York Region working to minimize 'confusion' around accelerated second dose appointments

Newmarkettoday.ca
May 31, 2021

Existing second dose appointments will not be cancelled, medical officer of health confirms

Undoubtedly, the premier’s announcement this morning that the time between first and second doses of the COVID-19 vaccine will be shortened starting with ages 80 and older was greeted with great relief by York Region seniors.

For weeks on end, local politicians have expressed their constituents’ concerns about the 16-week wait for second dose appointments at their weekly meetings with medical officer of health Dr. Karim Kurji.

“I can tell you, the anxiety among seniors about getting that second shot -- while they appreciate that getting the first gives them considerable protection -- it’s there, and it’s real, and for them, they are anxious to get in and get that second dose,”  Markham Mayor Frank Scarpitti said yesterday.

Regional council approved his motion yesterday urging the province to accelerate the second dose timeline for ages 70 and older.

Yesterday, Kurji was able to tell them the province was accelerating the timeline beginning next Monday, May 31 for individuals aged 80 and older who received their first dose at least 28 days previously.

The welcome news, however, does present some logistical challenges for the public health unit, which has been using its own system for booking vaccine appointments since it began vaccinating ages 80-plus March 1, two weeks prior to the provincial rollout.

“We are actually working through those issues, it’s just that we haven’t quite landed on the very best way of minimizing confusion and ensuring that there are no empty spots left as a result of (previously booked) appointments not being cancelled,” Kurji said. 

Seniors with existing second dose appointments -- which may already have been rescheduled several times -- will not have them cancelled as a result of the provincial announcement, Kurji said.

The province announced today that individuals wishing to accelerate their second dose must book a new appointment online.

Once details have been finalized, the public health unit will make an announcement, Kurji said.

According to Whitchurch-Stouffville Mayor Iain Lovatt, the desire for earlier second doses extends beyond seniors at the physician-led clinic at Soccer City in Stouffville, where appointments remain unbooked on a daily basis.

“It’s disheartening, I’ll be honest with you, to see empty appointments when we have people who want second doses. And it’s even more disheartening when we have to turn people away who are trying to get in for their second dose, and they’re lying to try to get through, and they’re caught at the screening station, and then they’re rejected,” he said.

“If there’s any way that we can accelerate this -- we can maintain the priority stream of first shots, obviously -- but if we start looking at high-risk and high-exposure risk individuals, like teachers, as an example -- a lot of the people that we’re actually turning away are teachers that are trying to get their second dose -- I think we owe it to ourselves and the province to not let any of the doses go to waste.”

Kurji said he understands the concern, which has been communicated to the Ministry of Health, however, York Region must continue to follow the province’s direction on vaccine distribution.