More than 12,500 Waterloo Region kids aged 5-11 have had 1st dose of COVID-19 vaccine

More than 12,500 Waterloo Region children aged five to 11 have had their first jab of a COVID-19 vaccine since they were first handed out 11 days ago.

Waterloo Public Health says 26.62 per cent of area residents of that age group’s estimated 48,000 have had their initial dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.

This number increased by 8.5 per cent from Friday, with Waterloo Public Health no longer updating its totals over the weekend.

The agency says there have now been 941,742 vaccinations done in the area, which is 7,303 more than it reported on Friday.

However, the number of those getting their second dose continues to climb at a slow pace as that total now stands at 455,372, 569 more than was announced 72 hours prior.

This means that 75.24 per cent of all residents in the region have now had two doses of a COVID-19 vaccine.

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The youth vaccinations could not come at a more prudent time as there were a host of COVID-19 outbreaks announced at schools across Waterloo Region over the past few days.

There were five new outbreaks announced over the weekend with four of those coming at schools including Mary Johnston Public School in Waterloo, Sir Adam Beck Public School in Baden, Saint John Paul II School in Kitchener and Forest Glen Public School in New Hamburg. The fifth new outbreak was at an unnamed auto sales location.

In addition, Waterloo Public Health reported another 125 positive tests for the coronavirus on Monday, lifting the total number of COVID-19 cases in the area to 21,145.

This lifts the rolling seven-day average number of new daily cases up to 34.6. A week ago, that number was 24.7.

Another 70 people were also cleared of the virus, lifting the total number of resolved cases in the area to 20,549.

There have been no new deaths reported in the area in five days, leaving the death toll at 308, including one victim in December.

The region now has 282 active COVID-19 cases, the highest number that has been reported since July 12.

There are also 12 people in area hospitals, including two patients in need of intensive care.

Elsewhere, Ontario reported 887 new cases of COVID-19 on Monday, bringing the total case count in the province to 624,384.

Of the 887 new cases recorded, the data showed 373 were unvaccinated people, 24 were partially vaccinated people, 426 were fully vaccinated people and for 64 people the vaccination status was unknown.

According to Monday’s report, 139 cases were recorded in Toronto, 73 in Simcoe Muskoka, 60 in York Region, 60 in Peel Region and 55 in Ottawa. All other local public health units reported fewer than 50 new cases in the provincial report.

The death toll in the province now stands at 10,027 as three more deaths were reported.

—with files from Global News’ Jessica Patton