Vaccine milestone: Windsor-Essex health officials celebrate a year of COVID-19 shots

Windsor, Ont. -

Windsor-Essex healthcare officials are celebrating the first anniversary of COVID-19 vaccinations in the region.

The Windsor-Essex County Health Unit and Windsor Regional Hospital leaders are reflecting on progress and looking at the work left to do.

A year ago, on Dec. 22, 2020, the first individuals in Windsor-Essex were vaccinated against the COVID-19 virus. As initial supply of Pfizer vaccinations were in limited supply doses were made available to employees who worked at Long Term Care/Retirement Homes in the region.

A year later, more than 725,000 vaccinations have been injected into the arms of over 340,000 individuals from the community.

“This is not an anniversary to forget – it is one to celebrate,” said WRH president and CEO David Musyj. “I applaud the coordinated efforts of our health care practitioners across this region, and our vaccine partners at the Windsor-Essex County Health Unit and the City of Windsor in collaborating towards what is truly a goal discussed daily – doing whatever we can, every day, to inoculate our population, as quickly as we can.”

Musyj says the community health agencies banded together to coordinate a mass vaccination effort of an almost unimaginable scale.

“We value and thank our team and our partners at Windsor Regional Hospital, the City of Windsor, the County of Essex, Essex-Windsor EMS, Erie Shores Health Care, the Municipality of Leamington, The Town of Amherstburg and all those who have been a part of this incredible journey,” adds Musyj.

Health Unit CEO also acknowledged the milestone on Wednesday.

“There is plenty of work still ahead, but today marks the opportunity to look back on what has been accomplished and thank residents of Windsor-Essex for their trust and altruistic sense of community,” says Dupuis.