By Mike Renzella
The Haldimand Press
25% of Haldimand Norfolk still unvaccinated
HALDIMAND—With a large percentage of Haldimand County now vaccinated against COVID-19, the mass clinics in Delhi and Cayuga are preparing to close their doors, with plans for the local vaccine rollout to continue through doctor’s offices, pharmacies, and special community-based clinics to be deployed in smaller venues.
The clinic in Delhi will close on August 6, transitioning to a smaller clinic run out of the Vittoria Community Centre, while the arena in Cayuga will continue administering doses until around the Labour Day weekend, at which point the arena will transition back to Haldimand County: “I’m sure we’ll have some very happy hockey and figure skating people around our counties,” said COVID Vaccine Team Lead Sarah Page.
“(Vaccinations are) definitely ramping down. We’re going from our 10-12,000 a week down to 4-5,000 vaccinations,” said Page. She added on the vaccination rollout: “It makes me so proud how many people came together to make this happen and all the support we got from our community…. I appreciate those challenging our views and questioning what we’re doing and how we have rolled things out. We knew it was never going to be perfect. I think the team has done an amazing job and I think a part of me will miss it when it’s gone and I’m not sure if I will ever be this busy in my career; let’s knock on wood and hope not.”
Although the 120,000 doses administered in Haldimand Norfolk is a significant accomplishment, it still leaves a quarter of the population unprotected from COVID-19. Currently, about 65% of the 18-plus population has received both doses and an additional 10% has received one dose.
“We’ve completed that eager population who wanted to be vaccinated and now we’re looking at strategies to find those who haven’t been vaccinated yet. What barriers are they facing? What might be preventing them from accessing good information so that they understand why they should be vaccinated and how valuable that vaccine really is for them?” questioned Haldimand Norfolk Epidemiologist Dr. Katherine Bishop-Williams.
She continued, “Those who are unvaccinated are often inclined to be around others who are also unvaccinated. While you might not see the same level of community-wide outbreaks or shifts, you might see certain population groups where there is more likelihood of cases leading to small outbreaks or even larger ones. That drives home the message of how important it is for individuals to not just participate in the vaccine program themselves, but to encourage those around them to participate as well.”
In addition to mandates stipulating that long-term care employees must be vaccinated to continue working in those facilities, unless they have a medical exemption, many post-secondary schools across the country are mandating that returning students must be fully vaccinated before moving into a residence building and the Ontario Hockey League has made full vaccination a requirement for all players and staff prior to the start of the 2021-22 season.
HNHU is recommending school-by-school data be given to local school boards to give them an idea of vaccination rates amongst children aged 12 and up in any given school: “This gives us a better look at what back-to-school will look like, what measures in place will look like should there be a known case in a classroom. We’re really just trying to be as prepared as we can,” said Bishop-Williams.
“The statistics coming out of the United States right now should be looked at carefully,” added Page. “We are finding transmission between vaccinated and unvaccinated people. We know that is a thing that happens, but the unfortunate trend is that people who are fully vaccinated will very rarely have symptoms … (so they) can pass it on to people who aren’t able to be vaccinated for a medical reason.”
