Ontario meets deadline for first round of long-term care home vaccinations
Posted February 11, 2021 9:16 am.
The Ford government says it has completed the first round of COVID-19 vaccinations in all of its long-term care homes.
Ontario had committed to vaccinating every eligible long-term care resident who wanted a shot by Wednesday.
Premier Doug Ford gave credit to retired general Rick Hillier and his vaccination rollout task force for getting the first round of doses in long-term homes complete despite shortages.
“It is critically important to vaccinate, and provide an extra layer of protection, for the residents in our long-term care homes and those who care for them,” said Ford. “But due to a shortage of supply and unpredictable deliveries, meeting our goals has been a challenge.”
The Ministry of Long-Term Care said more than 62,000 residents have received the first dose of the vaccine, and more than 34,000 of them have received their second dose.
The provincial government said it will maintain the recommended interval of 21-27 days for residents who received the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.
“This milestone marks an important step towards the immunization of our most vulnerable,” said Merrilee Fullerton, minister of long-term care.
There are still 208 ongoing outbreaks in long-term care homes according to the latest numbers from the province. There have been 1,223 outbreaks since the onset of the pandemic.
As of 8:00 p.m. Tuesday, 412,119 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine have been administered in the province and 125,725 people have been fully vaccinated.
A new poll suggests almost two thirds of Canadians trust COVID-19 vaccines to be both safe and effective but that number skews lower among younger residents.
Canada’s chief medical officer of health Theresa Tam notes there have been no serious adverse events after the vaccinations in Canada so far, and the more people who do get the shots safely, the more others may be convinced to follow suit.
“Look at our seniors,” she said. “They’re getting vaccinated. The vaccine has so far been safe, with no safety signals, so I think that’s actually a really good way of boosting vaccine confidence, is seeing other people get vaccinated.”
With files from the Canadian Press
