The province says individual health units know their communities the best, which is why Ontario will have 34 different vaccine rollouts.
“Historically, public health units have the data and the information on where the breakouts are, and where the high positivity rates have been,” said Sylvia Jones, Ontario’s Solicitor General. “Therefore, they can make the best determinations on how and where the vaccine rollouts take place.”
As the province expects an increase in vaccine deliveries during the month of March, the Ontario government is tasking each of the 34 health units to draw up their own vaccination plan.
“As the public health units submitted their individual plans, we review [sic] them and make sure that they have the resources. Whether that’s the call-in centre or the staff for human resources,” said Jones.
The province will still provide general guidelines for vaccination of priority populations, Jones adds. Vaccines will also be distributed to health units based on populations.
“While there are consistencies in terms of mass vaccination sites, utilizing pharmacies and family practitioners, there are also unique plans,” Jones explained. “Depending on the community you’re living in, can we use that hockey arena as a mass vaccination site? Can we go directly to a larger apartment building or complex to vaccinate a lot of people in a short period of time?”
As of Tuesday, over 569,000 people have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, with over 240,000 being fully vaccinated.
**Written by Greg Bowman
