With vaccine supplies limited in York Region, why are healthy 18-year-olds getting their vaccines before vulnerable seniors get their second dose?
York Region medical officer of health Dr. Karim Kurji says second doses are being “clearly allocated” by both the Ministry of Health and York Region Public Health.
Residents can be assured their second dose appointments will be kept, he says.
“We have earmarked the second doses first, and they are given higher priority than the first doses... It is the intention of everybody concerned to ensure that people receive their second doses at the right time.”
Those without second dose appointments booked will receive them.
Health Minister Christine Elliott has said the current four-month interval between first and second dose shots may be shortened as a result of additional Pfizer supplies.
If that decision is made, it would create “logistical challenges” to rebook appointments, but York Region will “figure a way out of it,” Kurji says.
York Region's vaccine supplies aren’t expected to increase significantly until July or August, which is when the majority of second dose appointments are scheduled.
“From a science perspective, if someone were not to receive their second dose exactly on the same day, if they were to receive it a week later or a week before, it doesn’t really make much of a difference from a standpoint of protection, right? I don’t think people should think that they will fall off a cliff in terms of immunity levels, if there was little variation,” he says.
Current studies continue to indicate the first dose provides “a lot of protection.”
What are statistics for individuals who have caught COVID-19 after the first dose of the vaccine, before receiving their second dose?
“It’s an extremely small proportion,” Kurji says, with no hospitalizations or deaths occurring.
When you remove the number of individuals who become infected with COVID-19 within the 14-day period following the vaccine, the number was very small, he says.
According to the Public Health Agency of Canada, of 3.5 million people vaccinated, only 0.06 per cent, or 2,222, were infected — 67 per cent within the 14 days after the first dose.
Are there targets for the vaccination rates that have to be met for York Region to reopen?
York Region is targeting a vaccination rate of 90 per cent for residents aged 60 and older, higher than the international standard of 80 per cent.
The other “age bands” should have a target of more than 75 per cent.
“The general principle is that the closer we are to over 75 per cent, the better it is, Kurji says.
To date, more than 50 per cent of eligible adults have received a first dose.
Will York Region reach the province’s 65 per cent vaccination target by the end of May despite the limited vaccine supply?
The province increased its vaccination rate target recently after the federal government confirmed increased supplies.
Despite the decrease in supply locally, York Region anticipates meeting that target, Kurji says.
Unfortunately, both vaccine hesitancy and the decreasing supplies of the AstraZeneca vaccine to pharmacies has slowed the pace in York Region, he adds.
Why not drop the vaccine eligibility to age 16 and older for essential workers?
While vaccination eligibility has dropped to age 18-plus in hot spots and for some essential workers, many of the young people working at grocery stores and fast food outlets are aged 16 and 17.
Under the province’s current vaccine distribution plan, the youngest eligible age is 18, but Kurji says he’ll take that suggestion to the provincial table “to see if there is an appetite to drop it to 16+.”
Health Canada has approved the Pfizer vaccine for ages 12 and older.
