Long-term care workers' vaccination rates unclear
Health unit unsure of number, but report 92 per cent of residents have first shot
A large number of Ottawa's longterm care residents have rolled up their sleeves to receive COVID -19 vaccines, but the health unit isn't sure how many staff at the facilities have agreed to get the first doses.
Ottawa Public Health says vaccine uptake among long-term care staff appears to be increasing, but there's no hard data to indicate the rate of workers who have received the first of two shots.
There's an “issue” with Ontario's tracking system and the province is prioritizing a fix, the health unit said.
However, it wasn't clear Wednesday if the problem was on the province's end.
“The system is available to be used in all settings with the required (information technology) equipment, browser with access to the internet,” said Alexandra Hilkene, an Ontario Health Ministry spokesperson.
The province reported no issues with the COVID-19 vaccine information technology system, which is called COVAX. The system standardizes vaccination information across Ontario.
While Ottawa officials can't specify how many long-term care workers have received the vaccine, they know how many long-term care residents have been vaccinated.
As of Sunday, 92 per cent of residents in Ottawa long-term care homes had received the first dose of vaccine, the health unit said.
Long-term care workers, like residents at the facilities, are considered Phase 1 priority for vaccinations.
Anthony Di Monte, the city's general manager of emergency and protective services, who's overseeing the local vaccination task force, says officials have a “macro understanding of each of the longterm care facilities” when it comes vaccinations.
Di Monte said the process had been complicated because, early in the vaccination campaign, longterm care workers were going to the hospital to receive shots.
When the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine could be transported, officials organized mobile teams to vaccinate people at long-term care homes.
The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine requires storage in ultracold temperatures, which is why vaccinations were first centralized so the logistics of transporting the vaccines could be sorted out.
The provincial tool used to track vaccines doesn't specify if it was a long-term care resident or worker who got the shot, Di Monte said.
OPH is working with The Ottawa Hospital to assess how many long-term care workers received the first dose.
Vera Etches, the city's medical officer of health, said bringing the vaccines to the long-term care homes had been a big help.
“When people are able to be vaccinated during their work day, the work hours they're there, that seems to be facilitating things,” Etches said.
The Ottawa Hospital receives vaccines from the province and co-ordinates vaccine clinics.
Joanne Read, the hospital's vice-president of planning and support services, said initially “there was a little bit of hesitancy” about the vaccine, but over time more workers came to receive the shots, helped by extended hours at the vaccination clinic until the mobile unit was rolling.
On its website, OPH has started publishing information about people receiving the vaccine. There's currently data about vaccination rates for long-term care residents and the health unit anticipates posting data about vaccination rates of long-term care workers.
The health unit has been educating the public about how the vaccines work and busting myths about their safety.
A trove of information on the health unit's website underscores the importance and safety of the approved vaccines in the fight against COVID-19. There's also information tailored for long-term care and retirement homes.
Etches said the health unit would launch a fifth phase of its COVID-19 engagement strategy to understand people's attitudes about vaccines.