Public health must up its game for public’s sake

In the ongoing, life-or-death battle against COVID-19, Waterloo Region is retreating one step for every two steps it advances.

The fact that at least 17 per cent of local residents had, as of Monday, received at least one vaccination shot was an achievement worth celebrating. But considering it took four months to reach this still inadequate level of public protection, and given that the daily number of new, local vaccinations actually dropped at the start of April, a return to something even remotely resembling “normal” remains out of sight.

To be fair, the regional public health department’s mass vaccination clinics are models of careful organization and smooth delivery. It’s great 41 more pharmacies in this region will start offering vaccines, too.

Yet there are still far too many unclaimed places in the lineups at the local pharmacies already offering the jab. And there are still far too many seniors without cellphones or internet access who find it practically impossible to schedule the inoculations to which they’re entitled.

Meanwhile, the news that about 2,900 phone numbers on the Telus network were recently blocked from receiving important text notifications about vaccine appointments in Waterloo Region has exposed a system that simply isn’t firing on all cylinders.

This disturbing failing can’t be sloughed off as some innocuous technical glitch. It may result in unvaccinated individuals contracting COVID-19 or contributing to the spread of the third wave of the pandemic that is flooding this province. And that third wave explains why we’re in the midst of yet one more lockdown and why, after this week’s school break, classes will again be taught online only.

Any thoughts that Ontario has turned back the COVID-19 tide should have been dashed by Saturday’s report of 4,456 new cases in the province — a record high. Here in this region, COVID-19 cases have doubled in the past 18 days as public health officials reported 131 new cases over the weekend.

With an all-time high of 619 Ontarians in intensive care units with COVID-19-related illnesses, and 408 of them on ventilators, hospitals in this region as well as across the province have started taking transfers from hospitals that have hit their capacity. What happens if local ICUs run out of beds?

The only cure for this seemingly endless emergency is to be found in syringes filled with COVID-19 vaccines. So don’t think our call on the region’s public health department to up its vaccination game is the petty response of ungrateful armchair critics.

Don’t think our hope that public health officials will be more open and communicative about new developments with local media is self-serving. This community has ceded to its public health officials the authority to make vital decisions impacting all of our daily lives. In return, our public health leaders need to be more responsive.

For instance, when the region acknowledged the problems with Telus last week, it initially didn’t indicate others had experienced technical problems. But it turns out the Elmira Medical Clinic had reported a similar problem with booking vaccination appointments back in early March.

Thankfully, as of Tuesday, the region has begun contacting phone companies to ensure similar blocks weren’t happening. In another positive step, the region began sending new texts to every mobile number that was blocked with information on how to book the vaccine online.

Those strike us as a few more welcome steps forward. Unfortunately, they don’t entirely make up for the steps we’ve taken back.