Nearly 30% of Waterloo Region residents have had 1 shot of COVID-19 vaccine

Close to 30 per cent of Waterloo Region’s estimated 588,000 residents have now received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.

Waterloo Region’s vaccine distribution task force reported Thursday that 193,368 vaccinations have now been done in the area, 5,164 more than it reported a day earlier.

It says that 29.44 per cent of area residents have received a single dose of vaccine, a number that jumps to 38.14 per cent if you exclude those who are under the age of 18 and therefore ineligible to be vaccinated.

The goal is to get at least 75 per cent of the area’s population vaccinated, which would achieve herd immunity. Only 16,147 residents (2.47 per cent) have received two doses of COVID-19 vaccine.

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Waterloo Public Health reported 62 more positive tests for the coronavirus, lifting the total number of COVID-19 cases in the area to 14,131.

This is the third straight day the area has had 70 or fewer new cases, dropping the rolling seven-day average number of new cases to 77.7.

That number stood at 93 just five days ago.

There were also another 80 people who have been cleared of the virus, pushing the number of resolved cases up to 13,274.

This drops the number of active cases slightly down to 586.

There are now 58 people in area hospitals as a result of COVID-19 including 32 who are in need of intensive care.

There were 71 people reported to be in area hospitals on Wednesday.

The number of active COVID-19 outbreaks remains 29 after new outbreaks were declared at a warehouse and at a trades site, while others came to an end in office and congregate settings.

There are now 15 cases connected to an outbreak at an unnamed manufacturing plant and 24 to an unnamed food processing plant.

Although both now have surpassed the 15-case threshold Waterloo Public Health said it would use to name active outbreaks, they have not been named as they do not meet at least one of the other marks, which include having at least 20 employees or customers or a 15 per cent transmission rate.

Ontario is reporting 3,682 new COVID-19 cases on Thursday. The provincial total now stands at 432,805.

Thursday’s case count has dipped back below 4,000 after Wednesday recorded 4,212 new infections. On Tuesday, 3,469 new cases were recorded but prior to that, cases were above 4,000 for the previous six days.

According to Thursday’s report, 1,131 cases were recorded in Toronto, 507 in Peel Region, 436 in York Region, 279 in Ottawa and 200 in Durham Region.

All other local public health units reported fewer than 200 new cases in the provincial report.

The death toll in the province has risen to 7,829 as 40 more deaths were recorded, a third wave high.

—With files from Global News’ Gabby Rodrigues