HUNDREDS LINE UP FOR SECOND BOOSTER SHOT IN BRACEBRIDGE TODAY

Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com

SIMCOE-MUSKOKA — Hundreds lined up for second booster shots today at the Sportsplex in Bracebridge as the sixth wave of COVID grows.

As yellow school buses left the high school next door — at mid-afternoon — they circled the Green GO Vax bus in the sunny parking lot, which still had a line-up of people for the walk-in clinic on till 6 p.m.

“You should have been here a couple of hours ago,” said volunteers and security guards.

“There were 200 or more” and “they were lined up all around the bus.”

Most were 60+, like Ross and Judy Watt, of Kilworthy, who thought it was a great day to get out and get a “fourth jab,” he said.

Judy is anxious to get their second booster because she’s been instructing inside all winter online. And she has to be vaccinated to get back into the classroom at Georgian College next fall where she teaches business, computers and aviation courses.

They said they don’t care which vaccine is offered, Moderna or Pfizer — they’ve had a mix of both of them.

They just appreciated getting vaccinated as soon as possible. She’s 62 and he’s 64.

Not all those in line were walk-ins or who had appointments.

Heather Fernandez, of Bracebridge, brought along her two teenage sons, Alan, 16, and Antonio, 13.

They boys got their vaccines last summer and were getting their first booster shots.

Mom already has hers.

This as Dr. Charles Gardner said this afternoon that Simcoe-Muskoka’s case count remains above the provincial average.

In the past week, April 3-9, the region saw 1,284 reported cases, which was up 17 per cent from last week at 1,095 cases.

Those numbers are just among settings that the Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit (SMDHU) monitors. It does not take in to account all of the cases that may be unreported in other public settings or by residents.

Gardner said “We won’t see the great majority of cases, because they’re not tested with rapid antigen tests and therefore entered in to the provincial laboratory reporting system to local public health. It’s really incumbent on people to do what they can to reduce risk in the first place if they develop symptoms and identify if they qualify to be tested.

“And what’s really important is for those who qualify to be tested, to go to an assessment centre, because there is treatment now. Paxlovid (Pfizer’s antiviral pill regimen) can greatly reduce the risk of severity for those who are high risk.”

He added that people may have COVID without symptoms after having come in contact with a confirmed cases.

Over the past two weeks cases are up 79 per cent Gardner said. That’s the most since Jan. 23.

The health unit reports 208 cases per 100,000 population per week now, compared to 148 provincially.

In the past week 16 per were unvaccinated, 83 per cent two or more vaccinations.

But, he noted, 57 per cent of cases were fully vaccinated.

As well, the local positivity rate now is 20.02 per cent, up 4 per cent from last week. Ontario’s rate is 19.4 per cent.

Gardner said anything above 3 per cent is “certainly very concerning.”

Hospitalizations, too, are up to 22 from 17 two weeks ago.

However, only 3 people are in ICU, which is unchanged over that time.

Gardner said “Although we are seeing a sharp rise in transmission, we’re not yet seeing a sharp rise in hospitalization or ICU admission.”

He said “That does tend to lag, so you’ll see a rise in transmission in the community before you will see whatever rise occurs in severity you see in hospitalization. You’ll see that delayed in the range of two weeks.”

Those currently in hospital are aged in their 40s to 90s and all live in Simcoe County. Fourteen per cent were unimmunized, 41 per cent had two doses or more and 45 per cent had three doses.

There have been on average 5 deaths per week since Feb. 27, totalling now 439.

Nine of them have been the past two weeks — including 1 in Muskoka. Two were unvaccinated, 3 had two doses and 4 had booster shots. They were aged 50s to 90s.

Back on vaccine, 86 per cent the population 5+ have had one vaccine, 83 per cent have had two doses.

But only 50 per cent of the eligible population have had third booster shots.

Fourth shots, available to the general public as of last Thursday now total 8,080. (LTC residents have already received them).

Over three days, April 8-10, there were 1,674 fourth doses administered — more than half of them dispensed at pharmacies.

Of kids 5-11 there are now 49 per cent have received their first vaccination — 348 from April 8-10.

The medical officer of health doesn’t foresee any return to community vaccination clinics at this point for fourth doses — but could meet further demand within their own offices.

Gardner notes that wastewater surveillance shows that in central-east Ontario test numbers exceed what they were in at the height of the fifth wave.

That includes monitoring sites in Barrie, Orillia and Midland where numbers are also up the past week. Collingwood, too, has had some spikes that are difficult to interpret.

Gardner added that he has been informed by hospital administration in Simcoe-Muskoka that there is a “high degree of staff illness related to COVID-19 and that is proving to be challenging to them at this time and that it is important for the public to be aware of that.”

He said “It’s another reason why we all need to do what we can with a multi-layered approach to protect those around us to reduce transmission overall.”

Gardner, who said he’d personally like to have seen the province hold off on lifting the mask mandate, says today he’d also prefer it were still in place now.

He said other medical officers of health he’s been in contact with agree with him.

So going in Easter and other holidays he encouraged people to be vigilant as in the past and take precautions to prevent the spread at home and beyond your household.

Remote connection and outdoors is always safest. But if indoors maintain your distance and keep windows open.

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