Bailey says county well ahead in vaccination after MOH says Lambton should be declared a hot spot to get more vaccine

Sarnia-Lambton MPP Bob Bailey is pushing back against “negative chatter” about vaccines.

He sent out a news release late Friday commending Lambton Public Health for its vaccination rates. Bailey says Public Health Ontario says by April 3, 19.9 per cent of all eligible residents in the county were vaccinated – the sixth highest rate of the 34 public health units.

“Dr. Ranade and the team at Lambton Public Health have done a tremendous job delivering these life-saving vaccines to the people of Lambton County,” said Bailey in the written statement.  “There is a lot of negative chatter out there, online and in the media, that somehow Lambton County has been left behind. That is simply not true. The numbers show that the people of Lambton County are receiving vaccines at a rate faster than most parts of the province.  We owe a debt of gratitude to Lambton Public Health for how quickly and successfully they’ve set up our vaccine distribution system.”

Bailey’s statement comes a day after Lambton’s Medical Officer of Health told reporters he could not explain why Lambton wasn’t included in a list of so called hot spot communities where more vaccine was distributed. Ranade said a case could be made that Lambton’s rates of COVID-19 infection were high and should have been included in the group.

And Ranade said public health was working with the County of Lambton to lobby the province to be included in the program.