Hotspot vaccines for over 18 crowd not ready to roll in Mississauga and Brampton

 

People over the age of 18 living in COVID hotspots such as Mississauga and Brampton will have to wait a little longer before mobile units carrying the vaccine come to local neighbourhoods.

Although Premier Doug Ford announced the new strategy on Wednesday, the program is still in the development stage and not yet ready to be rolled out.

Today, Dr. Dirk Huyer, the co-ordinator of the provincial COVID-19 response team, said health officials are working to develop the program, but he could not provide firm details on when it will begin.

"There is very active work in developing multi-channel approaches," said Dr. Huyer. "The work takes time to deliver the vaccines because it is linking to the community as opposed to going through the mass vaccination clinics. The work is all rapidly in progress and being developed right now."

He said community partners include those at the grassroots level, the ones that are in touch with local neighbourhoods.

Dr. Huyer believes this delivery system will prove successful because it will reach areas that have shown to have a disproportionate number of cases, illness, hospitalization and death.

"Focussing on these areas will not only protect individuals, but also their families and the community which will have an impact on the number of cases and infections across the province," he said.

When the program does get up and running, mobile teams have been promised to administer the vaccine in high-risk settings such as residential buildings, faith-based locations and large workplaces. In hotspot areas people as young as the age of 18 will be able receive the vaccine.