HKPR health unit anticipates completion of first doses of vaccine long-term care homes by weekend

An outbreak of COVID-19, declared on Jan. 9, continues at the Caressant Care McLaughlin long-term care home in Lindsay.

To-date, 13 residents have died at the 96-bed long-term care facility during this outbreak.

But a glimmer of hope came earlier this week as 41 residents, who haven’t been infected, received their first doses of the Moderna vaccine.

“Everyone is excited to see vaccinations starting to happen in the home,” said Caressant Care spokesperson Stuart Oakley in an email to Global News Peterborough on Wednesday.

READ MORE: COVID-19: Death toll rises to 13 at Caressant Care McLaughlin long-term care in Lindsay

Caressant Care McLaughlin is one of several long-term care facilities within the Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge District Health Unit (HKPRDHU) that is receiving a first dose of the Moderna vaccine this week after the health unit received a shipment of 1,000 doses late last week.

The acting medical officer of health told reporters on his weekly teleconference on Wednesday that first doses for all long-term care homes and high-risk retirement homes within the jurisdiction would be completed by the weekend.

“I’m delighted we’ll have this done,” Dr. Ian Gemmill on Wednesday. “We did four long-term care homes today and we’re doing the high-risk retirement homes this week.”

That said, Gemmill noted the next shipment of vaccines won’t arrive for “at least a couple of weeks, maybe even longer.”

“The next groups are staff and essential caregivers in long-term care, healthcare workers and people living in the community in home care. We want to get you immunized, but we won’t be able to do so until the vaccine gets here,” he said.

The health unit has struck an advisory committee on the future rollout of vaccines including the mass immunization of the general population, anticipated later this spring and summer.

This committee also includes municipal partners from Haliburton, the City of Kawartha Lakes and Northumberland.

The mass immunization program will include venues that allow for physical distancing and Gemmill has said that drive-thrus are a possibility for vaccination clinics.

“(The committee) has met a couple of times and we’ve talked about future rollouts and we will continue to meet regularly,” Gemmill said.

Gemmill said that 90 per cent or more residents at area long-term care homes agreed to be vaccinated.

READ MORE: COVID-19 variant found in Northumberland; outbreaks over at Port Hope, Warkworth long-term cares

He also noted the priority is to get a second and final dose into the arms of those residents within a month of the first shots.

“The only way we’re going to control infection and outbreaks in long-term care is to get everyone as immunized as we possibly can,” Gemmill said.

“Giving the second dose to the residents in long-term care makes sense even though another school of thought says, give more vaccine to more people. Hopefully, we’ll have enough vaccine by that point where this isn’t an issue.”

— more to come