Generations Family Health Centre
March 10th, 2021
COVID-19 VACCINE UPDATE - MARCH 10th,2021
Dear Patients,
It has been another busy week of navigating the COVID vaccine rollout-- and as we write this, it’s still only Wednesday!
In the past week, we have heard from many of you with questions and concerns about the rollout, foremost among them of course being: how/when/where can I get a shot? Information about vaccine clinics and availability is invariably changing day to day, if not hour to hour (as evidenced by the fact that Sunnybrook’s pre-registration criteria changed within 5 minutes of us sending out our last email update!). It’s hard to keep up… both for you, and for us!
As the rollout rolls on, we will continue to do our best to relay relevant information as soon as possible. As it is not practical for us to inundate your inboxes any more than we already have been doing, please note that many updates may be posted to our office website (generations.ourmd.ca), often via our Twitter account (@GenerationsFHC). We would encourage you to follow us and/or check the website sporadically. In the meantime, we have been receiving an overwhelming number of calls and emails in recent days, particularly with questions about vaccines. While we naturally encourage you to reach out if you do have questions or concerns, we also encourage you to check information included in our email communications and posted to our website in order to minimize strain on our staff and maximize our availability.
Some questions that have come up frequently:
When will Generations start providing shots? We wish we knew! Unfortunately, COVID vaccines have still NOT been made available to us, and as such we are not scheduling our patients for COVID vaccines in our office. If and when we can start offering COVID shots from the friendly confines of our office, you can count on hearing from us.
But I heard today that AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines are now being made available to patients 60-64 years old in select primary care offices-- why isn’t GFHC participating? Well, to start-- we weren’t selected. (Thanks for rubbing it in.) Fortunately, several local pharmacies in our area will be offering the AZ shots to people born between 1957-1961-- you can find participating locations here: https://covid-19.ontario.ca/vaccine-locations
Can you put my name on the list for a shot? Not really. As noted above, we don’t have the shots, and don’t know when we will be getting them. More importantly, there isn’t really a “list”-- other than to get pre-registered at a vaccination clinic. Simply put, we don’t have any control over this.
Where are the vaccination clinics? How can I pre-register? In addition to information sent out previously about North York General and Sunnybrook vaccination clinics, additional links to Toronto-area vaccination clinics can be found here: https://vaccineto.ca/sites
What about the mass vaccination clinics that the City of Toronto will be setting up? They’re coming too… but we still don’t know how those appointments will be booked. It is expected that these City of Toronto clinics will operate 7 days/week, 11am-8pm-- with details on booking and availability to be released by the City in the coming days.
What about people who are homebound/home care recipients? How can they get a shot? Patients receiving home care services from a LHIN (Local Health Integration Network; formerly CCAC) may be eligible to receive a shot at home. Your LHIN case coordinator should be reaching out shortly to review options; more information on how Adult Chronic Home Care Recipients will be receiving their vaccine can be found in this slide deck circulated recently by the North Toronto Ontario Health Team. (Please note: we do not currently have any input into eligibility criteria for housebound patients.)
I’ve read that the next wave of shots will prioritize those at higher risk due to pre-existing health conditions. Should I ask my family doctor for a letter confirming this now? No. We have yet to receive any guidance regarding how this prioritization will take place, and moreover, do not consider it feasible to provide everyone who might qualify with a letter. Should things change as the situation becomes clearer, we of course will revisit this and strive to help all of our patients as best we can.
Which COVID-19 shot should I get? The standard answer to this is that the best shot to get is the one that is being offered first. Until recently only the mRNA vaccines (Pfizer and Moderna) have been available in Canada; fortunately, Health Canada has now also approved the AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson vaccines as well. While there are some differences between the available vaccines, ultimately all current options have been observed to reduce the risk of serious illness and death due to COVID-19 by close to 100%. Simply put, more vaccine options means more vaccines in arms-- and less risk within our community.
Links:
Toronto Hospitals and Ontario Health Teams:
COVID-19 Vaccination Pre-Registration and Booking Site
Ontario’s vaccination plan:
Getting a COVID-19 vaccine in Ontario
COVID-19 pharmacy vaccine locations
Toronto Adult Chronic Home Care Recipients [slide deck]
North York Toronto Health Partners OHT:
COVID-19 resources for patients, caregivers & families
North Toronto OHT:
What you need to know about the COVID-19 vaccine
Key Messages: COVID-19 Vaccine Confidence
Stay safe,
GFHC staff