With vaccination rates continuing to rise and the number of active COVID cases on the decline, it’s time to “enjoy the moment we’re in,” says Dr. Matthew Tenenbaum, associate medical officer of health with Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Public Health.
That means people should feel free to take part in lower-risk activities like attending outdoor events and social gatherings, again outdoors, especially when everyone involved has been fully vaccinated, he explained.
“We know how difficult the past year-and-a-half has been for everyone in our community, including business owners and people who just enjoy getting together with others. We are at a place right now where … it is sensible for people to be able to engage in low-risk activities,” Tenenbaum said. “People have been cooped up and limiting their contacts. Now is the time when risk is lower than it was.
“Having the vaccine is going to make anything safer as opposed to not having the vaccine.”
As of Friday morning, there were 14 active COVID-19 cases reported in Guelph, with three more in Wellington County. Nearly 71 per cent of eligible Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph residents are fully vaccinated, having received two doses.
“We’re all very pleased with the process our community has made,” said Tenenbaum. “While we all want to get back to normal, or as close to normal as possible, vaccinations are going to be what gets us there.”
In terms of outdoor social gatherings, Tenenbaum said there’s currently no need to wear a mask or physically distance if everyone has been fully vaccinated. However, both measures should be used if not everyone is fully vaccinated or you’re unsure of the vaccination status of others.
Masks should continue to be worn in crowded spaces, he added, even outdoors.
“When you’re in larger crowds, the odds of someone in there not being vaccinated or the odds of someone in there having COVID go up,” Tenenbaum said. “As we get more and more of our community immunized, any scenario is going to be lower risk than it was before, but the risk is not gone.”
In addition, those who are fully vaccinated no longer need to isolate for 14 days after coming into contact with a confirmed case of the disease, but rather get tested and watch for symptoms, he continued, noting those who aren’t fully vaccinated should isolate for two weeks if exposed.
While the overall numbers are lower compared to where they were in the spring, the pandemic is definitely not over, the doctor cautions, pointing to the presence of the Delta variant which is more easily spread.
“There are some basic precautions we can take, especially when it comes to indoor settings or crowded settings,” he said, referring to masking and physical distancing, along with hand sanitizer use.
“We’re still encouraging everyone who hasn’t gotten a first or second dose yet to come out to our clinics. We’re offering drop-ins at any of our clinic sites for first and second doses, we’re running mobile and pop-up sites … and we are trying to get vaccines to where people already are.”
To that end, WDG Public Health will be hosting a pop-up clinic in Downtown Guelph Friday evening, from 7 to 10 p.m., during the regular weekend street closure for patios. The clinic will be set up in the area of Wyndham and Macdonell streets and is open to anyone looking to receive their first or second dose of vaccine.
“We’re going to be looking at how this evening goes and learning from the experience,” Tenenbaum said. “Across the province and the system, we’re going to be moving away from these mass clinics toward more targeted efforts in general.
“The last 15 to 20 per cent of people are going to be a bit harder to reach and are going to require very different kinds of approaches than we’ve been using for the bulk of our immunization campaign.”
