Local journalism initiative
Ontario’s vaccination schedule doesn’t work for Peel
Over the past year, Peel residents have been mistreated by COVID-19 and the punishment continues as the province’s vaccine roll-out neglects the hardest hit region. By almost any public health measure, Peel was the worst in the province for much of the pandemic. Cases per 100,000: Peel overshadows Toronto 28 percent for numbers from the start of the pandemic through March 11. Test positivity: Peel’s second wave peaked at 14.1 percent (Jan. 7) versus 10.2 percent (Jan. 5) in Toronto. The region left the province’s restrictions set in the summer due to the high rates of infection that have hit racial communities and frontline workers hardest. The short summer that local companies were offered from the end of July was marked by the risk of renewed lockdown measures. When Ontario’s second wave loomed ominously on the horizon, Peel was among the first to be swept away. In addition to Toronto, businesses and residents in Brampton, Caledon and Mississauga have been in Ontario’s longest embargo since November 2020. The approval of several vaccines from December, little more than a fantasy in the humid summer months, finally offered hope. As Ontario’s hardest hit region, Peel had to be on the front line, according to residents. The province didn’t see it that way. Ever since vaccines hit Dribs and Drabs, Queen’s Park has dumped them across Ontario with an ever-changing schedule. Peel left his confused decision-making behind. The totals released by Peel Public Health and the province show that doses are already lagging behind in the region. Together, Brampton, Caledon and Mississauga make up exactly 10.3 percent of the population of Ontario, according to the 2016 census, but only 7.4 percent of all Ontario vaccine doses ended up in guns in Peel. Data, updated every Friday in Peel, shows that as of March 12, Peel had only administered 78,251 of Ontario’s 1,062,910 doses. Last week, city councils in Peel voted unanimously to ask the province to reorganize its vaccination schedule to give priority to key workers in the region. Numbers and recent decisions show that the current framework is not putting peel first as it should. On March 11, several local PC MPPs tweeted a prepared graphic celebrating one million doses of COVID-19 vaccine across the province. They did not refer to the faction arriving at Peel, where infection data would suggest that it is needed most. “Their #Provincial MPPs work hard to keep every Ontarian safe and healthy,” tweeted Sheref Sabawy, MPP of Mississauga Erin-Mills. On-the-fly decisions on two recent pilot programs show that Peel is not on Premier Doug Ford’s list of priorities. If the region is not prioritized for extensive early vaccination, it suggests that Ford and its cabinet table have learned little over the past year. A recent contribution of 194,500 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine from Ottawa to Ontario was for residents of working age between 60 and 64 years of age. An original pharmacy dispensing all-dose pilot did not include the Peel region and instead sent them to the Kingston, Toronto and Windsor-Essex regions. In the very last second, the province diverted 29,500 doses to general practitioners in six separate public health units. Peel was just one of them, hosting 8 of the 40 locations. It’s unclear how many doses it received and Peel Public Health wouldn’t tell The Pointer if asked. Beyond recent policy decisions, the broader framework for vaccine distribution shows a lack of awareness of the measures that will help Peel bring his pandemic under control. The province is maintaining a cascading priority list for Phase 2 of its vaccine roll-out, which is slated to begin by April. The framework is highly age-dependent and suggests that people aged 80 and over should get their first dose in March, plus 75 in April, with all ages over 65 should be vaccinated with the first dose before the end of May. In the Peel region, where the 2016 census shows the average age of 38 years, older population groups are below their total population. Only 6.2 percent of Ontario’s 85 year old and older population live in Peel, while only 7.2 percent of 80 to 84 year olds live in Peel. Overall, 7.9 percent of Ontario’s 65 year olds and older live in the Peel region, which makes up 10.3 percent of the province’s total population. The numbers behind the frame are pretty opaque, making it difficult for the public to understand the larger plan. As Ontario prepped for vaccination for over 80 years and announced an online portal for booking appointments, many health units – including Peel – jumped ahead and started working on their own. There are now separate online booking systems for pharmacies, local health units, and Ontario as a whole. The age-first approach protects Ontario’s oldest and most medically vulnerable populations from serious illness or death, but is proving less effective in reducing the spread of COVID-19 in Peel, especially in workplaces. The province’s rollout strategy is for people with specific health conditions, people who live in a community, and 13 hotspots (38 percent of all health units are in the same category as Peel) to receive vaccinations for over 75 years from April. No figures are attached to the plan, and a health ministry spokesman stated, “Populations will be vaccinated in parallel by public health units based on the availability and type of vaccines.” priority populations according to the ethical framework of Ontario or COVID-19 vaccine distribution and priority population risk matrix, “added the provincial spokesman. Peel Public Health’s vaccination schedule lists people ages 50 to 79, adults with chronic illnesses, and key workers as Phase 2 priorities between April and July. Details on how these priorities will play out are not available. “Work on prioritizing the population continues according to provincial guidelines,” a Peel area spokesman told The Pointer. Concerned about the province’s vaccination schedule, Peel council members voted unanimously on Thursday to call on the government to put the frontline workers in warehousing, logistics and processing at the top of their list. Mississauga Ward 5 Councilor Carolyn Parrish’s motion resolves that the region “calls on the Ontario government to prioritize expedited vaccination of all those Peel residents who are employed in conditions that make their jobs necessary for the spread of Enhancing COVID-19 and the vaccinations require space for vulnerable employees, including those who work in warehouses, manufacturing facilities, packaging and distribution centers. “The council’s proposal is being carefully considered by our clinic planning and operations groups,” said Peel Public Health. The province confirmed this but did not respond to a request for comment. If further evidence of Peel’s unique situation was required, a processing facility with 5,000 employees was shut down on Friday. Dr. Lawrence Loh, Peel Public Health’s medical health officer, ordered an entire Amazon facility in Brampton to be shut down. Dr. Loh urged all fulfillment center employees to self-isolate by March 27, unless they have tested positive in the past 90 days and completed their isolation period as per public health instructions. One statement from Peel Public Health was strong: “The latest public health investigation has shown that a high risk of COVID-19 cannot be ruled out for all Amazon Heritage employees. In the past few weeks, the rate of COVID-19 infection in Peel has been falling, while the rate at this facility has increased significantly. “When vaccine availability increases, prioritization order can be a thing of the past. Until then, Peel city councils and officials hope the province will make decisions that put them first and provide them with the tools needed to keep COVID-19 spreading more than a year after it arrived control in peel. Email: [email protected] Twitter: @isaaccallan Tel: 647 561-4879 COVID-19 affects all Canadians. At a time when everyone needs critical information for the public, The Pointer has removed our paywall for all pandemic and public concern stories to ensure that every Brampton and Mississauga resident has access to the facts. For those who are able, we encourage you to consider a subscription. This will help us cover important topics of public concern that the community needs to know about now more than ever. You can register for a 30-day free trial HERE. After that, The Pointer charges $ 10 per month and you can cancel anytime directly on the website. Thank you. Isaac Callan, Local Journalism Initiative reporter, The Pointer
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