Dr. Kit Young Hoon, medical officer of the health at the Northwestern Health Unit (NWHU), said they are frequently communicating with the province regarding the logistics of the vaccine rollout.
Young Hoon adds that they have been preparing in order to be ready as soon as the vaccine arrives. She adds that this is a “big task with a lot of moving parts,” but is confident that the rollout of the vaccine will be efficient and effective.
The first vaccines in Ontario will be prioritized where they will make the most impact. Young Hoon said this means they will go to protecting those who are most vulnerable to serious repercussions from the disease, such as seniors and those who care for them, as well as those that are immunocompromised.
“Throughout the vaccine rollouts, public health will continue to manage our response to COVID-19, including case and contact management, communication and partner support,” Young Hoon said, adding that it will be a busy but exciting 2021 for public health.
Young Hoon adds that Indigenous communities are also higher on the priority list, mainly because of their lack of access to health care services. But in the end, Young Hoon said it boils down to how many vaccines will be available.
As of now, Young Hoon said the NWHU has not been informed of the specific amount of vaccine that will be distributed in the region because it is still early in the planning and logistics stage of the rollout.
Since March, there have been 131 confirmed cases in the region. Currently there are 10 active cases, one in the Dryden/Red Lake region, eight in the Kenora region, and one in Sioux Lookout.
Overall, the Kenora area is the most affected region but the case numbers are steady and are not showing an increase. Young Hoon said that most of the recent cases are contacts of previous ones. That’s reassuring because they are more likely to have connected with these people and asked them to self-isolate already.
Young Hoon said that with case levels steadying, she does not foresee the region moving to the orange level – at least not quickly. She said that’s proof that the public has been making a lot of great efforts and following public health measures; case and contact management is working as well, she added.
Pfizer is currently the only vaccine announced to be distributed in Canada but there is concern with storage because the vaccine needs to be kept extremely cold, to be exact, it needs to be kept at -70 C.
Young Hoon said that this is definitely a barrier and is not only challenging for northwestern Ontario but for other areas as well. She adds that although this is the case for now, she thinks there is not going to be a heavy dependence on only that one vaccine.
Young Hoon said she wants to remind the public that all the strategies put in place such as wearing masks, social distancing and contact tracing are to control the spread of COVID-19 but people should recognize that no one strategy can control the virus. Instead, it’s the multi-pronged strategy that is going to be effective in preventing the spread of COVID-19, she said.
