MEMO: COVID-19 Vaccines- Phase 2

TO:  Health Care Professionals in the Niagara region

FROM: Pandemic Response Division, Niagara Region Public Health

REFERENCE: COVID-19 Vaccines: Phase 2

DATE:  April 14, 2021

Primary care has multiple roles to play in the vaccine rollout. We will continue to engage primary care to increase community vaccination efforts and capacity, including leveraging existing primary care resources to support mass vaccination clinics and mobile units, and onboarding primary care practices to administer vaccine in their offices and primary care mini clinics.

As a reminder, patients living in Niagara that are 60 years of age and older, as well as those from the identified COVID-19 “hot spot” that are 50 years of age and older with postal code L2G, are eligible to book vaccine appointments through the Provincial Booking Tool or by calling the Provincial Vaccine Booking Line number at 1-833-943-3900.

At this time, we are asking for primary care clinics to contact all eligible patients in the “Highest Risk”, followed by “High Risk” and “At Risk” categories to communicate awareness of eligibility and local information for vaccine administration. OntarioMD may be able to assist and guide your practice in identifying and contacting patients who are eligible for the vaccination.

To support you in interpreting the below information, the Primary Care Advisory & Liaison (PCAL) group has created an interactive tool (Vaccine Eligibility in Niagara).

Quick Links from the table above:

• Ministry News Release
• Niagara Health Website
• Pharmacies administering vaccine

Patients in “High Risk” and “At Risk” categories younger than 55 years of age

• We are aware that there are many patients who fall into the “high risk” or "at risk" category and are under the age of 55 years
• At this time, they are not eligible to receive AstraZeneca vaccine 
• The National Advisory Committee for Immunization (NACI) is reviewing data for AstraZeneca vaccine and will advise if there are changes to this guidance. As more info becomes available with respect to vaccinating individuals <55, we will provide that.
• Compiling a list of patients <55 years now, could prove useful in the future

Primary Care Offices – Preparing to Administer AstraZeneca Vaccine

• This past week, 28 primary care groups have been onboarded and are now administering vaccine to patients in-office. A limited quantity of vaccine arrived in Niagara and selection of sites was determined based on readiness to administer vaccine, including ability to maintain physical distancing of patients, access to personal protective equipment, ability to meet cold chain requirements and willingness in using and training in COVaxON.
• From a sustainability lens, more vaccine will continue to be allocated to Niagara. Onboarding additional practices will continue and will be a rolling process. We will support additional offices, who are interested in administering vaccine to patients over the next several weeks.
  • COVaxON will be mandatory for primary care settings taking part in the COVID-19 vaccine administration program
  • Public Health has arranged with OntarioMD to provide training and onboarding support (e.g., train the trainer) to participating primary care providers
  • If you are interested in being considered as a vaccine site for phase two of our local rollout in Niagara, please contact HCPengagement@niagararegion.ca

Niagara Region Public Health (NRPH) Roles and Responsibilities

• NRPH roles and responsibilities for the COVID-19 vaccine program include those as per the Vaccine Storage and Handling Guidance. This includes working with providers on temperature excursions and other issues arising with the vaccine (e.g. vial damage) as well as documentation of these issues / wastage by the providers as required in the COVaxON system.
• Wastage and temperature excursions are expected to be documented in the COVaxON system and monitored by the NRPH
• NRPH will be the main point of contact for Niagara’s primary care providers
• NRPH will continue to be responsible for vaccine allocation, ancillary supplies, and distribution to designated primary care providers
• NRPH (Authorized Organization) will be responsible for setting up each primary care site as a Vaccination Event (VE) in COVaxON

For links to further COVID-19 vaccine information in Niagara, please see Niagara Region Public Health’s COVID-19 Vaccinations website. For links to further COVID-19 vaccine-relevant information and planning resources, please see the Ministry of Health’s website.

Thank you again for your tireless efforts and unwavering commitment to Ontario’s COVID-19 vaccine campaign. We look forward to continuing to accelerate COVID-19 vaccine administration and distribution here in Niagara.