While the province opened up bookings for COVID-19 vaccines for people 70 years and up in some parts of the province, the Timmins area is not at that stage yet.
Yesterday, 11 health units started booking appointments for people 70 years and older. Only one Northern Ontario health unit — Timiskaming — made the list. The Porcupine Health Unit is not at that stage of its vaccine rollout yet.
"We are currently in the process of finishing phase one but we will be sharing information in the coming weeks for 70+ clinics on our social media pages and on our website," reads a bulletin shared today on the health unit's Facebook page.
The Porcupine Health Unit announced clinics for people 75 years and up last Friday.
Those clinics start today in Hornepayne and Iroquois Falls.
To date, there have been 352 confirmed cases of the virus in the region. Of those, 320 are recovered and 25 people have died. There are six known active cases — five in Timmins and one in the Hearst, Hornepayne area.
There have been two confirmed variants of concern in Timmins. Both cases are the South African (B.1.351) strain. The cases are resolved. Four tests have also screened positive for a variant are expected to be the UK (B.1.1.7) strain.
There are COVID-19 assessment centres in Timmins, Cochrane, Iroquois Falls, Kapuskasing, Smooth Rock Falls, Hearst, and Hornepayne.
The Porcupine Health Unit COVID-19 information line can be reached at 705-267-1181 or 1-800-461-1818.
