Half of Ottawa adults aged 18 and older have now received two doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, according to the city’s mayor.
Jim Watson tweeted that Ottawa hit the milestone in its vaccination campaign on Thursday afternoon.
Earlier this week, the city’s vaccination update showed 45 per cent of eligible residents aged 12 and older having received both doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, while 80 per cent have received at least one shot.
Watson’s video stated that almost 1.2 million vaccine appointments have so far been booked in the city. He called on residents to “encourage a friend to get vaccinated.”
Meanwhile, key metrics in Ottawa’s efforts to contain the pandemic are holding steady this week, according to Thursday’s update from the local public health unit.
Ottawa Public Health reported seven new cases of the virus on Thursday but no new deaths related to COVID-19.
Active cases of the virus rose slightly to 44 in the latest report, but the past week had seen this figure hover between 40 and 50 cases.
Two people are in hospital with COVID-19 locally as well, but neither is in the intensive care unit.
Both The Ottawa Hospital and the Queensway Carleton Hospital announced Thursday that there are no active COVID-19 cases amongst their patients.
The Ottawa Hospital said in a statement that the absence of COVID-19 patients in its wards marks a significant drop from the 82 patients with the virus as of May 3, which marked the peak of the pandemic at the local institution.
There’s only one ongoing COVID-19 outbreak in Ottawa. It affects an unnamed shelter where four clients have tested positive for the virus.