WELLINGTON NORTH – Though active cases of COVID-19 in the Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Public Health (WDGPH) region recently hit a record high, Wellington North Mayor Andy Lennox is encouraged by local progress on vaccinations.
“Slow, steady progress… certainly is encouraging even though the numbers on COVID-19 … in our area are kind of gloomy,” said Lennox during the April 12 council meeting on Zoom.
Noting about 25% of the eligible population in the region has received at least one shot, Lennox explained anyone who isn’t already pre-registered for vaccines can now start that process.
“It may be some time before they get the vaccine… but you can go ahead and register” on the WDGPH website, he said.
The mayor suggested pharmacies in both Mount Forest and Arthur will soon have the AstraZeneca vaccine available.
“I think anyone over 55… is eligible,” he said.
(The province has since announced anyone over 40 will be eligible for AstraZeneca through pharmacies and family physicians, by appointment only.)
As of April 20, there are four pharmacies in northern Wellington offering the shots:
– Walsh’s IDA in Arthur, call 519-848-2530;
– Drayton Pharmasave, call 519- 638-1120 or visitpharmasave.com/drayton/covid-19-vaccine;
– Walsh’s IDA in Mount Forest, call 519-323-1221; and
– The Prescription Shoppe in Palmerston, call 519-343-3912 or visit www.prescriptionshop.net.
Locations will be updated at https://covid-19.ontario.ca/vaccine-locations.
Lennox said recent cases in the region tend to be in people aged 20 to 39, and a large component of the infections are those under 19.
“So that was part of what precipitated the … order to close the schools,” Lennox said of the local order, which was later extended by the province.
