The province’s top doctor is repeating his “call for arms” just six weeks for before school resumes and cooler weather forces us inside.

“2.5 million Ontarians who are eligible to get the vaccine but have not done so yet,” said Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Kieran Moore. “This is despite having great capacity across Ontario, a steady supply of all mRNA vaccines including 1.2M doses of Pfizer this week and it’s anticipated we’ll receive another 1.5M Pfizer doses next week.”

Dr. Moore says 8 in 10 eligible Ontarians have at least one dose of a COVID vaccine and 6 in 10 have both. He says he’s hoping to have Ontario reach among the highest vaccination rates in the world and points to the latest modelling.

“Once we’re around 90% of the eligible population immunized, the risk of Delta, which is much more infectious, will be less for us, I am concerned monitoring Delta’s activity across the southern United States, across the UK and elsewhere of its potential rise in the fall and it would rise mainly in unvaccinated groups.”

According to provincial date, the risk of contracting COVID-19 in June was almost fives times higher in unvaccinated people than fully and the risk of hospitalization was three times higher for unvaccinated.

The government’s science advisory table released recommendations for COVID protocols in schools that call for loosening rules on masking in low-risk scenarios.

Dr. Kieran Moore defines low risk as fewer than 10 cases per 100,000 per week.