Aylmer and area lagging in vaccinations

Despite being declared a “provincial hot spot” for COVID-19 and receiving an additional allocation of vaccine for the virus, the percentage of the population in the N5H postal code—that’s all of Aylmer and much of Malahide—that had received at least one dose stood at just 17.9 percent as of April 25.

That information was revealed in a study of vaccine uptake by postal code across Ontario, the Toronto-based Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences.

The N5L area code in and around Port Stanley had, by comparison at that time, 43 percent of residents having received at least their first dose of vaccine.

Port Stanley did seem to be leading the way for the area. The N5P postal code in St. Thomas stood at 26.4 percent, N4G in Tillsonburg at 28 percent and N4S in Woodstock at 25.4 percent.

Southwestern Public Health’s Medical Officer of Health Dr. Joyce Lock was questioned about the disparity during a weekly news briefing on Wednesday, May 5.

Dr. Lock said that every time new options for immunizations had been opened for N5H residents, they had been filled, including a one-day clinic held in cooperation with East Elgin Family Health Team at Ontario Police College on Thursday, May 6.

While she expected to encounter vaccine “hesitancy” among some residents of the N5H postal code, she wasn’t sure yet how many would resist being immunized compared to how many just hadn’t had an opportunity to receive a shot yet.

The health unit was working with health care providers and other community groups to try to find new ways to reach out to Aylmer and area residents to ensure they had all the information they needed to make an informed choice about whether or not to be vaccinated, she added.