Ontario Vows to Vaccinate Nursing-Home Residents in Hot Zones by January 21

With COVID-19 wreaking havoc in Ontario's hot zones, the province is racing to vaccinate nursing-home residents, their caregivers, and health-care workers by January 21. However, a unique challenge arises from the extreme cold-weather requirements for the Pfizer vaccine, limiting its distribution to hospitals. To overcome this hurdle, the province is developing protocols to safely transport the vaccine to nearby locations. A pilot project in Ottawa is currently testing these methods, which, if successful, could accelerate vaccinations in long-term care facilities.

Key Takeaways:

• The province aims to vaccinate all nursing-home residents, their health-care workers, and essential caregivers in Toronto, Peel, York, and Windsor-Essex hot zones by January 21.
• The target date for getting to all long-term-care facilities remains unclear.
• Efforts are underway to expand vaccinations to more nursing-home residents in other areas "as soon as possible," given the high rates of infection and death from the virus.
• Protocols are being developed to safely transport the Pfizer vaccine to nearby locations, such as nursing homes.
• A pilot project in Ottawa is testing these methods, which could be approved later this week.
• Program participants, including Premier Doug Ford, pledge that "you're going to see a significant difference over the next few weeks."
• Over 50,000 vaccinations have been given to long-term care and hospital health-care workers to date, leaving almost 100,000 doses in storage.
• Ontario is expecting 50,000 doses of Pfizer vaccines this week, with 80,000 weekly shipments for the rest of the month.
• After the coming shipment of Moderna doses, no more are expected until early February.
• Local public health units are working with hospitals and primary-care teams to create "mobile teams" for vaccination blitzes.
• The province has publicly stated plans to prioritize nursing homes and high-risk retirement homes in the process.
• 2 million doses are expected through the first phase of the plan.
• The general public will have to wait until spring to begin getting vaccinated.

Statistics:

• Ontario aims to vaccinate nursing-home residents in hot zones by January 21.
• Over 50,000 vaccinations have been given to long-term care and hospital health-care workers to date.
• Almost 100,000 doses of Pfizer and Moderna vaccines are stored but yet to be administered.
• 14 million is the population of Ontario.
• 50,000 doses of Pfizer vaccines are expected this week.
• 80,000 weekly shipments of Pfizer vaccines are expected for the rest of the month.
• 2 million doses are expected through the first phase of the plan.

Sources:

• Rob Ferguson, Ontario reporter for the Star
• Premier Doug Ford
• Rob Ferguson on Twitter (@robferguson1)
• The Michener Institute in Toronto