Chatham-Kent Public Health has asked the province for 5,000 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine to kickoff Phase 1 of the local rollout and the area's top doctor believes they're still on track to be delivered by the end of this month.
CK Medical Officer of Health Dr. David Colby hopes the municipality will get the quantity it requested and said the first doses will go to long term care homes. He said the vaccines won't be lingering in storage and hopes to have them distributed within the first 24 hours of arrival.
Colby also said CK Public Health will not be holding second doses because they can wait for up to 42 days and still be effective to battle the virus. Colby said he has been led to believe the vaccine supply will get better as time rolls on because there are other vaccines that are still in the pipeline to get approved by Health Canada. He said the team is ready to go as soon as the vaccine arrives.
"Our goal is to have empty freezers here. We're going to get vaccines out into arms just as soon as possible, preferably within 24 hours of arrival in our community," said Colby.
Colby said police officers in Chatham-Kent will have to wait until the second phase of the vaccine rollout like the rest of the province because for the most part they're not directly dealing with the acutely ill and whether they're included in the first phase will likely depend on the local vaccine supply. The province has said first responders such as paramedics and firefighters will be included in Phase 1 but police will have to wait until Phase 2.
"If I could get unlimited vaccine supplies I would be opening up mass vaccination clinics for the general population today," Colby said. "It all depends on how much vaccine we get and we have to do the best job of getting it to the most vulnerable and those with the greatest potential to transmit it [COVID-19] to others."
Colby admits that CK staff levels at long term care facilities are getting thin but the military is not yet needed to deal with the local situation. The military was used in long term care homes mainly in the Toronto area in the spring and the province is once again considering the move.
"We are pretty close to the bone with long term care staff but so far things are OK here," the doctor said.