The COVID-19 pandemic

[tomh009]

WEDNESDAY 2021-06-23

Waterloo Region reported 64 new cases for today (11.6% of the active cases) and three more for yesterday for 45; 413 new cases for the week (-5 from yesterday, -40 from last week), averaging 10.9% of active cases. 521 active cases, +9 in the last seven days.

Next testing report on Friday.

8,337 doses of vaccine administered, with a seven-day average at 7,784 (previous week was 7,355). 60.62% of total regional population vaccinated (+0.16% from yesterday, +2.29% from 7 days ago), 16.45% fully vaccinated (+1.19% from yesterday, +6.40% from 7 days ago).

Ontario reported 255 new cases today with a seven-day average of 304 (-19). 460 recoveries and three deaths translated to a decrease of 216 active cases and a new total of 3,032. -1,630 active cases for the week and 53 deaths (eight per day).  27,364 tests with a positivity rate of 0.93%. The positivity rate is averaging 1.37% for the past seven days, compared to 2.13 for the preceding seven.

New case variants reported today (these are substantially delayed so they do not match the new case numbers):

• Alpha (B.1.1.7): 254
  
• Beta (B.1.351): 0
  
• Delta (B.1.617): 59
  
• Gamma (P.1): 7
  

305 patients in ICU (-9 today, -72 for the week). Overall hospital population, including ICU, is reported as 295 (-143), less than ICU alone. Something is rotten in the State of Denmark ...

227,318 doses of vaccine administered (a new daily record), with a seven-day average at 194,888 (previous week was 183,642). 66.24% of total provincial population vaccinated (+0.19% from yesterday, +1.49% from 7 days ago), 22.72% fully vaccinated (+1.35% from yesterday, +7.78% from 7 days ago).

• 53 cases in Waterloo: 8.6 per 100K (based on provincial reporting)
  
• 5 cases in Lambton: 3.8 per 100K
  
• 3 cases in Northwestern: 3.4 per 100K
  
• 11 cases in Niagara: 2.5 per 100K
  
• 6 cases in Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph: 2.2 per 100K
  
• 2 cases in Huron Perth: 2.0 per 100K
  
• 4 cases in Southwestern Ontario: 2.0 per 100K
  
• 8 cases in Middlesex-London: 2.0 per 100K
  
• 57 cases in Toronto: 1.9 per 100K
  
• 25 cases in Peel: 1.8 per 100K
  
• 14 cases in Ottawa: 1.4 per 100K
  
• 5 cases in Windsor-Essex: 1.3 per 100K
  
• 6 cases in Halton: 1.1 per 100K
  

[tomh009]

My wife called the Huron Crossing Pharmasave yesterday and got us appointments for our second doses the same day. It seems that these less well known pharmacies have a lot of supply. They weren't busy when we went in.

And some (like Queens Pharmacy) even allow walk-ins.

SDM allows you to quickly browse vaccine availability for nearby locations. For example, Conestoga Mall has AZ, while Brantford and Ingersoll have Moderna in stock.

Sobeys also has a search, and shows Moderna availability in Brantford, Stratford, Acton and Orangeville.

So, it should not be necessary to go all the way to the US for vaccination.

[jeffster]

My wife called the Huron Crossing Pharmasave yesterday and got us appointments for our second doses the same day. It seems that these less well known pharmacies have a lot of supply. They weren't busy when we went in.

Yes. Absolute truth. If one needs their first or second dose, they really need to avoid anything from the Region of Waterloo and simply try a pharmacy. Pharmacies will prioritize first doses as well. But getting my second dose so fast is impressive (Pharmasave on Strasburg and Ottawa).

Unsure why the region wasn't prepared with the site being hit hard today -- when I tried earlier, I didn't experience the issues some experienced (not getting through period), just the motor coach thing wasn't working (the CRA is doing the same thing now). That said, it seems that bookings for second dose are quite far in the future, so I am thankful that I didn't end up having to use it (then to cancel moments later).

I still think the province needs to take over the vaccination program in this region though. Todays numbers suggest that things are still not under control, at all.

[jeffster]

My wife called the Huron Crossing Pharmasave yesterday and got us appointments for our second doses the same day. It seems that these less well known pharmacies have a lot of supply. They weren't busy when we went in.

And some (like Queens Pharmacy) even allow walk-ins.

SDM allows you to quickly browse vaccine availability for nearby locations. For example, Conestoga Mall has AZ, while Brantford and Ingersoll have Moderna in stock.

Sobeys also has a search, and shows Moderna availability in Brantford, Stratford, Acton and Orangeville.

So, it should not be necessary to go all the way to the US for vaccination.

Yes, people need to start scouring for shots. Leave the region to take care of those without internet or struggles in English. I have some co-workers that used the regional site (plus registering with SDM, etc), but as for the region, everything is booked into the last week of July. That's too long.

[taylortbb]

If we honestly can’t look at our situation, and understand where we could have done better, then that’s a pride issue.

