The COVID-19 pandemic

[tomh009]

If you're happy with AZ you could do the walk-in. I think the Pfizer supplies are much more constrained than AZ, resulting in longer wait times.

(We did our AZ at Rexall on Highland, and it was a quick turnaround to get an appointment.)

That is the first Pharmacy I registered at, but they haven't called me.

OK, so I don't know how they prioritize people. We had no pre-existing conditions so I would not expect any additional priority. The only difference maybe is that we got the appointment by email rather than requesting a phone call -- maybe they are staff-constrained? Purely a guess, though.

[tomh009]

WEDNESDAY 2021-04-14

Waterloo Region reported another new third-wave high of 111 new cases for today (18.2% of the active cases) and four more for yesterday for a total of 110; 595 new cases for the week (+44), averaging 16.9% of active cases. 655 active cases, +234 in the last seven days.

Next testing report on Friday.

3,277 doses of vaccine administered, with a seven-day average of 3,034. At this pace, the dose count will reach 70% of the total regional population on 2021-07-24 (-5 days).

Ontario reported 4,156 new cases today with a seven-day average of 4,003 (+135). 3,160 recoveries and 28 deaths translated to an increase of 968 active cases and a new total of 36,808. +9,449 active cases for the week and 135 deaths (19 per day). 54,211 tests for a positivity rate of 7.67%. The positivity rate is averaging 7.39% for the past seven days, compared to 6.19% for the preceding seven.

642 patients in ICU (+16 today, +138 for the week) and a total of 1,877 patients hospitalized (+480 for the week).

112,817 doses of vaccine administered, with a seven-day average of 99,536. At this pace, the dose count will reach 70% of the provincial population on 2021-06-18 (-1 day). The regional completion date currently lags the provincial one by 36 days (-3 today).

• 66 cases in Brant: 48.5 per 100K
  
• 593 cases in Peel: 42.9 per 100K
  
• 476 cases in York: 42.9 per 100K
  
• 1,254 cases in Toronto: 42.8 per 100K
  
• 248 cases in Durham: 38.4 per 100K
  
• 192 cases in Halton: 35.0 per 100K
  
• 340 cases in Ottawa: 34.2 per 100K
  
• 149 cases in Niagara: 33.3 per 100K
  
• 189 cases in Hamilton: 32.6 per 100K
  
• 121 cases in Middlesex-London: 29.9 per 100K
  
• 37 cases in Eastern Ontario: 18.2 per 100K
  
• 106 cases in Waterloo: 17.2 per 100K (based on provincial reporting)
  
• 40 cases in Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph: 14.7 per 100K
  
• 70 cases in Simcoe-Muskoka: 13.0 per 100K
  
• 18 cases in Leeds, Grenville & Lanark: 10.6 per 100K
  
• 40 cases in Windsor-Essex: 10.3 per 100K
  
• 20 cases in Southwestern Ontario: 10.0 per 100K
  
• 15 cases in Kingston Frontenac: 7.3 per 100K
  
• 6 cases in Northwestern: 6.8 per 100K
  
• 8 cases in Lambton: 6.1 per 100K
  
• 5 cases in Huron Perth: 5.1 per 100K
  
• 14 cases in Sudbury: 3.6 per 100K
  

Only regions with at least two cases per 100,000 population

[jamincan]

If you're happy with AZ you could do the walk-in. I think the Pfizer supplies are much more constrained than AZ, resulting in longer wait times.

(We did our AZ at Rexall on Highland, and it was a quick turnaround to get an appointment.)

That is the first Pharmacy I registered at, but they haven't called me.

Have you tried calling them? I heard (maybe on here) that there was an issue with automated text messages from the region being blocked by phone carriers due to them being misidentified as spam. Maybe you were affected by this?

[robdrimmie]

There was a Telus issue with text messages, it's noted in a comment up-thread a page or two.

I've also heard rumours that people who pre-registered asking for phone calls are having to wait longer than people who fill in the forms themselves and request text or email responses. The argument is that the phone calls take longer and require human staff, whereas those who go the text and email route are processed with automated systems. I have no meaningful understanding of how true that is.

