02/27/2021
We are just as eager as our patients to know the specifics about when and how COVID-19 vaccination will roll out in Ontario to patients outside of the hospital and long-term care settings. COVID-19 vaccination is the hot topic of 2021!
We learned on Wednesday, February 17 2021 from a Peel Public Health fax to doctors’ offices that Peel Region is in the process of setting up 7-8 community COVID-19 vaccination clinics that will open in March to begin vaccinating seniors in the community. We have no specific information yet about the locations, but they are expected to be at large community centres and public venues, and possibly at some drive-through locations. As soon as we know how our patients can register for their COVID-19 vaccine at one of these clinics, we will update this Notice Board. We expect the registration and sign-up to be an online booking system, and we are ready and willing to contact our own patients to assist them in this process, particularly for any patients who may not have access to a home computer or may require some help. We are compiling lists of our Dixie Road Medical patients over the age of 80, the age group expected to be called up for vaccination first so that we ready to contact patients to assist them with booking their COVID-19 vaccines.
At the provincial level, it is being discussed that if refrigerator-stable COVID-19 vaccine comes to Canada (Johnson and Johnson’s vaccine, Astra Zeneca’s vaccine), that vaccine will likely be distributed to family doctors’ offices so that we can vaccinate our own patients. Right now, the need for the Pfizer vaccine and the Moderna vaccine to be stored in -70C freezers limits vaccine programming to dedicated vaccination centres. Family doctors in Ontario are used to giving approximately 5 million flu shots per year, so we’re ready to participate in COVID-19 vaccination at our office whenever we’re provided with vaccine supply and asked to do so. Family physician leaders are participating in these planning discussions with Ontario Heath and Ministry of Health officials.
The COVID-19 vaccine is currently being given first to residents of Long Term Care facilities, front line hospital workers and other vulnerable populations at hospital-based COVID-19 vaccine clinics. After that, the vaccine will go to seniors over the age of 80, and then to younger seniors over the age of 65, most likely by March to June 2021. The Government of Canada and The COVID-19 Vaccine Distribution Task Force have stated that every Canadian will have access to the COVID-19 by the end of 2021. We have no information yet about whether medically vulnerable younger patients will be considered for vaccination ahead of or alongside more medically well older patients.
Based on all available scientific data to date, the physicians at Dixie Road Medical Associates are strongly endorsing COVID-19 vaccination for our patients. We know that pregnant and breastfeeding women should consult with their physician about whether COVID-19 vaccination will be advisable for them, and that anyone who has had a severe allergic reaction (anaphylaxis) to a previous dose of an mRNA vaccine or any of the ingredients in the vaccine (particularly polyethylene glycol) should not receive it. People with autoimmune conditions or people who are immunocompromised should discuss the COVID-19 vaccine with their care provider, but in general, for these populations, the benefits of vaccination far outweigh any small risks.
We will continue to update this Notice Board regularly with all of the guidance and recommendations around the COVID-19 vaccination that we receive.
For more information about COVID-19 vaccination please visit: https://covid-19.ontario.ca/
The Doctors@ Dixie Road Medical Associates
Ontario Government Trillium Health Partners City of Mississauga - Municipal Government
