Public health completes first round of shots
Vaccine rollout moving from long-term-care homes to at-risk retirement homes
Niagara Region Public Health has nearly finished its first round of COVID-19 vaccinations in longterm-care homes and the process will soon move to at-risk retirement homes.
Dr. Mustafa Hirji, Niagara’s acting medical officer of health, said Thursday afternoon more than 96 per cent of local homes had been reached and he expected the residents of outstanding facilities by the end of the day.
The first round of Pfizer vaccines in Niagara are being directed to residents of long-term-care homes and high-risk retirement homes who have not been infected by the novel coronavirus.
“Those who have recovered have a degree of protection from the virus, so we are focused on those who do not have any,” Hirji said in an interview, noting the elderly are most at risk of serious illness and death from COVID-19.
Limits on the Pfizer vaccine supply — the result of Pfizer upgrading its manufacturing facilities in Europe — have meant a slowdown in current vaccinations across Canada.
Immunization of Niagara Health
staff has stopped to ensure people most at risk are vaccinated. The Pfizer vaccine is a two-dose series with the second shot to be administered about 21 days after the first one.
Vaccinations of people in high-risk groups that have been infected with COVID-19 will start after those who are unprotected have been immunized, provided there is enough supply.
According to public health data, nearly all Niagara longterm-care home residents who are eligible for the first round of vaccinations have got the shot. In most homes, more than 90 per cent of residents have received their first shot.
One notable exception is Oakwood Park Lodge in Niagara Falls — where more than 100 residents and 100 staff have been infected — where less than 30 per cent of residents have received the vaccine.
Hirji said there has been an unusually high level of resistance to getting the vaccine at the home, and he is unsure why that is the case.
In real figures, the number of residents declining to get vaccinated at Oakwood are low, Hirji said, in part because so many of their neighbours have been infected that comparatively few residents were eligible for the shot for this round of vaccinations.
The rate of COVID-19 related deaths in Niagara has been steadily rising for the past several weeks, with most deaths being among elderly residents of long-term-care homes.
Niagara has recorded at least 31 COVID-19 deaths in the past week, according to information released Thursday by public health.
By comparison, 65 Niagara residents with the virus died between March and October.
Since the start of the pandemic, at least 244 residents with COVID-19 have died.
There are 55 outbreaks, mostly in long-term-care homes but also a half-dozen in various hospital units across the Niagara region.
In its daily data update, the department reported 113 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the total number of active cases in the region to 1,585.
In total, there have been 6,995 cases of COVID-19 across Niagara.
At the current infection rate, the health department calculates that total will double in just over a month.