The man tapped to execute Ontario's vaccination plan unveiled a three-phase operation Monday, laying out the key populations which will be immunized first.
(Ret.) Gen. Rick Hillier says they will be those in congregate care settings such as long-term care and retirement homes, as well as the staff who care for them.
Hillier said during Phase 1 of the province's plan, slated for now until March, the following groups will be targeted:
- Residents, staff, essential caregivers and other employees of congregate living settings that provide care for seniors
- Health care workers, including hospital employees, other staff who work or study in hospitals, and other health care personnel;
- Adults in Indigenous communities, including remote communities where risk of transmission is high; and
- Adult recipients of chronic home health care.
The province will also prioritize the rollout of the vaccine in regions with the highest rate of infection, including those in the red-control and lockdown zones.
At first, based on early clinical trials, the vaccines will only be available for non-pregnant adults over 18.
This comes the same day the federal government announced it expects the first shipment of Pfizer vaccines to arrive next week. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said earlier in the day that 249,000 doses of the two-dose Pfizer vaccine should be available by the end of the year, pending Health Canada approval.
Of those based on per capita distribution, about 48,400 Ontarians will get vaccinated and Hillier said while he still doesn't know exactly when the vaccines will arrive, he does have a target for how quickly to get them turned around.
"I would want to say a week of 10 days or so after the batch arrives," he said. "We want to get this first part right and then we will be much more efficient."
Hillier said that Ontario does have the refrigeration capacity for the vaccines, but he did warn that based on geographic location, they may not be able to get into certain long-term care facilities at first.
Therefore he said, his team will set up specialized vaccination sites for health care staff, personal support workers and essential visitors to travel to and get immunized.
As for Phase 2 which could go six to nine months starting in April, Hillier said cabinet will make recommendations to him on how the bulk of vaccines will be distributed leading up to Phase 3, which then he says turns into "steady state."
"That's when we want to turn the operation into one which is identical to the flu vaccine or the shingles vaccine," he said, adding they'll hopefully be able to shut down specialized vaccination sites during the first two phases.
Hiller says they have already conducted training exercises and that local military personnel are now involved in the operation.
He said while Phase 1 will include a limited number of vaccines, the positive will be perfecting the process for later on.
In the meantime, Premier Doug Ford and Health Minister Christine Elliott stressed that Ontarians not hold family gatherings during the holidays.
Recent polls by Abacus Data and Angus Reid suggest there's reason for concerns.
An Abacus poll this month showed over half of respondents saying they would gather with family outside their household during the holidays, while Angus Reid found three in 10 would do the same with family or friends.
"I know people are looking forward to the vaccine being ready and may see it as a situation that you don't need to take care anymore, you really, really do," Elliott said. "Please try to limit your holidays with just members of your household."
Ford acknowledged that Ontarians will travel to secondary residences and if they do, the recommendation is complete all food and gift shopping where they live now before traveling.
"You go up there and you stay there, you don't be leaving your place, you stay there with your direct family members," he said.