New Democratic Party Leader Jagmeet Singh walks to a vaccination clinic as he continues his election campaign tour in Toronto on Aug. 21.CHRIS HELGREN/Reuters
Ontario is reporting 660 new cases of COVID-19 today, as well as one more death from the virus.
Health Minister Christine Elliott says 525 of the new cases involve people who are not fully vaccinated or whose vaccination status is unknown.
The remaining 135 are among people who have received two doses of a COVID-19 vaccine.
The minister says 283 people are in hospital due to COVID-19, 253 of whom are not fully inoculated or with an unknown vaccination status.
She says another 161 people are in intensive care because of the virus, seven of them fully vaccinated.
The province says slightly more than 82 per cent of Ontarians 12 and older have received one dose of a vaccine, and just over 75 per cent have had two shots.
But Ontario’s hospital association says broader vaccination is needed to minimize the impact of the pandemic’s fourth wave as hospitalizations and intensive care admissions due to the virus rise.
On Tuesday, Ontario’s top doctor, Dr. Kieran Moore, said the province currently has the capacity to care for those in intensive care, but will closely monitor what he considers a “key marker” of the pandemic situation.
In a statement issued today, the head of the Ontario Hospital Association says increasing the vaccination rate will help reduce the burden on hospitals and minimize any further disruption to non-COVID services.
Anthony Dale notes more than 90 per cent of COVID-19 patients in intensive care and more than 80 per cent of those hospitalized but not in an ICU are not fully vaccinated with two doses.
He notes uptake of vaccinations has also “slowed significantly” recently even as case counts increase.
This content appears as provided to The Globe by the originating wire service. It has not been edited by Globe staff.