Guelph area gets head start on vaccinating older residents

Ontarians 80 and older are already getting their COVID-19 vaccines — weeks ahead of schedule — in at least one health unit, while the province’s online booking portal doesn’t open until mid-March.

Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Public Health started vaccinating adults 80 and up in the community on Friday, spokesperson Danny Williamson confirmed.

“Because we have completed vaccinations for all long-term-care and retirement home residents we have begun to include our seniors over age 80 and indigenous adults as we prepare to vaccinate our very high priority healthcare workers in the next groups,” he said in an email.

The unit is nearing “completion of our highest priority healthcare workers, long-term-care and retirement home staff,” Williamson said.

Eligible residents of Guelph Wellington are already able to preregister on the health unit’s website, to be contacted when an appointment is available.

But Amy Hogg said her mother Betty, 87, got the shot at Guelph public health’s offices on Friday by simply calling the health department.

She lives independently, sharing a house with her daughters but in a

separate apartment, and is “fit as a fiddle,” said Hogg.

Hogg’s sister was listening to local radio last week, and heard that seniors would be able to come and get shots at Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Public Health. A phone number was on its website, which her mom called midweek. She got through right away and got an appointment for Feb. 19 to receive the Pfizer shot.

They are “greatly relieved,” and thankful their mom was able to get the jab, and her sister started calling friends with 80plus relatives around town “to get the word out,” Hogg said.

The province is developing an online booking system using the same software as California, where some seniors have criticized it as hard to navigate. There have also been disparities by race and income there, with wealthier neighbourhoods in Los Angeles, such as Beverly Hills (90210), reporting the highest vaccination rates, per the Los Angeles Times.

Retired general Rick Hillier, who leads Ontario’s vaccination distribution task force, encouraged younger friends and relatives to act as “vaccine concierges” to help seniors book slots on the portal when it’s ready ready March 15, or through the call centre, when the time comes. They will also get leaflets in the mail to alert them it’s their turn.

Asked at the Wednesday press conference why the vaccine portal is not ready Hillier said the province doesn’t “need it” until March 15, “and we will have it ready then.”

Health units have to follow provincial vaccine guidelines, he said. But if they have hit the highest-priority groups, they can keep going.

“What we have said to them is, when you’ve made all reasonable efforts to get the priorities above that group, then you can start with … say the high-risk 80-year-olds in your area.”

Ottawa Public Health will begin offering the vaccine to over-80s and adults who get home care in high-risk neighbourhoods, starting March 5, using its own registration booking system.

“All the public health units across Ontario do the annual flu vaccine system so we’re using that system,” Anthony Di Monte, general manager of emergency and protective services for the city of Ottawa, told reporters on a media call Tuesday.

“So we can use that as our tool now with those small groups, and not get overwhelmed and not have a system that crashes.”

They don’t have enough vaccines for all so are targeting the most at risk within that population first, determined by the rate of COVID-19 in the different neighbourhoods, said Dr. Vera Etches, the medical officer of health.

They are “truly the most vulnerable,” said Di Monte. “So we felt it was important to jump on that and get those people vaccinated as quickly as possible.”