Anecdotally, my parents (in their 70s) registered a couple of weeks ago. My mother filled out the form online and received a notification very quickly. My father requested a phone call. From what he said, it feels like a reasonable guess that the people making the phone calls are themselves just walking through the form and asking every question. My father said he would do it himself if he had to do it again. My mother was contacted first, and she ended up talking with someone directly (I've forgotten the details, I'm sorry to say) and getting their shots scheduled to occur together. As a result it is unknownable how long it would have taken my father to be contacted.

[Acitta]

That is the first Pharmacy I registered at, but they haven't called me.

Have you tried calling them? I heard (maybe on here) that there was an issue with automated text messages from the region being blocked by phone carriers due to them being misidentified as spam. Maybe you were affected by this?

I am not on Telus and I selected email.

[tomh009]

Have you tried calling them? I heard (maybe on here) that there was an issue with automated text messages from the region being blocked by phone carriers due to them being misidentified as spam. Maybe you were affected by this?

I am not on Telus and I selected email.

I am out of ideas, then, unless something in the registration form flagged you as lower priority for some reason (and I don't think we should be sharing personal, or let alone medical, information here). And I assume you have already been checking your spam folder.

Two things I would suggest:

• Walk-in pharmacy option
  
• Register at an additional pharmacy or three
  

[tomh009]

10-day averages for key regions in Ontario, plus the weekly trend as of 2021-04-15 (posting this every two days).

Region	Cases today	per 100K	10-day average	per 100K	Weekly trend
Toronto	1,188	40.5	1,085	37.0	+22%
Peel	983	71.1	686	49.7	+23%
York	526	47.4	438	39.4	+34%
Ottawa	342	34.4	262	26.3	+41%
Durham	216	33.4	208	32.2	+37%
Halton	140	25.5	132	24.0	+46%
Hamilton	150	25.9	127	21.9	+42%
Middlesex-London	181	44.7	122	30.1	+26%
Niagara	215	48.0	119	26.5	+55%
Simcoe-Muskoka	118	21.8	94	17.4	+30%
Waterloo	81	13.1	75	12.1	+52%
Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph	102	37.5	67	24.7	+20%
Windsor-Essex	95	24.4	50	12.7	+27%
Eastern Ontario	74	36.5	40	19.5	+43%
Brant	31	22.8	31	22.8	+42%
Sudbury	16	4.1	25	6.3	-15%
Southwestern Ontario	36	18.0	21	10.5	+58%
Leeds, Grenville & Lanark	8	4.7	15	9.0	+18%
Kingston Frontenac	18	8.8	15	7.3	+33%
Lambton	20	15.3	15	11.2	+23%
Thunder Bay	7	4.7	8	5.3	-14%
Northwestern	5	5.7	7	7.7	+36%
Huron Perth	22	22.4	7	6.9	+100%
Chatham-Kent	7	6.6	5	4.8	-24%
Ontario total					+30b%

New highs today in Peel, London and Guelph.

[tomh009]

THURSDAY 2021-04-15

Waterloo Region reported 61 new cases for today (9.3% of the active cases) and one more for yesterday for a total of 112; 602 new cases for the week (+7), averaging 16.3% of active cases. 643 active cases, +203 in the last seven days.

Next testing report on Friday.

3,920 doses of vaccine administered, with a seven-day average of 3,790. This is much higher than before, it appears that the regional vaccine reporting was missing a lot of data that has now been retroactively added. At this pace, the dose count will reach 70% of the total regional population on 2021-07-01 (-23 days due to the above correction).

Ontario reported a new all-pandemic high of 4,736 new cases today with a seven-day average of 4,208 (+205). 3,174 recoveries and 29 deaths translated to an increase of 1,533 active cases and a new total of 38,341. +10,282 active cases for the week -- more than 10,000 for the first time evere -- and 145 deaths (21 per day). 65,559 tests but the positivity rate was still awful at 7.22%. The positivity rate is averaging 7.68% for the past seven days, compared to 6.34% for the preceding seven.

