Southwestern announces 100,000 vaccinated

Southwestern Public Health on Monday morning, May 31, announced that to date, 100,000 residents of Elgin, St. Thomas and Oxford had received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine.

The health unit called that “a significant milestone” representing nearly 48 percent of the region’s total population of 211,000.

Dr. Joyce Lock, Southwestern medical officer of health, said, “We have an enormous amount of work ahead of us, but the significant work already accomplished has resulted in 100,000 residents with at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine in their arm. Most encouragingly, we see the resulting reduction in COVID-19 infections in the age cohorts with the highest levels of vaccination.”

So far, 77 percent of those 80 and over, 87 percent of those 70 through 79 and 81 percent of those 60 through 69 have received at least one dose of vaccine.