WECHU considering allowing spouses 80 and older to be vaccinated at the same time

The Windsor-Essex County Health Unit says it's consideringallowingseniors who arereceivingtheir COVID-19 vaccines to bring along their spouse to get their shotas well if they are eligible.

Dr. Wajid Ahmed, medical officer of health for the region,said the health unit has heard from community members about the ideaand has discussed it with staff.

"If possible we would like to do that, but at this time I cannot commit to when we will start butwe are hoping that we can get to that point as logistically, ethically and operationally possible," he said.

Only those who are 80 and older are eligible to receive the vaccine at the new targeted clinic that opened up on Monday.

Vaccine appointments are being assigned randomly rather than first-come first-serve, meaning that householdswould have to take separate trips to the vaccination site at the WFCUCentre for each appointment.

So far, 12,676 people who are eligible have registered with the health unit to receive an appointment, though the number could drop once duplicate entries are removed, said Theresa Marentette, CEO and chief nursing officer for WECHU.

Overall, nearly 11,600 residents have received both required doses of a COVID-19 vaccine.

Canada's National Advisory Committee on Immunization said Wednesday thatthe maximum interval between the first and second doses of all three COVID-19 vaccines approved for use should increaseto four monthsin order to boost the number of Canadians being vaccinated.

For thePfizer-BioNTech vaccine, for example,that means going from athree-week intervalto a full four months.

The recommendation, if followed in Ontario, would open up more opportunities for people to receive the vaccine, said Ahmed.

"When more and more people are protected, the likelihood of transmission continues to go down significantly," he said.

Ahmed said that initial research isshowing that a single vaccine dose provides "a good level" of protection from COVID-19,up to 80 or 90 per cent.

19 new cases, one death

The health unit announced 19 new cases of COVID-19 on Thursday, as well as one additional death associated with the virus. In total, 389 people have died from COVID-19 in Windsor and Essex County.

Of the new cases, two are related to outbreaks, five are close contacts of confirmed cases, two were community acquired and 10 are under investigation.

There are 44 people hospitalized with COVID-19 in the region, nine of whom are in ICU.

15 cohorts dismissed from schools

The health unit also provided an update on COVID-19 cases in schools.

There are a total of 15 cohorts dismissed across 10 schools due to COVID-19 cases,Marentette said.About 314 students have been dismissed.

There are also four daycare cohorts that have been dismissed.

A new COVID-19 outbreak was declared atcole lmentaireCatholique Monseigneur-Jean-Nol on Wednesday.

Eleven other settings are currently in outbreak across the region.

There are two outbreaks at Windsor Regional Hospital and two at shelters serving the homeless population, the Downtown Mission and the Salvation Army.

Outbreaks are active at sixworkplaces:

• One in Leamington's agriculturalsector
• One in Kingsville's construction sector
• Two in Windsor's health-care and social assistance sector,
• One in Windsor's repair and maintenance sector
• One in Windsor's manufacturing sector.

There is one outbreak at a seniors' home. The outbreak at Dolce Vita retirement home was declared Wednesday. Three residents have tested positive for COVID-19.

COVID-19 in Sarnia-Lambton, Chatham-Kent

There were 47newCOVID-19 cases announcedinSarnia-Lambtonon Thursday. There are now 106active cases.

There are two new cases in Chatham-Kentand overall, there are a dozen known cases active in the municipality.