BARRIE, ONT. -- The Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit reports a Simcoe County man over the age of 80 has died with COVID-19, bringing the region's virus-related death toll to 192.

There are 44 new infections Friday, for a total of 189 cases this week. There were 208 the week prior, which was a 20 per cent drop from the week before.

Public health says there are 132 active variant cases in Simcoe Muskoka, including the B.1.1.7, P.1 and B.1.351.

The UK variant, known as the B.1.1.7, is the most common variant in the region. The health unit has confirmed 243 cases of the UK variant, seven P.1 (Brazil) cases and one B.1.351 variant (South Africa).

Additionally, 508 cases screened positive for a variant of concern. They require further testing to confirm.

Simcoe Muskoka's associate medical officer of health, Dr. Colin Lee, says progress is being made with the vaccines, but case numbers remain a concern.

"We're in an uncomfortable situation where there's still quite a bit of COVID out there, and of that COVID, a good portion of it, is of the variant kind, which is more contagious," Lee says.

Nearly 54,000 doses of the vaccine have been administered in Simcoe Muskoka to eligible groups, something Lee says is a "pleasant surprise."

"I honestly thought this was a three to five year fight.

I didn't think that we would be able to develop a vaccine - an effective one - let alone multiple ones that we've had, and put them in arms in less than a year after the pandemic started. I thought at the earliest two years," the associate medical officer of health says.

The health unit reports 94 per cent of long-term care and retirement home residents are now vaccinated. They remain the most vulnerable and hardest hit by the virus and its variants.

Lee notes the vaccine's benefits. "I thought the effectiveness would be, at most, 50 per cent and not the 95 per cent we're seeing in some of the vaccines."

On Friday, the province's pilot project to bring AstraZeneca to select regions, including Simcoe Muskoka, kicked off.

In Collingwood, residents 60 to 64 rolled up to the drive-thru vaccination clinic to get their first shot.

"I believe we can end this pandemic," Lee states.