Over 2.5 million eligible Ontarians still not vaccinated as province reports 127 new COVID-19 cases

Over 2.5 million eligible Ontarians have not yet been vaccinated against COVID-19, Ontario’s Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Kieran Moore says.

31 Toronto neighbourhoods mark zero COVID-19 cases, including hard-hit Thorncliffe Park

Speaking to reporters Tuesday, Moore pointed to the risk of unvaccinated people not only becoming sick themselves but also possibly contributing to breakthrough infections among those who have received the vaccine.

“The higher proportion of our population that’s immunized, the less we’ll have to worry about those vulnerable people getting the virus,” he said.

Moore was also asked how low COVID-19 rates would have to go in order for students to go unmasked in schools in the fall.

Moore replied that while no decision has been made yet, he recommends a regional approach, and that the move could potentially be allowed in areas where there are less than 10 cases per 100,000 people weekly.

Decisions will be made based on case rates as September approaches, he said.

Ontario reported 127 new cases of COVID-19 and the deaths of two more people with the illness on Tuesday.

Public health units collectively administered another 132,963 doses of vaccines yesterday, the province said, the fewest on a Monday since late May.

More than 80 per cent of adults have had at least one shot of a COVID-19 vaccine, while roughly 62 per cent of Ontarians aged 12 and older are fully immunized.

CBC