Thread by @WhyNotDerek

My Dad has tested #COVID+ Monday with mild symptoms. In #Ontario, he is eligible for #Paxlovid. This is a summary of my terrible experience trying to get this potentially life-saving treatment for my Dad.
TLDR: Covid retrovirals from Rural Ontario almost impossible 1/18

What is Paxlovid? – it’s a COVID-19 anti-viral drug. Available in Ontario Jan ‘22 for qualifying at-risk folks. To be effective, treatment must start within FIVE (5) days of the onset of symptoms. It’s like 89% effective in preventing severe disease in those at risk. 2/18

My Dad, a resident at a Retirement residence in small town rural #SWONT (where there is a current COVID-19 outbreak), tested + via RAT with mild Symptoms Monday. Tuesday, I got confirmation of Dad’s PCR COVID-19+ result. 3/18

I started with my local public health unit Tuesday morning. The public health “COVID-19 specialist” and then a public health RN at @CKPublicHealth simply referred us to my Dad’s GP. They know nothing about it, no help there. 4/18

In contact with Dad's GP they said they could not prescribe and had no idea where to even send me. No help there. 5/18

Helpful Twitter folk to the rescue: the only way to get Paxlovid was to go to an #Ontario provincial assessment center. I found one at the hospital in Chatham @ckhamedia & got a late but same-day appointment! Progress! 6/18

My awesome sister got my Dad to the appointment. She, a Covid-, essential medical & Mom to a young family had to spend an hour confined in a car with my #COVID+ father for the round trip. This assessment process is poor for many. 7/18

NOTE: This assessment process only really works for COVID+ people who have access & can drive themselves to an assessment center. Elderly, nope. Infirm, Sorry. Disabled, too bad. Poor, should’ve been richer. This doesn’t work as needed. 8/18

The assessment center agreed that Paxlovid was the proper treatment and gave my Dad a prescription for the 5-day course. We asked where to get it locally and were told that our pharmacy would be able to fill it. In the #homestretch , right? 9/18

NOTSOFAST: Our local @ShopprsDrugMart could not fill or even order Paxlovid! The amazing owner checked all the other local ShoppersDM's for us. No-dice. Many phone calls - Nothing in Chatham-Kent or Sarnia-Lambton. No pharmacists knew where to go or what to do. 10/18

I reached out to our local hospital for more help via Twitter. The responsive and helpful folks at @ckhamedia were all over this on Wednesday morning and helped me from this point on. 11/18

Unknown to them and their assessment centre, #Paxlovid can only be prescribed and filled at "select" provincial assessment centres. There are only FIVE of these in all of #Ontario. The closest to us is Windsor, next closest is Hamilton. 12/18

I call the Windsor assessment center. They will not honour the CKHA assessment centre doctor’s Rx. Dad needs to be assessed AGAIN, IN-PERSON to get a #Paxlovid Rx. I was cheerfully told it’s a provincial mandate so nothing they could do. I’m pretty frustrated. 13/18

My bad-ass sister is onboard to take Dad to Windsor, she says, “I was exposed to him for hours yesterday. In for a penny, right?” She is down for an additional 3-hour round trip with COVID+ Dad to Windsor to be reassessed and qualify with their needs, hopefully. 14/18

We’re now down to T-48-hours for the potentially life-saving drug to be effective on my Dad and waiting for another long trip with Dad and another appointment far away tomorrow.
Dad says it’s no longer worth the aggravation, he’ll be fine he says.
:-( 15/18

So here we are. The old @ONThealth two-step works again at dissuading or making receiving treatment so difficult that people would rather give up than run the complex process gauntlet. So much better on the provincial budget numbers too, amiright? 16/18

I'm disappointed in the early misinformation/misdirection from @CKPublicHealth &, @ckhamedia but I don’t blame them. They simply didn’t know. Note: CKHA was quick to help when the problem was identified. @lorimarshall you lead some of the best people around. 17/18

We are seemingly treated as lesser citizens by the @ONThealth because we live in the "rural" communities of @MunicCK or @Sarnia_Ontario-@CountyofLambton specifically concerning this potentially life-saving treatment. @MonteMcNaughton @fordnation do something about this. 18/18

Disclaimer.... This is my third, final and hopefully accurate attempt to make this thread */*

That should be @LoriBMarshall tagged here. I apologize for the mis-tag!

With positive intervention by some good people at @ckhamedia and the Windsor CLINICAL COVID-19 Assessment Centre, I'm happy to report Dad will be getting his first dose of #Paxlovid today. I'm confident of systemic improvement for future patients. Many thanks to the helpers! 👏