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COVID-19: Vaccine bookings jump after Ontario announces passports

A person walks out of a vaccine clinic in Toronto

The number of people in Ontario making vaccination appointments have more than doubled since the province unveiled a vaccine certificate system, health minister Christine Elliott said.

“We’re already seeing thousands more Ontarians roll up their sleeves, nearly half of whom are receiving their first dose,” she tweeted on Thursday.

In the past day, Ontario administered 43,855 shots of COVID-19 vaccine, the highest daily number since August 21.

“Almost half were first doses,” she added. Elliott also said 6,651 appointments were booked via the provincial system, nearly double from the same time last week.

The province administered 35,152 doses on Thursday, 34,703 on Wednesday and 31,761 on Tuesday. The seven-day average for vaccine doses is 32,866, which is still down from 36,398 last Friday.

To date, 83.3 per cent of eligible Ontarians age 12 and up have received one shot and 76.8 per cent are fully vaccinated.

Earlier this week, Ontario’s COVID-19 Science Advisory Table published a data modelling brief that said the vaccination rate must rise “substantially above” 85 per cent if Ontario is to avoid a fourth-wave lockdown by early October.

Residents should also reduce their contacts to 70 per cent of pre-pandemic levels until the vaccination rate is high enough to avoid further public health restrictions, the report added.

Public health officials are hoping the vaccine certificate program, which takes effect on September 22, will encourage vaccine-hesitant people to get the shot.

The system will limit access to certain businesses deemed high-risk for COVID-19 spread – such as gyms, movie theatres, convention centres and restaurants – to people who are fully vaccinated (two doses plus 14 days).

The province’s science advisory expect new cases and hospital admissions to primarily affect the unvaccinated.

“We do not expect to see the same proportion of severely ill cases in the vaccinated,” the group said in a science brief. “Among the unvaccinated, we do expect to see a rapid increase in the number of seriously ill people needing hospital care as workplaces and education reopen in September.”

The province, city and many large employers are also mandating vaccines for workers, warning that unvaccinated staff can be fired for not getting the shot if they do not have a legitimate need for a human rights or medical accommodation.

Ontario reports 807 new COVID-19 cases on September 3

As of September 3, there are 326 COVID-19 patients in Ontario hospitals, including 292 who are not fully vaccinated or have an unknown vaccination status, and 34 who are fully vaccinated.

Of those, 169 people are in intensive care units, including 157 who are not fully vaccinated or have an unknown vaccination status and 12 who are fully vaccinated.

Meanwhile, the province confirmed a daily increase of 807 new infections. Of those, 628 are in not fully vaccinated or have an unknown vaccination status and 179 are in fully vaccinated people.

Today’s count is down from the 865 new infections reported in Ontario on Thursday but higher than the 781 cases logged last Friday.

The seven-day moving average for new cases is 732, up from 665 a week ago.

Labs in the province completed 27,786 tests in the past day, making for a positivity rate of 3.2 per cent. The testing positivity rate was three per cent last Friday.

The total number of confirmed active cases in Ontario is 6,094, which is up from 5,444 last Friday. There were 738 recoveries in the past day.

Another six people are reported to have died, including three who died earlier this week and three who died more than a week ago.

Michael Warner, the head of critical care at Michael Garron Hospital, tweeted on Friday that the ICU situation in Ontario is “concerning.”

He noted the ICU occupancy rate is much higher now compared with last summer and that many registered nurses are sick, burnt out or “lost to attrition.” He added that ICU patients during the fourth wave will be younger and the length of stay in hospital may be longer.

New COVID-19 cases in Ontario on September 3

The following regions reported five or more new COVID-19 cases:

Toronto = 175

Peel Region = 136

York Region = 85

Windsor-Essex = 72

Durham Region = 50

Ottawa = 49

Hamilton = 46

Niagara = 28

Simcoe Muskoka = 23

Halton Region = 22

Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph = 19

Middlesex-London = 18

Region of Waterloo = 17

Chatham-Kent = 10

Brant County = 7

Eastern Ontario = 6

Hastings Prince Edward = 6

Huron Perth = 6

Southwestern = 6

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