The vastly improving COVID-19 situation in Chatham-Kent means some of its residents will get their COVID-19 shot and businesses have earned a shot at more clientele.
The province announced late Friday that Chatham-Kent will move from the Red-Control level in the COVID-19 Reopening Framework to Orange-Restrict, effective Monday, March 1 at 12:01 a.m.
Chatham-Kent was among nine regions moving to a new level. The Windsor-Essex and Sarnia-Lambton areas will remain at Red-Control while the London area also changed to Orange-Restrict. Chatham-Kent Medical Officer of Health Dr. David Colby was hoping that the area would drop two levels to Yellow-Protect.
Meanwhile, a plan has been released to vaccinate Chatham-Kent residents 80 years of age and older. CK Public Health (CKPH) also announced late Friday that the CK Vaccination Team will begin administering the Pfizer BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine to those residents beginning on Saturday, February 27.
Those citizens are asked to call the COVID-19 Vaccination Clinic booking centre on Saturday starting at 8:30 a.m. The vaccination clinic will be held at the John D. Bradley Convention Centre, located at 565 Richmond Street in Chatham, and is by appointment only. Drop-ins are not permitted. Jeff Moco of the CKPH Communications Team said scheduled appointments will begin on Saturday at 9 a.m. with the last appointment to be held at 7:30 p.m.
Moco said pre-registration is required and appointments can only be booked by calling (519) 351-1010. He warns that it may take multiple attempts to speak with a representative because of the expected high call volumes. Moco said those looking to book an appointment should not call their doctor’s office or the Bradley Centre clinic.
The Vaccination Team is continuing to vaccinate the priority population in Phase 1 of Chatham-Kent’s vaccination plan.
"Family and friends of adults 80 years of age and older are encouraged to support their loved one(s) in pre-registering for an appointment," said Moco.
