Niagara to expand vaccination program
More than 20,000 doses delivered across region, health system reports
Niagara Health is ready to move on to its next phase of COVID-19 vaccinations.
It announced Friday that over the next several months, the list of recipients will be expanded to include health-care providers designated by the province as either highest priority, or very high priority.
The first group includes medical first responders, such as police, paramedics and firefighters; community health-care workers who serve Indigenous populations; and community health staff who deal with specialized populations like needle exchange and home- and community-care.
Those considered very high priority are community health workers with high risk of exposure to COVID-19, such as primary care, dentistry, pharmacies, walk-in clinic staff and community-based specialists.
Also included are workers in congregate-care settings like hospices, correctional services, shelters and assisted living; and laboratory services.
Those vaccinations will be done by appointment only, at Niagara Health’s temporary clinic at Seymour-hannah Sports and Entertainment Centre in St. Catharines.
Niagara Health said those eligible to receive the vaccinations will be contacted to arrange a time and date.
So far across the region, staff from either Niagara Health or
Niagara Region Public Health have provided 20,265 vaccinations to residents and staff at all long-term care homes, retirement homes designated by the province as high-risk, and for essential caregivers and some hospital staff and doctors.
While Niagara Health continues with its plan, the public health department has said it will continue to deliver vaccinations and won’t wait for the province’s online booking website to be ready on March 15.
As directed by the provincial government, the next group of people to receive their shots are those age 80 and older.
“The last thing anyone needs is vaccine sitting in freezers instead of going into arms,” said acting medical officer of health Dr. Mustafa Hirji, in an interview Wednesday. “When we have vaccine available to begin with the over 80 groups, we are going to do that.”
Niagara Health’s announcement followed word earlier in the day that Canada has approved a third vaccine, manufactured by Astrazeneca, and will receive 20 million doses over the next few months.
Meanwhile Friday, there were 21 new COVID-19 cases reported in Niagara.
According to Niagara Region Public Health, there have been 120 new cases in the past week, essentially unchanged from the 118 recorded in the seven days before that.
Also Friday, 256 active cases were reported.
Niagara’s caseload dropped sharply after peaking Jan. 16 at 1,330 cases, but that descent has slowed and nearly plateaued since the first week of February.
No new deaths were reported Friday. There have been at least 370 lives lost to COVID since last March, according to public health.
Fourteen outbreaks were reported across Niagara. Those include:
In Niagara Falls, at Chippawa Creek at Bella Care Residence (second and third floors);
In St. Catharines, at Linhaven nursing home’s Secord unit, Heidehof Home for the Aged, Tufford Manor retirement home and Garden City Manor;
In Niagara-on-the-lake at Niagara Long-term Care Residence (Pinery and Shaw wing, second floor) and in Fort Erie at Crescent Park Lodge.