The Municipality of Chatham-Kent and Lambton County each received their first batches of the COVID-19 vaccine on Monday, January 25, 2021.
Looking back exactly one year, on January 25, 2020, the first COVID-19 case was confirmed in Canada.
Meanwhile, the Province of Ontario has released new information about their COVID-19 vaccine rollout plan.
Vaccines arrive locally
Calling it an “exciting day and a major turning point in the pandemic”, CK Public Health officials announced on Monday afternoon that the first individuals in Chatham-Kent were vaccinated for the COVID-19 virus.
The first shipment of the vaccine arrived in Chatham-Kent on Monday morning and by 2:12 p.m., the first dose in Chatham-Kent was given.
Bill Breedon, a resident at Riverview Gardens in Chatham, was the first resident to receive the vaccine.
More details from CK Public Health can be found, here.
Lambton Public Health also announced on Monday they received its first doses of the COVID-19 vaccine.
Residents of long-term care homes and high-risk retirement homes in Lambton County will begin to receive immunizations on Tuesday, January 26, 2021, Lambton Public Health officials added.
More details from Lambton Public Health can be found, here.
Updated vaccine rollout plan announced in Ontario
The Ontario government is accelerating the vaccination of residents in long-term care, high-risk retirement, and First Nations elder care homes by a new target date of February 5, 2021, Provincial officials announced on Monday, Jnaury 25, 2021.
To protect access to second doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for those who have already received their first dose, Ontario will maintain the maximum interval of 21-27 days for long-term care, retirement and First Nations elder care home resident groups and up to 42 days between the two doses for all other groups, Provincial officials say.
These adjustments are being made following notification by the federal government of reductions in Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine shipments.
Details were provided on Monday by Premier Doug Ford, Christine Elliott, Deputy Premier and Minister of Health, Solicitor General Sylvia Jones, and General Rick Hillier (retired), Chair of the COVID-19 Vaccine Distribution Task Force.
“Due to the delay in the next shipment of Pfizer vaccine doses, we are ensuring all available supplies are redirected to those who need them most: our residents in long-term care and retirement homes,” said Premier Ford in a media release.
“I know this will mean that some people may have to reschedule their vaccine appointments, but it is critical that our most vulnerable seniors receive the protection they need as soon as possible.”
On January 19, 2021, the federal government notified the province of further reductions in Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine shipments.
Ontario will not receive vaccine deliveries for the week of January 25, 2021 and will receive just over 26,000 doses for the first weeks of February.
As of Monday, Ontario has not been provided its allocation for the weeks of February 8, 2021 and February 15, 2021, creating further uncertainty for the province’s vaccine rollout, Provincial officials added.
In response to the significant reduction in distribution by the federal government and the uncertainty of future shipments, the province and vaccination sites have worked together to develop a plan to accelerate vaccination of the province’s most vulnerable.
Second doses will continue to be administered based on availability of supply provided by the federal government.
Actions being taken include:
– Accelerate vaccination of the most vulnerable populations across Ontario with the goal of visiting each home in the province to administer first doses by February 5, 2021, pending week of February 1, 2021 delivery dates.
– Doses of the Moderna vaccine will be reallocated to 14 public health units to ensure vaccines are administered at each long-term care home in the province.
“Despite ongoing challenges with supply, together with our partners, we continue to vaccinate our most vulnerable as quickly as possible, and we continue to be ready to administer vaccines to Ontarians as soon as we receive them from the federal government,” said Minister Elliott.
“Until there is sufficient supply to vaccinate every Ontarian who wants to receive one, we continue to urge everyone to stay home and continue to follow public health measures.”
Provincial officials say Ontario’s initiative to vaccinate northern, remote First Nations communities will also continue.
To date, 760 doses have been delivered by Ornge to Sioux Lookout, with 568 doses administered by Sioux Lookout Meno Ya Win Health Centre and 45 doses administered by Sioux Lookout First Nations Health Authority (SLFNHA).
