With cases continuing to be on the decline, Dr. Paul Roumeliotis, Chief Medical Officer of the EOHU, announces that the EOHU will begin to phase out Mass Immunization Centres.
 
Following the latest trends, numbers have continued to be on the low side in the EOHU, UCPR, and Clarence-Rockland. There is 1 active case in Clarence-Rockland, and 3 in the UCPR, and 4 in the EOHU as a whole. Fortunately, there are no hospitalizations or outbreaks.
 
Dr. Paul starts  with a non Covid update, regarding the hosting of 500 evacuees and victims of the Northern Ontario fires in Cornwall. Everyone is doing their part to help victims, and they are all screened and tested for Covid as well. The red cross is also providing vaccines for the unvaccinated among them. The EOHU will continue to monitor the situation along with primary care providers, and hospitals they have partnered with to handle the situation.
 
Dr. Paul then updates the public on vaccination numbers.
 
Currently 240,994 doses have been administered, with 142,453 being 1st doses, and 98,541 being 2nd doses. Although first doses are still lower in lower age groups (12-17, 18-29), when compared to 30+ age groups, they are steadily increasing.
 
In order for the health unit to excel past Step 3 and begin to lower more restrictions, first 146,400 first doses need to be administered (roughly 80% of population), and 137,250 2nd doses need to be administered (roughly 75% of population). 
 
With our current numbers, (142,453 1st doses and 98,541 2nd doses), and the 21,600 doses to be administered by July 26th, Dr. Paul is confident the health unit will get to where it needs to be by August 6th. When asked about masking requirements after Step 3, Dr. Paul says that each health unit will review and revise as needed, and that masks will likely only be needed by the unvaccinated, and at large public gatherings.
 
As a strategy to speed up vaccination rates, the EOHU has sent a press release, and has emailed individuals to move their appointments earlier, in order to phase out mass immunization clinics by August. The reasoning behind the decision is that the EOHU does not have enough resources to have 8 clinics running every week, and the buildings that the clinics are being set up in are public buildings that the respective cities would like to start using again.
 
With this being said, Dr. Paul assures us that rebooking 16,000 appointments will not hinder vaccination efforts, and will create a more streamlined supply of appointments for other vaccine providers (Hospitals, Primary Care providers, Pharmacies, etc). 
 
Other strategies the EOHU is using is creating pop-up clinics targeted at certain groups based on age and geography (younger age groups, people in rural areas), doing more walk-in clinics that do not require an appointment, and partnering with school boards and asking them to remind students to get vaccinated before school, and providing vaccines on site during the first month of the school year.
 
Throughout the conference, Dr. Paul emphasizes the importance of getting vaccinated, as around the world there are epidemics of the Delta variant among the unvaccinated population. The more people that become vaccinated, the less likely we will have a 4th wave of the Delta variant, and the sooner we can go back to normal.