Thread by @CBCQueensPark

THREAD: Officials say Toronto is slower to start vaccinating its 80+ age group because the city has a disproportionate amount of health-care workers and other higher priority groups. I went looking for data to support this claim. #COVID19Ontario cbc.ca/news/canada/to…

Ontario's #COVID19 vaccination plan shows 2.1 million people eligible to be vaccinated in all of Phase 1. That's 14% of the province's total population. @TOPublicHealth estimates 325,000 people eligible in Phase 1, or 11% of Toronto's population. #COVID19Ontario

That evidence does *not* support Toronto's claim to be home to a disproportionate number of people in the higher-priority groups.
But I discovered something else that might help explain Toronto's slower pace ... inequitable distribution of vaccine doses. #COVID19Ontario

The Ministry of Health refused to give me data on how many doses of vaccine have been distributed to each of Ontario's public health units. The ministry also refused to tell me how many doses each PHU has administered, even though the province publishes an aggregate number daily.

But I obtained data from 2 PHUs to compare:
@TOPublicHealth has received 195,440 doses
@HNHealthUnit has received 12,285 doses
That's enough to give one dose of vaccine to 10.8% of people living in Haldimand-Norfolk, but to just 6.3% of the population of Toronto.

Until the provincial government provides data on vaccine distribution to all of Ontario's public health units, this comparison with a rural area far less affected by COVID19 indicates that @cityoftoronto is getting seriously shortchanged. #COVID19Ontario
cbc.ca/news/canada/to…