Niagara prepares for eventual COVID-19 immunization program

Department is shoring up supplies for a vaccine launch next year

Even as Niagara continues to cope with the COVID-19 pandemic — particularly in longterm care homes where cases of infection continue to grow — the public health department is planning for a future effort to protect people from the virus.

Although a novel coronavirus vaccine is likely a year away, the health department is starting to stock up on equipment necessary for a mass immunization program.

“We are slowly preparing for a point next year when we are going to immunize the 450,000 people living in Niagara, or a great proportion of them,” said Dr. Mustafa Hirji, the region’s acting medical officer of health. “We know when the time comes, there will be a tremendous global demand for needles and syringes just as there is currently a demand for testing materials. So we are working on stocking up so that we will be ready.”

The health department has what Hirji called the “skeleton” of an immunization plan in place. Prior to the arrival of COVID-19, it was working on how to enact a vaccine program in the event of a flu or H1N1 pandemic. That plan is being updated so the health department is ready to launch once a vaccine becomes publicly available.

Hirji said a vaccine is the best way to an end to the threat of COVID-19, which he said “is going to be with us now forever and ever.”

“It is not going away.” How to face the future is something Hirji said is something that must be talked about now, particularly when the growth of COVID-19 cases in Niagara appears to be stabilizing.

“It’s a question of what triggers an easing of restrictions and what kind of risk we, as a society, are willing to take. And that is something I think we need to start talking about now,” he said.

Niagara had another 18 cases of COVID-19 confirmed Monday, the majority of them related to outbreaks in five longterm care and retirement homes. That brings the total number of cases in Niagara to 384 since the first case was found in St. Catharines on March 13.

Cases in long-term care homes make up about 33 per cent of the total number of cases. Health-care workers now comprise 20 per cent of cases, with most of them connected to the homes outbreaks.

The number of new cases connected to travel or other kinds of community transmission have fallen into the single digits, something Hirji said was made clear in Sunday’s case data when only two new Niagara cases were confirmed.

The product of the lag in waiting for recent test results from homes with outbreaks, Sunday’s numbers nonetheless showed how much the spread of the virus slowed down in the larger community thanks to physical distancing and hygiene measures.

“We are slowly preparing for a point next year when we are going to immunize the 450,000 people living in Niagara.” DR. MUSTAFA HIRJI REGION’S ACTING MEDICAL OFFICER OF HEALTH

Neither case was connected to the outbreaks.

While Niagara’s COVID-19 curve is flattening out, Hirji said he is not willing to sound the all-clear.

“I wouldn’t even consider that until the situation in the longterm care and retirement homes improves,” he said. “And while the numbers in the community are low, there are still cases out there, and if we don’t remain vigilant those cases can start to multiply quickly.”

Even so, he said now is a time to start talking about start taking steps back toward normalcy, even if it will come in a staggered approach.

That approach might lean on determining who is immune to the virus since those who have recovered will have developed antibodies that should prevent a repeat infection.

Methods like a polymerase chain reaction, or PCR test, which detects the remnants of a virus in someone’s body, can help public health determine how widespread immunity might be.