Thread by @CBCQueensPark

NEW: Five Ontario 'hot spots' getting vaccine priority are actually less hard-hit by #COVID19 than the average neighbourhood.
I’ve uncovered this by examining the data on rates of infections, hospitalizations and deaths.
#COVID19Ontario cbc.ca/news/canada/to…

Hamilton’s rate of #COVID19 cases is only a bit lower than York Region’s.
Yet only two Hamilton postal code zones (with approx 65,000 people) are designated hotspots.
In York, hotspot status covers more than 600,000 people, giving half its population priority access to vaccines.

Health Ministry’s official vaccine prioritization document says hotspot designation is for communities with “historic and ongoing high rates of COVID-19, death and severe illness (e.g. hospitalization).”
The rates in these 5 “hotspots” are below average.
cbc.ca/news/canada/to…

For full transparency: here's the raw data behind my story docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d…
#COVID19 case rates, hospitalization & death rates, test positivity, vaccination rates, population, income, for every postal code zone in Ontario, (compiled from @ICESOntario & @StatCan_eng data)

There are more than 500 postal code zones in Ontario, 114 have hotspot status, giving their residents priority vaccine access.
On #COVID19 cases per capita, the five questionable hotspots rank:
176th (M5V)
193rd (L6E)
233rd (K2V)
290th (L4B)
333rd (L6C)

Again a reminder: only 114 out of the 500-plus postal codes have been given hotspot status.
On hospitalizations & deaths per capita, the rankings for these five "hotspot" postal codes are:
242nd (L6E)
318th (M5V)
321st (L4B)
360th (L6C)
420th (K2V)
#COVID19Ontario

Also, these postal code zones have test positivity rates *lower* than other postal codes that have not been granted hotspot status:
8 non-hotspots have higher positivity rate than L4B
33 non-hotspots with higher rate than L6C
55 non-hotspots higher than M5V
93 non-hotspots >L6E

“These communities were identified based not only on high rates of COVID-19, but also outbreak data, research and analysis conducted by @COVIDSciOntario, low testing rates and sociodemographic barriers that may result in vaccine hesitancy,” says spokesperson for @celliottability.