The Ontario government announced today that as of Saturday, March 13, primary care providers in Simcoe Muskoka will be able to vaccinate those aged 60-64 (as defined by year of birth between 1957-1961) with the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine. Starting today, those providers will begin contacting their patients to book appointments. They will not be taking appointments by request and will only be offering the AstraZeneca/COVISHIELD vaccine.
The National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI) doesn’t recommend the AstraZeneca vaccine for those over the age of 65, even though Health Canada has approved it for adults of all ages.
“To ramp up capacity for vaccination, the province is working with primary care professionals to offer vaccinations in primary care settings and community locations, such as physician offices, in collaboration with public health units,” the province said in a media release today. “This initiative will begin in Hamilton, Toronto, Guelph, Peterborough, Simcoe Muskoka, and Peel as of Saturday March 13, 2021. Primary care providers will not be taking appointments by request but will be contacting eligible Ontarians aged 60-64 directly to book an appointment starting today, March 10, 2021. They will only be offering the AstraZeneca/COVISHIELD vaccine at this time.”
The Province is also making the AstraZeneca vaccine available in some pharmacies starting this week in three health unit regions: Toronto, Windsor-Essex, and Kingston, Frontenac, Lennox & Addington. The vaccine rollout will be expanded to more pharmacies in other regions of the province as supply increases.
“We have a plan to get vaccines into arms as quickly as possible in order to keep people safe and we will do that as long as we have a steady supply from the federal government,” said Premier Doug Ford today.
In vaccine trials, the AstraZeneca vaccine was found to have lower efficacy than the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines in preventing infections, but it does significantly reduce risk of hospitalization.
The Province also noted that it is preparing to move into Phase Two of its COVID-19 vaccine distribution plan next month, with a focus on vaccinating populations based on age and risk. Vaccinations continue to be offered to eligible populations at hospitals, mobile clinics, and mass immunization clinics with the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines.
“Rolling out the pilot with pharmacy and primary care providers will enable us to prepare and refine our mass vaccine distribution plan for the months ahead,” said General (Ret’d) Rick Hillier. “This a significant step in our progress to make vaccines available to all Ontarians. As we enter Phase Two, we are ready and well positioned with our public health partners to open mass vaccination sites and increase our capacity as more and more vaccines arrive each week.”
Phase One of Ontario’s COVID-19 vaccine rollout is nearing completion, said provincial officials, with nearly one million doses administered and over 279,000 Ontarians fully immunized. Approximately 88 per cent of long-term care residents are fully immunized across the province.
The Province will launch an online booking system and a provincial customer service desk on March 15. These supports will help to answer questions and book appointments at mass immunization clinics, starting with those over the age of 80. The Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit began taking appointments for eligible residents for its vaccine clinics in the region on March 1, and will transition to the provincial booking system after it is up and running.
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Well I read this twice. Things are “rolling out” according to age “defined by …” and a bunch of other notes but the question I have is still the same.
I’m closer to 70 than any other age, based on a “birthday” and I’m no wiser as to if I am supposed to be “doing anything” other than sit and wait for some government official to call me and invite me for a vaccine session.
The definitions are as clear as mud. The various bodies in charge seem to be relatively divided on whom is doing what., when and where.
You’d kind of hope for a clear and straightforward explanation of the vaccination procedure but it is not much clearer than the various colored “zones” used to define levels of lock down.
It would be nice to just know where one stands, or waits and what, if anything, a person is supposed to be doing at this time other than wear a mask and stay 6 feet away from anybody who seems to be moving about.
The Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine has been deemed safe and effective for people over 65 by the UK, EU and Canada, but a few advisory committees in various countries then decided that there were not enough seniors in the original trial, ignoring the fact that we are in a pandemic and all of these vaccines I believe are being approved as ’emergency use only’.
It is ironic that NACI has made the forward looking decision that the second shots should be delayed based on new information in order to vaccinate more people faster, but has ignored the recent real time studies in Scotland and elsewhere that show that the Oxford vaccine is safe and effective for seniors, in fact a slightly higher number for seniors (95%) in Scotland not being hospitalized than Pfizer (85%).
Meanwhile France has changed their restriction from under 65 to 75, Portugal just reversed course to give to over 65’s and Germany is expected to do the same any day. But Ontario has sadly ignored all of this and Health Canada approval, and decided to deny this safe and effective vaccine to seniors, ie. the people who need it the most. This is a cowardly decision and will be proven in time to be the wrong one. Canada should have the best practices for the whole country instead of this seemingly random and sometimes politicized approach province by province.
Is Norm Miller standing up for Ontario seniors?