I'm not saying there aren't areas where we could have done better. I'm saying we didn't do any worse than the rest of the province, and the difference in case counts between here and Toronto is mostly chance (with a little bit of Toronto getting vaccine priority from the province).

my first thought would have been to have several locations, especially in hot zones, and have them in there until things start to wind down. Now, I had no idea Kitchener had two locations (not sure when they popped up), and 1 of them (and 2 in Waterloo) are being used for walk-ins coming up, but how helpful is this when they are all so far away from those that need to get vaccinated?

The region did do a number of mobile clinics in priority (harder hit) areas. They sent out mailers in those areas letting people know about the clinics, and giving booking information. I agree this was probably the weakest part of the region's response, as the booking system was only via phone and email (no website) so it wasn't great. But they succeeded in administering all the doses they had, to residents of those areas, so absent more vaccine supply I don't think a permanent location would have added much.

I still think the province needs to take over the vaccination program in this region though. Todays numbers suggest that things are still not under control, at all.

Waterloo Region is at 75.4% of adults with a first dose, Toronto is at 75.6% of adults with a first dose. What exactly would the province taking over accomplish? We're not behind the province in vaccinations anymore, now that the province finally gave us more doses.

We are a little behind Toronto in second doses, but again, Toronto has been effectively prioritized over Waterloo as a delta hotspot, so that's the province's doing. If you're wondering why, the answer is the criteria the province used. The province made the eligibility criteria for accelerated second doses "lives in a delta hotspot and got a first dose before May 9", with both Toronto and Waterloo being defined as delta hotspots. Except early May was when the province focused vaccine allocation on third wave hotspots, so a much higher percentage of Toronto got vaccinated before May 9 than did in Waterloo. The effect was that rule made FAR more people eligible for second doses in Toronto, whereas most people in Waterloo wouldn't become eligible for another few weeks (when today the province moved it to before May 29). They really should have set the cut-off dates per-region, rather than using the same date for all delta hotspots, which favoured vaccines to areas that were third wave hotspots.

[plam]

Starting today, walk-in vaccination for 12+ at the Pharmacy Building M-F 1-3:30, 5-7:30, SS 9-11:30 1-3:30; Boardwalk 7 days 8am-8pm; Waterloo Region public health SS 9-12 1-3:30.

https://twitter.com/RegionWaterloo/statu...2652360707

That said, in other news, I got an email from PharmaSave on Ottawa and Strasburg, so as tonight, I will be fully vaccinated.

Sorry to be a bit of a downer but I will point out that it takes 2 weeks for the vaccines to be effective after 2nd dose. I was kind of annoyed that my parents had a meetup with my brother only 1 week past dose 2...

[jeffster]

Waterloo Region is at 75.4% of adults with a first dose, Toronto is at 75.6% of adults with a first dose. What exactly would the province taking over accomplish? We're not behind the province in vaccinations anymore, now that the province finally gave us more doses.

Obviously that 75.6% is likely closer to 80% of the population that could access the clinic. If you look at our case count, it's all in certain postal codes. A vaccine program is rubbish if it's missing the most vulnerable population, which is the way the region ran it. What percentage of those testing positive are vaccinated? Very low, something like 15% (and they're not sick, btw). The region totally dropped the ball, ignored marginalized people, ignored the poor, ignored immigrants, ignored those that don't speak English. Toronto and Peel, they didn't do that. They focused their attention in that area 3 months ago. That's why we're beating Toronto, a city 5x our size, 5 out of 7 days, in case count.

Nothing to do with bad luck. It was bad management. Even today people had issues with the system -- they weren't prepared, and it's half-baked.

It's almost like everyone here works for the PHU for the region.

What could the province do? They can set up vaccine centres at unused community centres in high risk / low vaccine areas. They can go door to door, encouraging people to get their shot. Communicate. I've gotten zero from this stupid region so far, other than a half-baked flyer that was in my gas bill. Maybe put Toronto in charge of getting people vaccinated -- they failed at their lock down, but they passed with flying colours at getting the right people vaccinated.

Should add, 2,180,000 people out of 2,956,000 have been vaccinated in Toronto. That's 73.4% of the population. WR has 375,000 out of 617,000 vaccinated, or 61%. Not sure our demographics are that different, but them are the numbers.

I'm pissed because of this regions incompetence as we're going to be freaking stuck at Stage 1 for the rest of the summer while the province moves on. Unless things change fast. Our PHU already wants to hold us back. That's 100% on them.

Maybe people here enjoy being inside all day....no need to go out and see family and friends. No one coming over for a BBQ or drinks. Maybe I am an outlier here at WRC. I don't consider myself a social butterfly, but, hey, here we are.

[jeffster]

That said, in other news, I got an email from PharmaSave on Ottawa and Strasburg, so as tonight, I will be fully vaccinated.

Sorry to be a bit of a downer but I will point out that it takes 2 weeks for the vaccines to be effective after 2nd dose. I was kind of annoyed that my parents had a meetup with my brother only 1 week past dose 2...

Yeah, I know. On July 7th I'll be good. Though I won't be surprised at some point that they want us to get additional shots.

[plam]

Sorry to be a bit of a downer but I will point out that it takes 2 weeks for the vaccines to be effective after 2nd dose. I was kind of annoyed that my parents had a meetup with my brother only 1 week past dose 2...

