Journal Staff
An outbreak of COVID-19 among residents of an already vaccinated Sarnia retirement home is not a surprise, says Lambton’s Medical Officer of Health.
The outbreak that began March 23 at Rosewood Retirement Village has seen 18 residents and two staff test positive for the virus that causes COVID-19.
That does not mean the vaccine isn’t working, Dr. Sudit Ranade said Thursday.
Their symptoms are mild and none has needed to go to hospital, which is what COVID-19 vaccines are supposed to do, Ranade said.
“We should see fewer going to hospital, we should see fewer people dying, but we can’t really say that there shouldn’t be outbreaks at all.”
More than 24,000 doses of vaccine have been administered in Sarnia-Lambton so far with as many as 800 to 1,000 shots being delivered each day, Ranade said.
That means more than 20% of the eligible population has now received at least one shot.
People must book an appointment and cannot just show up at a clinic. The number of doses available matches the number of appointment that day, Ranade said.
“It’s not a walk-in; it’s not a drive-up. (It’s) only by appointment.”
Sarnia-Lambton recorded 24 new cases Thursday with 178 active cases. Seven people were in hospital and 50 have died from the virus.
Lambton Public Health says 133 of the cases involve Variants of Concern, including the more easily transmissible UK variant.
“Lots of the variants are circulating in our younger communities,” Ranade said.
“The variants are really a substantial portion of the cases that we’re seeing.”