Ford Government Struggles to Vaccinate Ontario’s Population
Evan Gravelle — March 26th — Toronto, Ontario
With nearly 200,000 Ontarians over the age of 80 yet to sign up for a vaccine, there are questions about the efficacy of Ontario’s immunization strategy.
On Monday the Ontario government released figures saying that 71 per cent of people over 80 had received their first dose of the vaccine or signed up for an appointment, leaving 200,000 people in that age bracket having not signed up for a vaccine yet.
Several factors contribute to this, from transportation to fear of crowded buildings. Tara Gomes, an Epidemiologist at St Michael’s Hospital shared the story of her mothers vaccination on Twitter, showing the long lines and lack of social distancing in the vaccination facility, saying she was “fearful that today (my mother) was put at a higher risk of being exposed to #COVID19 than at any other point in this pandemic.” Ontario is already behind other provinces and regions in terms of immunization, with Montreal vaccinating 75 per cent of its over 65 population with at least the first shot by last week.
For those in nursing homes and LTC’s, the province largely brought the vaccine to them, but is now asking the next wave of seniors to show up at one of 150 vaccination sites in the province. This has raised criticism from many organizations, including the Ontario College of Family Physicians. They believe that utilizing Family Doctors would make the vaccination rollout faster and safer, as their offices are a place where seniors are familiar with getting to, and often their doctors are people they trust. “The OCFP’s findings show giving Ontarians the option to get their vaccines from a family doctor could increase vaccine uptake by as much as 61% among people who are resistant or hesitant to getting the vaccine — with the potential to raise the provincial uptake rate by 20 points to 88%. “
Transportation is another major issue standing in the way of lower income people getting the vaccine. The Ontario government is attempting to fix the problem, by investing 3.7 million dollars “to help seniors and people with disabilities get their COVID-19 vaccinations, where transportation is a barrier.”
The City of Toronto also announced their Vaccine Equity Transportation plan, which will partner with the TTC, Uber and other companies to provide free ways to vaccine facilities for people who need it. These services are available to Ontarians over 80 and will be expanded as the vaccine criteria expands.
Even providing transportation will not get everyone vaccinated, as Leonora Scarpino-Inglese knows. Her father is 90 years old and bedridden. She says that he would not be able to get a vaccine at one of Ontario’s centres. “Not without an ambulance. We would have to rent a medical lift to get him out of bed, and he probably would not even be able to sit in a wheelchair because he’s so fragile that everything hurts,” Dr. Samir Sinha estimates that there are 40,000 people across Ontario that would be seen as home-bound “People who for example getting a vaccine in their own home is a necessity, not a convenience,”
York Region has started vaccinating those who are homebound, with a mobile vaccination site, but such projects are at “various stages of planning and execution” in the GTA and Hamilton, according to City News.
The challenges that Ontario faces as it ramps up its immunization are wide ranging, but transportation, and diversification of access to the vaccines could be a vital part of getting Ontario on track with the goals set by the province.
