Adults 18+ eligible for vaccination Tuesday in Windsor-Essex, 16+ essential workers next

As of Tuesday morning, any adult in Windsor-Essex as well as across Ontariowill be eligible to book their first COVID-19 vaccination.

The Windsor-Essex County Health Unit (WECHU) said online booking for an appointmentat one of the six mass vaccination clinics will be available starting at 9:30 a.m. ET.

The provincial governmentsaid Monday it's expanding eligibility a week earlier than expected due to an early delivery of the May 24 shipment of vaccines.

WECHUchief executive officerTheresa Marentettesaid the health unitalso plans to soon allow essential workers who are not yet adults age16 and upto book a vaccine appointment, but details would be shared Tuesday.

In Windsor-Essex, the opportunity for alladults to get vaccinated comes about five months after the first COVID-19 shots were administered locally. So far,59.7 per cent of adults, or 203,246 people, have gotten at least one shot.

"We are inchingcloser and closer to the finish line, and I'm confident that if we continue to vaccinate at our current rate, we will have a good summerin Windsor and Essex County," saidDr.Wajid Ahmed, medical officer of health.

Ahmed saidthe region's case counts need to come down, however, andnoted nearly half of the cases involve people under 30.

The health unit reported 24 new cases of COVID-19 on Monday, and362 cases active overall.

Twenty people werehospitalized, including three in the intensive-care unit.

Of the new cases announced Monday,14 wereclose contacts of previously confirmed cases, fivewere community acquiredandfive wereunder investigation.

There is one outbreak active in a community setting, theSouthwest Detention Centre, as well as six outbreaks at workplaces:

• Two in Windsor's health-care and social assistance sector.
• One in Windsor's manufacturing sector.
• One in Windsor's mining, quarrying and oil and gas extraction sector.
• One inretail settings in Windsor.

COVID-19 exposure notifications

The health unit has issued two COVID-19 exposure notifications since Sunday. As a precaution, thosewho visited the following locations at the the times below areasked to monitor for symptoms for 14 days from the exposure date:

Shopper's Drug Mart at 3950 Dougall Ave:

• May 8, 2021 from 6 p.m. to12 a.m.
• May 9, 2021 from 4 p.m. to12 a.m.
• May 11, 2021 from 6 p.m. to11 p.m.

Colasanti'sat1550 Road 3 in Kingsville:

• May 11 and 12.

COVID-19 in Sarnia-Lambton,Chatham-Kent

Also Monday, Sarnia-Lambtonreported 88 active cases and the public health unitreported 12. There have been 57deaths linked to COVID-19since the pandemic began

Chatham-Kent Public Health, which last provided an update on Friday, reported 10 new cases of COVID-19 on Monday, with 32cases active overall.