Vaccination early for some seniors

Rollout to start next week among people over 80 in high-risk areas

People over 80 in some of Ottawa's highest-risk neighbourhoods will get COVID-19 vaccinations starting next week, two weeks before the over-80 rollout begins in the rest of the province.

Anthony Di Monte, the city's general manager of emergency and protective services, told council Wednesday that Ottawa Public Health and the city did not want to wait for the province's online booking system, because the risk to that demographic is too high.

“We believe it is too urgent and these people are too vulnerable.

We must protect them as quickly as possible.”

Beginning on March 1, select residents of six Ottawa neighbourhoods with the highest rates of severe illness and death from COVID-19 will be able to book vaccination appointments using a city booking system that worked smoothly during last fall's flu immunization campaign. Immunizations at popup sites in the neighbourhoods of Ledbury, Herongate, Ridgemont, Emerald Woods, Sawmill Creek and Riverview will begin on March 5. People over 80 and adults receiving chronic home care from those neighbourhoods will be eligible.

Chief Medical Officer Dr. Vera Etches said that by targeting the oldest people in the highest-risk neighbourhoods, the city can do the most good with the limited vaccine supply it has.

“The possibility of reducing hospitalization is bigger there, and that helps our whole health system.”

The initiative also allows Ottawa to begin vaccinating people over 80 outside of long-term care or retirement homes before the rest of the province. People over 80 are at the highest risk of severe illness and death from COVID-19.

Retired general Rick Hillier, who is in charge of COVID-19 vaccine rollout for Ontario, said Wednesday that the provincewide campaign to immunize the 600,000 Ontario residents over 80 will begin March 15 and will continue until at least April. The province has been “working frantically” to make sure its booking system for vaccines will be ready to go, Hillier said.

Ottawa health officials said there will be more information before March 15 about how people can book vaccination appointments, either online or by phone, using the province's booking system, rather than going through their family doctor.

In Ontario, those over 75 will begin getting vaccinated in April, over 70 in May over 65 in June, and 60 and over in July, depending on vaccine supply.

Other higher-risk groups, including essential workers, will also be vaccinated during the second phase of the rollout.

Immunization of the general population is expected to begin in about August. There are currently no vaccines approved for children.

The plan to begin vaccinating vulnerable seniors comes as Dr. Vera Etches, the city's chief medical officer, is warning that Ottawa could be heading into the Red zone as early as next week.

“There are many indicators that are showing us we are heading in the wrong direction,” she said.

There has been widespread concern about how slowly COVID-19 vaccinations have rolled out across Canada compared with other countries. On Wednesday, the provincial NDP said Ontario lags behind other provinces in per capita vaccinations. Both Quebec and Alberta are starting to vaccinate the elderly this week, although the launch of Alberta's rollout was marred Wednesday when its booking system crashed soon after opening.

Di Monte said he has been watching the Alberta situation with concern. Ottawa will have its own backup system ready if Ontario's provincewide booking system experiences similar overloads, he said.

“I know they are working hard at a robust system, but we are talking about a massive demand,” Di Monte said.

Ottawa, meanwhile, is preparing numerous mass vaccination sites, pop-ups and mobile systems to be ready as the vaccination campaign expands in coming months.

Seven mass vaccination clinics will operate from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m., seven days a week, and can expand to 24 hours a day if needed. There will also be clinics at The Ottawa Hospital and Queensway Carleton Hospital, as well as pop-up clinics and mobile teams.

Public health officials, meanwhile, say the need for people to follow public health guidelines is stronger than ever, especially with more contagious variants of concern now in the province.

The Orange zone, where Ottawa currently sits, allows social gatherings of 10 people indoors and 25 outdoors. But Etches called that guidance similar to a speed limit. “We are in the middle of a snowstorm and we should not be driving the speed limit,” she said.