1/3 of COVID-19 vaccines given by Kingston pharmacies to those from out-of-region

A pilot program meant to offer COVID-19 vaccines to people in the Kingston region has been taken advantage of by people from outside the region, says Dr. Kieran Moore, medical officer of health for the region.

KFL&A, along with Windsor-Essex and Toronto, were chosen to be part of a pilot program that would provide local pharmacies with AstraZeneca vaccines to administer to adults within the ages of 60 to 64.

The program started last Friday, and so far, of the 9,000 doses provided by Kingston-area pharmacies, 3,000 were given to people from outside the region.

“Any Ontarians can get immunized anywhere in Ontario, there’s no borders on immunization. We all need to get needles in arms,” Moore said.

But, so far, only half of the 14,000 people eligible in the KFL&A region have been vaccinated through the program, Moore said. Now, he’s asking locals between the ages of 60 and 64 to sign up and get their shots.

“The main point today is take advantage, and that there’s plenty of capacity in our pharmacies to continue to deliver vaccine to that age group,” he said.

In KFL&A, 47 pharmacies were chosen to receive 500 doses each over a two-week period. Some of these pharmacies border neighbouring health units, like Leeds, Grenville and Lanark or Hastings and Prince Edward. Moore said he’s comfortable with people in these regions travelling to KFL&A to get their shots, but not any farther.

“It’s not desirable for people to travel large distances just to come to get immunized within KFLA. It really is more of a regional resource,” he said.

Moore said once the pilot program is over, or the pharmacies use up their 500 shots, they will not be topped up right away.

Still, Moore says he expects to see more AstraZeneca vaccines come to Kingston pharmacies in April.

4:13 A Kingston pharmacist provides an update on the vaccine rollout

“It’s my understanding that AstraZeneca will be distributed both to primary care and to pharmacies when those doses arrive. So and that would be distributed across the province, not just in these pilots anymore. So they’re actively recruiting across Ontario for pharmacy and primary care participation in the rollout,” he said.

For now, he’s urging locals to get vaccinated.

“For those in KFL&A, please take advantage. We don’t want all the bookings to be taken up all of a sudden. So please take advantage now,” he said.