Will all people desiring to visit family members and/or friends in Sault and area long-term care homes be required to get the COVID-19 vaccine before being allowed to visit those homes?
The answer, at this point in the ever-changing COVID pandemic saga and its restrictions, would appear to be no.
“Currently, the province has no plan in making this vaccine mandatory in Ontario,” stated Dr. Celeste Loewe of Algoma Public Health (APH) in an email received by SooToday.
“To protect yourself, your family and friends from COVID-19, however, we strongly encourage anyone eligible to get the vaccine when it becomes available. Also, a record of immunization of COVID-19 vaccine may be required for travel, employment or other purposes, depending on requirements of other governments and individual employers,” Loewe stated.
“Vaccines will not be mandatory, but you are strongly encouraged to get vaccinated,” an Ontario government website states.
Though APH reported seven new COVID-19 cases in the region Friday, bringing the total number of COVID cases in the region since the beginning of the pandemic to 162, also issuing a notice Friday confirming a COVID-19 outbreak at FJ Davey Home after six staff members tested positive, and while APH medical officer of health and CEO Dr. Jennifer Loo described the rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine in our region at this point in time as “a real bottleneck,” there has been some good news to report this week.
The Ontario Finnish Resthome Association (OFRA) reported its residents have been the first in the region to receive the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine.
Long-term care home residents have been identified as the highest priority group to receive the vaccine, to be followed by long-term care home staff, residents and staff of retirement homes, people designated as essential caregivers and all other healthcare workers before it reaches the general public.
“Long-term care residents at Extendicare Van Daele Manor received access to the COVID-19 vaccine yesterday (Thursday, Jan. 28),” administrators at that home informed us.
“It was a great day for all of us at Extendicare Van Daele. We’re proud to share that 80 residents and 10 staff at our home have been vaccinated with the first dose of the Moderna vaccine against COVID-19.”
“We have all been waiting for this day to come and we are thrilled that our residents have now received their first COVID-19 vaccine. We need to do everything we can to protect our long-term care homes and vaccinating our elders and our front-line health workers will be a game-changer in our collective response to fighting this pandemic."
“We will continue to work with our health partners on next steps in the vaccine roll-out and look forward to the vaccine being administered at large to protect all of our residents, team members and caregivers,” Van Daele administration stated.
Officials at other sites, such as the FJ Davey Home and Extendicare Maple View, were not available for comment in regard to the state of vaccination rollout at their facilities when contacted by SooToday Friday.