Ornge has also delivered 680 doses to communities across James Bay Coast, with 575 doses administered or scheduled to be administered to remote fly-in First Nations communities, including 100 staff at Weeneebayko Area Health Authority (WAHA) vaccinated with a first dose.
In February, Ornge will lead Operation Remote Immunity, to rollout the vaccine to 31 fly-in communities.
“We are working diligently with our partners to ensure vaccines continue to reach our Phase 1 priority populations, despite limited supplies from the Federal Government,” said Solicitor General Sylvia Jones in a media release.
“It is critical that Ontarians continue to follow public health measures to ensure we limit the spread of COVID-19 and keep our communities safe.”
The government is ready to administer the COVID-19 vaccine and expand the number of vaccination sites as soon as doses are received.
Ontario has capacity to vaccinate nearly 40,000 people per day and is building capacity to triple or quadruple that capacity pending federal government supply, Provincial officials say.
“We continue to push forward with our vaccination efforts across the province to ensure our frontline health care workers, remote First Nations and vulnerable populations are protected,” said General (Ret’d) Rick Hillier.
“We will be ready to ramp up our efforts once again when more doses become available.”
Also on Monday, the government extended the declared provincial emergency for another 14 days.
The declaration of emergency made under section 7.0.1 of the Emergency Management and Civil Protection Act (EMCPA), originally declared on January 12, 2021, will now expire on February 9, 2021, unless extended further.
All orders under the EMCPA, including O. Reg 11/21 (Stay-at-Home Order), O. Reg 8/21 (Enforcement of COVID-19 Measures) and O. Reg 13/21 (Residential Evictions) were also extended.
Orders under the Reopening Ontario Act (ROA) continue to be in force, Provincial officials say.
As of January 25 at 10 a.m., over 287,000 vaccine doses have been administered across the province, including over 80,000 doses administered to long-term care staff and retirement home staff, over 114,000 doses administered to health care workers and over 68,000 doses administered to long-term care and retirement home residents, Provincial officials added.
One year anniversary of the first COVID-19 case in Canada
Known at the time as the “Wuhan novel coronavirus”, the first case of COVID-19 was confirmed exactly one year ago.
Read our original story, here.
“It’s been one year since the first case of COVID-19 was confirmed in Canada, and I know the past 12 months haven’t been easy,” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on social media.
“I want you to know that we’re going to continue to do whatever it takes to keep you safe. Whether you’re looking for financial support or mental health resources, there’s help available for you.”
Trudeau added: “We’ve started rolling out vaccines, and more are on the way. That’s good news, and that means better days are coming. But that doesn’t mean we can let our guards down yet. We have to keep doing what we’ve been doing – so wear your mask, wash your hands, keep your distance, and use the COVID Alert app. We’ll get through this together.”
Premier Doug Ford and Christine Elliott, Deputy Premier and Minister of Health, issued a statement on Monday to mark one year since the first case of COVID-19 in Canada, and also Ontario, was confirmed on January 25, 2020.
“A year ago today, we were presented with one of the most difficult challenges in our history with the confirmation of the first case of COVID-19 in Ontario,” Ford and Elliott stated.
“The rapid spread of the virus through the province, the country and around the world would lead the World Health Organization to declare COVID-19 a global pandemic in March 2020. Since then, Ontario has tragically lost 5,846 lives to this deadly virus. We mourn the passing of each and every person and offer our deepest condolences to their families, friends and colleagues.”
Ford and Elliott added: “Since the start of the pandemic, the health and safety of Ontarians has been and remains our government’s top priority. We were one of the first provinces to declare an emergency in response to COVID-19 to protect individuals, families and workers.”
Until vaccines are widely available, Ford and Elliott said they are urging all Ontarians to continue to follow all public health advice.
“Simply put, we must all continue to stay home, stay safe, and save lives. By supporting one another, we will persevere, and we will get through this pandemic together.”
