Health unit injects vaccine at all 19 local LTC homes
Nurses to circle back to immunize those who could not be earlier
Windsor-essex is the first region in the province to administer the COVID-19 vaccine at all of its longterm care homes, according to the local health unit.
More than a week ahead of its Jan. 21 goal, the Windsor-essex County Health Unit on Monday announced it had inoculated many residents, staff and essential caregivers at all 19 local long-term care homes in only 10 days.
“It's a great start for our community and for those that have been impacted by COVID so much these past 10 months,” said health unit CEO Theresa Marentette.
“It is a huge accomplishment. There is a lot more work to do, though.”
Not everyone in long-term care who wanted a vaccine was able to receive one when the health unit came through to put shots in arms, Marentette said. Many of the homes had active outbreaks, with some residents and staff too ill to be injected at the time. Public health nurses will circle back to inoculate those individuals once they've recovered.
People registered as essential caregivers for residents of longterm care homes have also been receiving the COVID-19 shot from the health unit and are included in the province's top priority group for vaccine distribution.
The health unit is now moving on to inoculate residents and remaining staff at the 25 retirement homes in the region, though it will run out of doses before it finishes.
Marentette said she's “hoping for another shipment,” and that the health unit is monitoring its current inventory closely.
A second dose for each person immunized is currently being withheld by the health unit so it will have enough vaccines to administer a necessary booster 28 days after giving out the first jab. This is unlike the tactic being taken by Windsor Regional Hospital, which, under direction from the province, has not been holding back second doses with the assumption additional shipments of the vaccine will arrive in time to keep up with the need.
Vaccination has already been performed at two retirement homes that were attached to long-term care homes, Marentette said. Two more retirement homes were receiving doses of the shot on Monday. The health unit received its first and only shipment of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine so far on Dec. 30 and began to immunize long-term care home residents on Jan. 1. At the time, the health unit said it had enough doses to immunize residents and staff at roughly half of the 44 long-term care and retirement homes in the region.
Windsor Regional Hospital has been responsible for vaccinating long-term care and retirement home staff with the Pfizer vaccine at the St. Clair College Sportsplex. However, the health unit has also administered vaccines to longterm care home staff in-house.
Some homes have had the resources to administer the COVID-19 vaccines to their residents and staff without additional help from the health unit, Marentette said. Others have needed public health nurses to step in and do the job.
Windsor-essex was one of the approximately 17 regions in Ontario chosen by the province to receive vaccines first because of high COVID-19 transmission rates.
On Jan. 5, the province announced it would ensure all residents, health-care workers and essential caregivers at long-term care homes in the “priority regions” of Windsor-essex, Toronto, Peel and York received a vaccination by Jan. 21.
“There are so many people involved to make this happen at our site and also all the long-term care homes,” Marentette said.
While the completion of the long-term care home vaccine rollout is cause for celebration, medical officer of health Dr. Wajid Ahmed said those who have received the shot are not yet protected from COVID-19.
“We still have to follow all the measures that we have been talking about in public health,” he said. “We really hope that over some time period, all of these vaccines that have gone into the arms of the people (will show) its results and its impact — but we have to be patient.”
It takes about two weeks for the body to build up an immunity to COVID-19 after it receives the vaccine, Ahmed said. The vaccine is even more effective once people have received a second dose.