Giving Ottawans the vaccine left indelible impression
Priority of injections correct, says.
As an American physician in my first year in Canada, I occasionally encounter some surprising contrasts. Some of them are banal, such as hearing a glucose value reported in mmol/L instead of the mg/dL to which I'm accustomed. Then there are the experiences that take time to digest, and it can be hard to discern whether those experiences represent differences in hospitals or countries. Volunteering last week at The Ottawa Hospital's COVID-19 vaccination clinic was an experience where the contrast was distinct and meaningful.
For weeks, I have been inundated with pictures of friends and former colleagues in the U.S. posting selfies of their vaccinations. My response to this has been conflicted. While I am pleased they are vaccinated and appreciate the advocacy behind the social media campaign, there is also a sense of privilege that unsettles me. Last week, I arrived at The Ottawa Hospital's Civic campus for the vaccination clinic prepared for a possible social media extravaganza. I did not witness a single picture taken during my shift. What I did witness, however, left an indelible impression.
Ontario has directed that vaccinations be first administered to long-term care and retirement home staff. I had the privilege of vaccinating several.
As a psychiatrist, I'm used to spending significantly more time with each patient, but there were still some meaningful exchanges during the clinic. There was a housekeeper who proudly reported that while his facility saw two staff get sick, no patients caught the virus. There was also the daughter and designated caregiver of a resident, who in a friendly way found time to emphasize how late her 90-something mother had her in life. There was also the archetypal large man afraid of needles, where my therapeutic training as a psychiatrist could be
We are proud to first care for those who have borne the brunt of this pandemic.
applied. With some, I jested how a psychiatrist gave them their first COVID vaccine, while with others, that didn't fit the moment.
We started the shift at a frenetic pace, knowing patients were waiting in a line that extended into the December cold. Eventually, our entire team caught up and there was a lull in the action. Eager to vaccinate as many as possible, I suggested we call the intensive care unit to send any available staff down for an injection. This suggestion, which seemed straightforward in my American mind, was met with a reminder that nursing homes and long-term care staff come first. No one discussed their own vaccinations and the few I asked, like me, had not yet been vaccinated. During that lull, I instead talked to a resident physician volunteer, identifiable by his T-shirt as having gone to medical school in the U.S. We discussed some of the outrage over various U.S. politicians and others getting to the front of the COVID-19 vaccination line. In Canada, politicians are prioritized just like other Canadians.
We are proud to first care for those who have borne the brunt of this pandemic. While it may have been efficient to vaccinate a few intensive care nurses during the aforementioned lull, vaccines were limited, and we must respect the order. We will wait our turn.
On Dec. 30, Ontario released an ethical framework to guide distribution, which includes an emphasis on equitable distribution, ensuring benefits for groups with greater pandemic-related burdens, and fairness such that every person in an equally prioritized group has the same opportunity to be vaccinated.
Just a small proportion of the Ontario population has been vaccinated so far. But there's still time to catch up, and we're off to a principled start.