COVID-19: Almost 35 per cent of Waterloo Region residents have received a dose of vaccine

Waterloo Region’s COVID-19 vaccine distribution task force reported there have now been 220,629 vaccinations completed in the area, 4,506 more than it reported a day earlier.

There were actually 4,157 vaccinations completed on Thursday, with the remainder being past unreported cases.

This means that 34.65 per cent of the region’s estimated population of 588,878 has now received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.

Only 16,600 people have received two doses of a COVID-19 vaccine to date, representing 2.85 per cent of the population.

Waterloo Public Health reported another 54 positive tests for the coronavirus on Thursday, lifting the total number of cases in the area to 14,621.

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The rolling seven-day average number of new daily cases continues its downward descent as it now sits at 60.

Another 59 people were cleared of the virus, pushing the total number of resolved cases to 13,853.

For the second straight day, no new COVID-19-related deaths were reported in the area, leaving the death toll at 253, with just one of those coming over the first week of May.

The area is now down to 498 active COVID-19 cases, its lowest number since April 11, when the total stood at 475.

There are now 52 people in area hospitals as a result of the virus, including 37 who are in intensive care.

A number of those are from outside of the region as all of the hospitals have accepted multiple patients over the past couple of weeks.

The region is now down to 13 active outbreaks as its longest, at a food processing plant, has been declared over.

However, the Ministry of Health noted that “due to a technical issue with the laboratory data feed, today’s case count may be underreported for the Central East, Central West and Toronto regions.”