As of Thursday morning, 19.6 per cent of residents who are age 16-plus in Simcoe County and Muskoka have received their first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, the local health unit confirmed.
This amounts to a total of 102,437 people who have received their first dose.
The health unit also confirmed 3.7 per cent of Simcoe County and Muskoka residents age 16-plus have received both doses of the COVID-19 vaccine. This amounts to 19,288 people.
This past week, the health unit expanded its vaccine rollout to the beginning of Phase 2, which includes adults age 60 to 79; people with health conditions; residents, essential caregivers and staff of high-risk congregate settings; adults age 50-plus in hot spot communities; and essential workers.
Those who are age 60-plus are now able to book their COVID-19 vaccine online through the province’s online system.
Groups that are also available to pre-register for a vaccination include transplant recipients and some cancer patients who have received their first dose, Indigenous adults and their household members, adult recipients of chronic home care, health-care workers, essential caregivers of long-term care and retirement home residents, and faith leaders.
Most of the vaccine doses administered in the region have been the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.
More than 4,500 AstraZeneca vaccine doses have been administered by Simcoe Muskoka primary care teams, and more than 2,650 Moderna vaccine doses have also been administered.
“Eight-three per cent of adults here 80 and older have had a single dose of immunization and 62 per cent of those 75 to 79 received a single dose,” Dr. Charles Gardner, the Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit’s medical officer of health, said Wednesday.
“About 90 per cent of adults 70 and above have either received an immunization or they are booked to receive immunization.”
According to the health unit, 96 per cent of long-term care residents and 97 per cent of retirement home residents have received their first dose of the vaccine.
Of hospital staff, 68 per cent have had their first immunization, while 71 per cent of other health-care workers have had their first dose, Gardner said Wednesday.
“I encourage people to take the first vaccine that they can get, no matter what type it is,” Gardner said. “If you qualify for it and you get a booking for it, accept it.”