Yeah, I know. On July 7th I'll be good. Though I won't be surprised at some point that they want us to get additional shots.

Unclear yet. Clearly Pfizer and Moderna would like that but nothing in the science suggests an answer either way so far.

[JoeKW]

Terrible numbers today and Waterloo is staying in phase 1 next week.
95 case alone for Waterloo

[jeffster]

Yeah, I know. On July 7th I'll be good. Though I won't be surprised at some point that they want us to get additional shots.

Unclear yet. Clearly Pfizer and Moderna would like that but nothing in the science suggests an answer either way so far.

We're still learning. It has me wondering if mixing mRNA with traditional vaccines might prove to be a better bullet.

I got my Moderna last night, and damn, my arm feels like the Hulk gave it a hard punch.

[jeffster]

Just wondering: for those that pre-registered before yesterday, do they need to re-book now? Or leave it alone? Not that it affects me, but I do have co-workers and friends that are confused with the system.

[clasher]

I don't think you need to re-book if you want to keep your original appointment, mine was for 10 September but I just rebooked it to 5 July at the Cambridge Pinebush site, took a few minutes of checking multiple locations to find an open appointment but I think cancellations are trickling in... unfortunately it seems like the system favours people that have time to sit around check and re-check.

The Queen St. Pharmacy on Queen isn't giving out any vaccines today but their location on Highland was, but it was already lined up around the back of the plaza at 9:20 so I think I'll just hold off until my Cambridge appointment, or keep checking for earlier dates with the region's system since it's not getting pummelled anymore.

[bgb_ca]

As anticipated, Waterloo Region is not moving to Phase 2 with the rest of the province next week.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/kitchener...-1.6078413

[taylortbb]

Obviously that 75.6% is likely closer to 80% of the population that could access the clinic. If you look at our case count, it's all in certain postal codes. A vaccine program is rubbish if it's missing the most vulnerable population, which is the way the region ran it. What percentage of those testing positive are vaccinated? Very low, something like 15% (and they're not sick, btw). The region totally dropped the ball, ignored marginalized people, ignored the poor, ignored immigrants, ignored those that don't speak English. Toronto and Peel, they didn't do that. They focused their attention in that area 3 months ago. That's why we're beating Toronto, a city 5x our size, 5 out of 7 days, in case count.

You keep saying these things, but you have zero evidence. Go take a look at the region's vaccination map, https://rmw.maps.arcgis.com/apps/MapSeri...c02a89b133 , and Toronto's, https://www.toronto.ca/home/covid-19/cov...cine-data/ .

The lower income, higher case count, neighbourhoods are about 50-60% vaccinated in both Waterloo Region and Toronto. Toronto is actually a little worse, as a number of neighbourhoods are still under 50%, whereas there's only a single one under 50% in Waterloo in rural Wellesley. The number's on the region's map are also from 11 days ago, while Toronto's is from 3 days ago, so we're probably ahead of Toronto in vaccine coverage in these neighbourhoods.

Stop just making assertions about the local vaccine rollout unless you have data to back it up. So far every explanation you've given just hasn't been supported by the data.

Nothing to do with bad luck. It was bad management. Even today people had issues with the system -- they weren't prepared, and it's half-baked.

It's almost like everyone here works for the PHU for the region.

It's not about working for the PHU, it's about evidence. Please show me some evidence about why we've done worse. The only numbers I can find are that we got fewer vaccines due to the hotspot allocation, and that we have more delta. Neither of those are within the region's control. Everything that is within the region's control, like vaccinating shelters or low income neighbourhoods, the stats keep showing that we did as well as other Ontario PHUs.

Should add, 2,180,000 people out of 2,956,000 have been vaccinated in Toronto. That's 73.4% of the population. WR has 375,000 out of 617,000 vaccinated, or 61%. Not sure our demographics are that different, but them are the numbers.

I have no idea where you got those numbers, but they're wrong. https://www.toronto.ca/home/covid-19/cov...cine-data/ says 66.4% have "initiated vaccination" aka have one dose.

Waterloo's dashboard says we're at 63.6% of the population with one dose. We're evenly matched with Toronto in the 18+ numbers, so that's probably a mix of having a younger population and teens becoming eligible here much more recently (due to the hotspot allocation, Toronto was vaccinating teens while we were still 40+, due to lack of supply).

I'm pissed because of this regions incompetence as we're going to be freaking stuck at Stage 1 for the rest of the summer while the province moves on. Unless things change fast. Our PHU already wants to hold us back. That's 100% on them.

Maybe people here enjoy being inside all day....no need to go out and see family and friends. No one coming over for a BBQ or drinks. Maybe I am an outlier here at WRC. I don't consider myself a social butterfly, but, hey, here we are.

I'm not happy about the current situation either. I'm just following the numbers on what they say, and I have yet to find a material difference in our rollout compared to Toronto, except for the province re-allocating our vaccines. I keep linking to data showing my points, and you keep dismissing it out of hand without any data of your own. Stop making assertions without data to back it up, because the actual data, like neighbourhood vaccination, keeps showing you're wrong.