These are the actual postal codes that will have priority vaccination.
IMPLEMENTATION is key though.
Because there is still a shortage of vaccines, this will be implemented through mobile vaccine teams and pop-up clinics focused in "high-risk congregate settings, residential buildings, faith-based locations, & locations occupied by large employers"
"Vaccinations will commence during the April break starting with priority neighborhoods in Toronto and Peel, then rolling out to priority neighborhoods in other hot spot regions, including York, Ottawa, Hamilton, Halton & Durham."
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1. Those at risk of having a severe outcome from infection (e.g. age, medical comorbidity).
2. Those at risk of getting infected (e.g. essential workers, shelters).
3. Communities disproportionately impacted.
2/ That is a lot of people in Phase 2. While vaccines are pouring into the country & the province, it is still not enough to flip a switch and prioritize everyone at once in this Phase.
Still, it has started and will gear up substantially given the recent large shipment.
3/ I am hesitant to put in the slide with the tentative dates of each part of Phase 2, as there is an important caveat at the bottom that often gets missed:
"All timelines subject to supply availability"
We now have more availability so this will be moving faster.
1. Centralized online and telephone booking to start in mid-March.
2. Mass vaccine clinics & community centers will be a major focus for vaccinations.
3. Pharmacies will administer 10-20% of vaccines, and scale up further.
4. Each Public Health Unit expected to vaccinate a minimum of 10K people per day.
5. Larger Public Health Units will vaccinate significantly more. E.g. Toronto expected to vaccinate 400K per week when things get rolling, through 9 mass vaccine sites.
6. Details of the prioritization within Phase 2 (e.g. underlying medical conditions, etc) will come out shortly.
The task force has submitted their recommendations to Cabinet. This will be publicly released asap when approved.
1/ @nature asked over 100 scientists if they felt that #COVID19 was going to become endemic & circulate on earth for years to come. ~90% felt this was a likely or very likely scenario.
2/ Why will #COVID19 be around for a while? A few reasons....
*It is very contagious
*Mild-to-no symptoms in many (harder to identify cases)
*Significant pre-symptomatic transmission
*Non-animal reservoirs of the virus
*People can get re-infected
...more below...
3/ cont....
*Vaccines reduce the risk of infection but do not prevent infection all the time
*Vaccines may reduce risk of transmission but likely not all the time
1/ Tocilizumab appears to reduce the risk of death in those hospitalized with severe #COVID19 infection, with results from the RECOVERY trial available today.
This is an anti-inflammatory/immunosuppressive medication, used in rheumatic diseases.
1/ Many are talking about gradually lifting public health measures as #COVID19 cases are dropping in Canadian settings.
What is needed to avoid undoing our collective efforts & sacrifices as we reopen? And how do we account for more transmissible variants (eg B.1.1.7)? 👇👇👇
2/ We often hear people say that because of the more transmissible variants we need to "double down" on control efforts & vaccinate.
What exactly does doubling down mean?
It most likely means keeping R at (or preferably below) 0.8 to account for greater transmissibility.
3/
Maintaining R at/below 0.8 would likely allow for a continued decline in cases as we see more B.1.1.7 circulate.
So what questions do we need to address to gradually & safely reopen in the context of community #COVID19 transmission & growing burden of B.1.1.7?
3/ Long Term Care - a significant black eye for Canada, is also improving. We failed to protect our most vulnerable (twice!), but cases are rapidly declining, perhaps mirroring reduced community transmission, widespread vaccination, or both.