered,” she said.
“People have legitimate questions and I think that may make them feel a little hesitant. I think going to a credible source for that information is helpful and I would encourage people to do that. I don’t think we are seeing a lot of that hesitancy at this time, but we will working on that now and going forward into the future.”
There has also been some concern raised over mixed messaging on vaccines that are available after the National Advisory Committee on Immunizations said on Tuesday that viral vector vaccines like AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson are not preferred and those not in a high risk area could wait to receive the Pfizer or Moderna shot.
But DeMille reiterated, along with other public health officials including chief public health officer Dr. Theresa Tam, that all vaccines administered in Canada go through a rigorous screening process and are safe for use.
“I think the messaging is a bit challenging. I think the way it came out the other day may not be helpful,” she said of the NACI statements. “I am encouraging people to get the first vaccine that is available to them. We know that COVID and the risks associated with COVID to an individual or their family are much higher than the risk of any vaccine.”
Individuals who are received a first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine are also being reminded that they are still susceptible to contracting the virus.
DeMille said there have been instances in the district of people receiving a dose of the vaccine and then contracting COVID-19 when the case count was much higher in March and April.
“Whenever anyone has developed COVID after having received a vaccine, we do provide that information for analysis to Public Health Ontario,” she said.
“They were able to do some analysis and follow up to see the timing and such. We do know after about 10 days after receiving the first vaccine that the infections of COVID occurring after that drop dramatically. It seems like in the first week, if people are exposed to COVID, they are still at risk of getting sick.”
And as more people continue to receive the vaccine, the safer the community will become, which will in turn lead to more businesses and services reopening safely.
There is still no indication if the province will return to a regional approach to reopening given some health units are reporting declining case numbers, but DeMille said those discussions are ongoing.
“Because more health units, especially the smaller ones are seeing a decline in cases, those discussions are being reinitiated and what needs to be updated or changed with the variants of concern,” she said.
“Also rising rates of immunizations, there are more opportunities around that. Discussions are happening but nothing I can speak too concretely.”