Full inoculations at care homes hinges on vaccine supplies
Residents of four Ottawa longterm care homes, including the city's largest, have now been vaccinated against COVID-19.
But how quickly the immunization campaign in long-term care can be complete depends on when the next shipment of vaccine is coming, Anthony Di Monte, who heads the city's vaccination task force, and medical officer of health Dr. Vera Etches said in a memo to city council Friday. And that remains an open question as Ottawa waits for more supply.
“Specific dates cannot be determined ... given vaccines are received from the province weekly and in amounts that fluctuate week over week,” the memo says.
Ottawa is the first city in the province given permission to transport vials of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine out of the hospital to administer directly to long-term care residents. Until the province allowed the Ottawa pilot project, which began earlier this week, the vaccine could only be administered inside the hospital, which meant long-term care residents weren't getting immunized.
Ottawa is now sending out mobile teams to vaccinate vulnerable residents of the city's long-term care homes with the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine. Etches said earlier this week that she would like to see residents of all 28 long-term care homes vaccinated within a few weeks, but it is unclear whether there will be enough vaccine available to meet that timeline.
Di Monte expressed frustration earlier this week about the difficulty of planning to do mass immunizations because of a shortage of vaccines. On Friday morning, Premier Doug Ford also expressed frustration about how slowly vaccines are trickling in to the province. He said the province would use up its supply of the Pfizer vaccine by next week. Ottawa was expected to have used its up this week.
“We're all hopeful the federal government will get us more vaccines,” the premier said. “Without them, hospitals will have to start cancelling appointments and all the progress we've made, getting our daily vaccine numbers up, will be lost, as clinics stand by waiting for vaccines from the feds.”
Ottawa, meanwhile, released a priority list of the order in which long-term care homes will be vaccinated.
The Perley and Rideau Veteran's Health Centre, where the city's first long-term care resident was vaccinated on Tuesday, was first on the list. Perley and Rideau is one of the largest long-term care homes in the province, with 450 beds.
By Friday, residents from Carlingview Manor, which was among the hardest hit during the first wave of the pandemic, Peter D. Clark, a city-run long-term care home, and St. Patrick's Home had all been vaccinated.
That leaves 24 homes to be vaccinated, something city officials said would continue at Garry J. Armstrong and Saint-Louis Residence “subject to vaccine availability.” The homes have been prioritized based on the province's ethical framework that looks at minimizing harms and maximizing benefits, equity and fairness, among other things.