Seventy per cent of Lambton adults have now had at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.

Lambton Public Health officials say after Monday’s vaccinations, 70.6 per cent of everyone over 18 has had one shot while 15.9 per cent of 12-17 year olds have had one dose.

And 17.8 per cent of Lambton residents are now fully vaccinated against the virus which has killed 25,971 people in Canada including 8,974 in Ontario.

The stream of vaccines has become a surge prompting the province to give more people the opportunity to book their second shot – including those who were injected with AstraZeneca. It was linked to a number of cases of blood clotting. The province is now allowing people who had the AstraZeneca shot eight weeks ago to get their second shot in a clinic near them.

Lambton’s Medical Officer of Health, Dr. Sudit Ranade, is pleased with the local vaccine rollout saying by July and August, the county should be providing mostly second doses at local clinics. He adds the county will be in good shape if between 75 to 80 per cent are fully vaccinated.

The number of new cases is rapidly decreasing as the vaccines are distributed. Tuesday, the province reported under 300 new cases – one of the lowest case counts since September.

In Lambton, there were 23 cases from June 9 to June 15, which Ranade says is “manageable.” But he cautions COVID-19 is still around. “The disease is still around and still is circulating and it’s spreading the same way it was, with people getting together.”

And, he says the new Delta variant has also been detected in Sarnia in four cases.