659 patients in ICU (+17 today, +163 for the week) and a total of 1,932 patients hospitalized (+515 for the week).

105,430 doses of vaccine administered, with a seven-day average of 99,089. At this pace, the dose count will reach 70% of the provincial population on 2021-06-19 (+1 day). The regional completion date currently lags the provincial one by 12 days (-24 today).

• 983 cases in Peel: 71.1 per 100K
  
• 215 cases in Niagara: 48.0 per 100K
  
• 526 cases in York: 47.4 per 100K
  
• 181 cases in Middlesex-London: 44.7 per 100K
  
• 1,188 cases in Toronto: 40.5 per 100K
  
• 102 cases in Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph: 37.5 per 100K
  
• 74 cases in Eastern Ontario: 36.5 per 100K
  
• 342 cases in Ottawa: 34.4 per 100K
  
• 216 cases in Durham: 33.4 per 100K
  
• 150 cases in Hamilton: 25.9 per 100K
  
• 140 cases in Halton: 25.5 per 100K
  
• 95 cases in Windsor-Essex: 24.4 per 100K
  
• 31 cases in Brant: 22.8 per 100K
  
• 22 cases in Huron Perth: 22.4 per 100K
  
• 118 cases in Simcoe-Muskoka: 21.8 per 100K
  
• 36 cases in Southwestern Ontario: 18.0 per 100K
  
• 20 cases in Lambton: 15.3 per 100K
  
• 81 cases in Waterloo: 13.1 per 100K (based on provincial reporting)
  
• 18 cases in Kingston Frontenac: 8.8 per 100K
  
• 7 cases in Chatham-Kent: 6.6 per 100K
  
• 5 cases in Northwestern: 5.7 per 100K
  
• 8 cases in Leeds, Grenville & Lanark: 4.7 per 100K
  
• 7 cases in Thunder Bay: 4.7 per 100K
  
• 16 cases in Sudbury: 4.1 per 100K
  

Only regions with at least two cases per 100,000 population

[ac3r]

"Pfizer CEO says people 'likely' to need a booster dose of a COVID-19 vaccine within 12 months of getting fully vaccinated."

https://twitter.com/CBCAlerts/status/138...8191370246

[tomh009]

"Pfizer CEO says people 'likely' to need a booster dose of a COVID-19 vaccine within 12 months of getting fully vaccinated."

https://twitter.com/CBCAlerts/status/138...8191370246

That has been my expectation as well. We should have both the infrastructure and supply (Novavax?) well in hand to take care of that next year, though.

Not much different from the annual flu shot in that sense.

[Acitta]

I am not on Telus and I selected email.

I am out of ideas, then, unless something in the registration form flagged you as lower priority for some reason (and I don't think we should be sharing personal, or let alone medical, information here). And I assume you have already been checking your spam folder.

Two things I would suggest:

• Walk-in pharmacy option
  
• Register at an additional pharmacy or three
  

I just got a text and email from Rexall. I am booked for Saturday.

[tomh009]

I just got a text and email from Rexall. I am booked for Saturday.

Great news -- congrats!

[plam]

I am out of ideas, then, unless something in the registration form flagged you as lower priority for some reason (and I don't think we should be sharing personal, or let alone medical, information here). And I assume you have already been checking your spam folder.

Two things I would suggest:

• Walk-in pharmacy option
  
• Register at an additional pharmacy or three
  

I just got a text and email from Rexall. I am booked for Saturday.

Yay!

[Rainrider22]

Everyone in my office got the Phizer shot earlier this week. We all had a lot of pain in the arm that the shot was administered in the following day. As a word of advice, have your vaccine administered in your non dominate side. The pain seems to go away after a day though...

[panamaniac]

I got the Pfizer on Wednesday. I was slightly pokey yesterday, but no real "side effects", I would say. I was a bit surprised that I didn't even have a sore arm yesterday.