COVID-19 vaccines begin in Newmarket and Vaughan, but with a cautionary message

Southlake and Mackenzie Health celebrate beginning of the end of pandemic

Yorkregion.com
Dec. 24
Kim Zarzour

Yes, the vaccine is finally here, but don’t get distracted.

As the second hospital in York Region began immunizing against COVID-19 Dec. 23, residents are warned to keep their eye on the prize.

“The vaccine is good news, but the reality is, when you look at the percentage of people that will actually be vaccinated, when you look at the number of months it will take, this is a marathon,” Vaughan Mayor Maurizio Bevilacqua said.

“I don’t want people to get into a false sense of security. We still need to stick to the same game plan that we had in the first wave.”

And that means the basics: hand washing, distancing, masking, staying home when sick and downloading the COVID-19 app.

Mackenzie Health celebrated its first immunization Dec. 22 when 62-year-old personal support worker Juanito Driz got his shot at a new COVID-19 vaccine clinic in Vaughan.

One day later, Robin Dowdall was the first to get it at Southlake.

A PSW for 13 years at Georgina’s River Glen Haven -- the long-term care home hit hard by the virus -- Dowdall said it’s been a tough eight months.

By getting the vaccine today, she said, “I’m protecting myself, I’m protecting the residents and my family … The more people get the vaccine, the faster, hopefully, COVID leaves.”

“Watching one of our health care heroes … become the first person in our community to be vaccinated reminds us that there is a light at the end of the tunnel, and that light grows brighter with every vaccine administered,” said Christine Elliott, MPP for Newmarket-Aurora, who visited the site, the repurposed Seniors’ Centre on Davis Drive, to mark the historic event.

Newmarket Mayor John Taylor celebrated the news on social media, saying vaccines have been rigorously tested and trialed.

“I will wait for my turn to receive the vaccine, but when my turn arrives, I will not wait. We will be getting vaccinated out of respect for fromt-line workers, the seniors who built our community, our first responders and, of course, our small business community.”

In keeping with the priority groups identified by the province, York Region COVID-19 vaccine clinics will initially vaccinate staff working in long-term care homes, designated family caregivers of long-term care residents and hospital staff.

Dr. Karim Kurji, York’s medical officer of health, said public health is assisting with the prioritization of long-term care homes, but the list won’t be published because it can change as outbreaks occur.

If a home is in outbreak, it can be hard to determine whether symptoms are side effects from the vaccine or an expansion of the outbreak, he said.

Health units are targeting 15 per cent of a home’s workforce at a time to help distinguish between the virus and vaccine side effects.

Kurji agreed with Bevilacqua’s cautionary statement, saying it could be five or six months before it is available to the majority of population.

In about four months, there should be a noticeable reduction in mortality and outbreaks as more workers in long-term care home workers and health care workers get vaccinated, he said.

Any rollout strategy will need to tackle the “added complexity” that 60 per cent of patients hospitalized for COVID-19 now come from the community itself, and their ages range from 50s to 70s.

Even after the majority of residents are vaccinated, he said, there is still much to learn about whether people remain infectious so precautions remain important.

“We need to learn to live with the virus and find ways to adapt to this new reality,” Bevilacqua added. “Anything other than that is naïve … It’s great to be merchants of hope, but it has to be realistic. We can’t promise a world that doesn’t exist.”