Calls to increase vaccination rates in downtown Windsor, Fontainebleau neighbourhoods
Nearly 75 per cent of individuals over 18 have one shot and more than 25 per cent of people in Windsor-Essex have been double-dosed with a COVID-19 vaccine.
But despite the high uptake, some pockets of the city are falling well below those volumes for the first dose.
Fewer than 50 per cent of residents in Downtown Windsor and the Fontainebleau neighbourhood have received their first shot, while the suburbs of LaSalle and Tecumseh are nearly 15 per cent more vaccinated with a single dose.
“We have to find a way to get to these people,” says Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkens, who recently penned a letter to the Windsor-Essex County Health Unit, calling for more targeted approaches to increasing coverage.
“I’m encouraging the health unit, who is responsible for the vaccination efforts, to figure out strategies to reach the downtown population and the Fontainebleau population so we can help bring up the number of full dose vaccinations,” he says.
Dilkens says pop-up clinics, mobile clinics, door-to-door vaccinations and connecting with community and church leaders could be effective strategies.
With the closed downtown vaccination centre, Dilkens is also willing to share surplus city staff to help bridge the disparity.
“We want to be a partner in this, we’ll figure it out together,” the mayor says. “There has to be a pathway to help accelerate the vaccinations.“
The health unit was unavailable to comment Tuesday.
But Windsor West MPP Lisa Gretzky says the health unit needs more resources from the province to reach these vulnerable communities.
“Their resources are really stretched thin right now, so the province has to step up and help them with some targeted outreach to make sure we do have mobile units,” says Gretzky.
The New Democrat points out the barriers affecting uptake in these postal codes include transportation, language, accessibility, and access to information.
“All of those barriers are still in place and they should have been dealt with many, many months ago to make sure we’re reaching the entire population within our community,” Gretzky says.
In his letter, Dilkens urged the health unit to undertake, “a renewed and dedicated plan to close the gap between downtown Windsor and other parts of the region. Redoubling our efforts to reach marginalized populations will only help ensure the entire community is protected from future COVID-19 risks.”
“We can’t leave them behind. This is a global pandemic.”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'They needed people inside Air Canada:' Police announce arrests in Pearson gold heist
Police say one former and one current employee of Air Canada are among the nine suspects that are facing charges in connection with the gold heist at Pearson International Airport last year.
Why drivers in Eastern Canada could see big gas price spikes, and other Canadians won't
Drivers in Eastern Canada face a big increase in gas prices because of various factors, especially the higher cost of the summer blend, industry analysts say.
Customers disappointed after email listing $60K Tim Hortons prize sent in error
Several Tim Horton’s customers are feeling great disappointment after being told by the company that an email stating they won a boat worth nearly $60,000 was sent in error.
Toronto Raptors player Jontay Porter banned from NBA
Toronto Raptors player Jontay Porter has been handed a lifetime ban from The National Basketball Association (NBA) following an investigation which found he disclosed confidential information to sports bettors, the league says.
House admonishes ArriveCan contractor in rare parliamentary show of power
MPs enacted an extraordinary, rarely used parliamentary power on Wednesday, summonsing an ArriveCan contractor to appear before the House of Commons where he was admonished publicly and forced to provide answers to the questions MPs said he'd previously evaded.
Woman who pressured boyfriend to kill his ex in 2000s granted absences from prison
A woman who pressured her boyfriend into killing his teenage ex more than a decade ago will be allowed to leave prison for weeks at a time.
Attempt to have murder charge quashed against alleged serial killer dismissed by judge
A motion filed by the man accused of killing four Indigenous women in Winnipeg to have one of those murder charges quashed has been dismissed by the judge – weeks before the start of his trial.
Government proposes new policy for federally regulated employees to disconnect from work
In their 2024 budget, the federal government wants to amend the Canada Labour Code, so employers in federally regulated sectors will eliminate work-related communication with employees outside of scheduled hours. If implemented, this would affect roughly 500,000 employees across the country.
Earthquake jolts southern Japan
An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.4 hit southern Japan late on Wednesday, said the Japan Meteorological Agency, without issuing a tsunami warning.