THUNDER BAY – The end of mass vaccination is coming into view, with efforts set to shift toward reaching targeted groups and individuals, says Thunder Bay’s medical officer of health.
“We’re kind of transitioning in many ways,” said Dr. Janet DeMille on Wednesday, saying the Thunder Bay District Health Unit is largely focused on rolling out second vaccine doses while planning for greater outreach to those who haven’t yet received a first dose.
Of the record-breaking 16,687 doses administered last week, 15,072 were second doses while only 1,795 were first doses.
As of July 10, 77.4 per cent of the district’s population aged 12 and older had received at least one dose, and 52.6 per cent were fully vaccinated.
The health unit will continue offering walk-in appointments at its clinic at the Canadian Lakehead Exhibition Grounds over the coming weeks, DeMille said.
The clinic is offering roughly 300 to 400 walk-in appointments a day and has the capacity to vaccinate up to about 1,400 people a day in total.
DeMille encouraged anyone eligible for a first or second shot to drop by the clinic during its open hours, which are posted along with other details at the TBDHU website.
Walk-ins are one way the health unit has been trying to make vaccination more accessible, but more targeted efforts will be necessary, she said.
“The walk-ins certainly help us get people in in a barrier-free way,” DeMille said. “Then we’re going to look at different groups – we have some data around particular groups that might be a little bit more likely to access vaccines as opposed to not – and just go where they’re at.”
One of those groups is district youth aged 12 to 17. Only 65.8 per cent had at least a first dose, significantly behind other age bands – with the exception of those 30 to 39, at 66 per cent.
The health unit is already working with schools and sports groups to communicate vaccine information, DeMille said, with uptake essential for the safe return of school in September.
“It’s not just the start of school, but all the sports we want to be able to resume,” she said. “When youth are fully immunized with those two doses, that will really protect that classroom, that school, or that sports team.”
Family doctors will also become an increasingly key part of the rollout, DeMille said.
“As we move forward and finish up with the mass immunization-type clinics, we’ll really look to our primary care providers to help get those individuals who may have been reluctant or hesitant for any reason,” she said. “We know that people trust their primary care provider, so that’s a really valued channel. They’ve already been doing a lot of immunizations, and we hope to expand that.”
One strategy seemingly not on the table is a “vaccine passport" that could qualify immunized people for entry to public events, as is being contemplated in other provinces including Quebec.
Ontario's chief medical officer of health Dr. Kieran Moore said the step hadn't been contemplated and wasn't currently necessary on Tuesday, after the Toronto Region Board of Trade called on the province to introduce a passport for non-essential business activities.
It's a "tricky" question with both pros and cons, said DeMille, but she stressed there's already plenty to motivate people to get the vaccine.
“It’s asking for personal health information in a way, so that has to be considered," she said. "I think what it indicates though is vaccinated people getting more benefits – being able to go places, being able to relax certain measures... I would just encourage everybody to get fully vaccinated, because that’s going to help us all.”
