Waterloo Region says a first round of COVID-19 vaccines have now been administered to all local long-term care and retirement home residents in the area.
“I am incredibly proud of the work of our partners in vaccinating residents as quickly as possible,” Waterloo Regional Police deputy chief Shirley Hilton said in a statement. She is heading up the region’s distribution task force.
On Monday, it was announced that the vaccine supply had been reduced and the region says the focus will be on providing second doses to those who have been vaccinated, as well as inoculating those patients in hospital waiting for transfer to hospital or retirement home settings.
“With information changing daily we are pivoting as quickly as we can and making the best decisions possible with the information we have at the time,” Hilton said.
The province also updated the timeline for when people needed to receive a second dose, which is now 21-27 days for long-term care and retirement home residents and no more than 42 days for others.
This is following a directive from the National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI) which said that in some cases, the dose interval could now be as long as 42 days.