Vaccination Rate Decreases As Covid Cases Rise In KFL&A

Jeff Green | Jan 18, 2023

After a December drop-off, all of the indicators on the Kingston Frontenac Lennox and Addington Public Health (KFL&APH) COVID dashboard are pointing to increases in COVID activity in the region.

While testing of the general public for COVID ended over a year ago, the number of vulnerable individuals who are eligible for testing stood at 397 on January 10th, of which 230 had been confirmed positive for COVID over the previous 7 days.

And one of the key indicators, the percentage of positive tests among those tested was 17.9%, well higher than the percentage in late December, which had finally dropped to under 10% for the first time in months.

There were 25 people in hospital with COVID last week, 2 of whom were in an intensive care unit. The death toll in KFL&A region was up to 105, after reaching the 100 mark in early December.

That rate is still just over half the rate for the City of Ottawa, which recently hit 1,000 COVID deaths for a population that is about 5 times that of KFL&A.

There is better news when looking at COVID levels in wastewater at two Kingston sites, and one in Amherstview. The levels last week had dropped after a bump over the previous two weeks, hopefully pointing to a late January drop in illness, hospitalisation and death from COVID infections.

Even with repeated efforts by public officials to convince the population to continue seeking vaccination whenever eligible, the vaccination rate in the region continues to drop.

According to the dashboard, while 93.3% of residents in the region over 5 years old have had at least one dose of vaccine since the vaccination program started becoming available 2 years ago, only 32.7% of those over 5 have taken a booster dose within the last 6 months.

The Province of Ontario recommends that people take a booster dose every six months.

But since the province also recommends waiting six months after testing positive for COVID, using a widely available rapid home testing kit, the 32.7% may not be a true gauge of public interest in vaccination, as many people have contracted COVID since last summer.