Windsor's top doctor urges transplant recipients, cancer patients to get COVID-19 booster

Windsor-Essex's acting medical officer of health is urging transplant recipients and people who have been treated for cancer to get COVID-19 booster shots as they're more at risk of dying due to the virus.

"There are really two large groups of people dying. One are unvaccinated people, and a number of those deaths are people in the prime of their life, and many of those deaths are really senseless and preventable," Dr. Shanker Nesathurai told reporters during a media briefing Thursday, after speaking with a colleague at Windsor Regional Hospital on Wednesday night.

"The other group of people that are dying of COVID are people with chronic medical conditions who are vaccinated."

Anyone who has had a liver, kidney, heart or other organ transplant is urged to get a booster vaccination if eligible for it, said Nesathurai. 

"Those people who have had previous cancer treatment — chemotherapy, radiation treatment — people eligible for the boosters should get the boosters, but particularly those who have chronic medical conditions," he said. 

"We particularly want to alert people who have had previous transplants and cancer in the past to get their boosters as soon as possible if they are eligible."

COVID-19 deaths have jumped in recent months, with experts saying it's due to the high rate of infections. More people getting the virus ultimately means more people may become severely ill and need to be hospitalized. 

Nesathurai said Thursday that in January, 53 people have died locally. In December, 27 people lost their lives, and in November it was seven. 

Those who are immunocompromised are especially at risk, he said. 

"Many of the people chronically ill do get their vaccines — the nature of having chronic illness makes you more susceptible," he said.  

"In general, people up to date on vaccination and otherwise healthy are not likely to suffer adverse effects."

Now that Ontario has moved to reopen more business and spaces, Nesathurai said the next few weeks will be critical in measuring the burden of infection COVID-19 will have on the community. 

"The first signals we will start seeing is sometime this weekend, and going into next week, I think it's important for us to monitor what the effects of these relaxations are," he said. 

Nesathurai's warning comes amid reporting that five more people in the region have died, according to the Windsor-Essex County Health Unit.