March 15, 2021
We hope you are all continuing to stay well despite these challenging times. Many of you have been calling with questions regarding the COVID -19 vaccine. Many of the details are not yet known, even to us, as the situation with the rollout is constantly evolving.
This is what we currently do know:
There are now 4 Health Canada approved vaccines against COVID-19 and are highly efficacious and safe. The best vaccine is the vaccine that is available to you now.
1. The Government of Ontario/Ministry of Health are starting to roll out vaccinations to patients who are aged 80 and above, receiving homecare, are healthcare workers or are indigenous adults at various hospital locations. Pre-registration at many sites has begun. Community locations will likely be up and running as well in the next 1-2 weeks. If you are 80+ and have not yet pre-registered or received an appointment for the vaccine, please check out the link below or call 1-888-385-1910 between 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. for more information about how you can register if you are in this age group or demographic:
2. They are also starting to roll out vaccinations to patients aged 60-64 at various pharmacy locations across the province. Here are some links to help you register if you are in this age demographic:
3. Phase 2 is scheduled to begin in April. Many of the details of this rollout are still unclear. Please check the following website which provides up-to-date information on the province’s plans for the vaccine rollout including details on Phase 2. Please check back to this website regularly for updates.
At this time, it is our understanding that any patients who have a pre-existing condition that would qualify them for the vaccine in Phase 2 should NOT require a medical letter from their doctor. If this should change, we will let you know.
4. We do not currently have the vaccine in our office and do not know if/when we will be receiving it. There are a few family practices across the provinces that are being set up as Pilot trial sites to administer the vaccine but these are few and far between. At Davisville Family Practice, we are certainly ready, willing, and able to vaccinate our patients as soon as the opportunity arises. We will be sure to reach out to you should vaccines become available at our clinic to administer.
We are well aware that many of our patients still have some questions about the COVID 19 vaccines themselves. We have attempted to collect some reputable sources below for your reference about the available vaccines.
We encourage you to review the resources here and hope we have been able to answer many of the questions you may be having, but as always, if you do have questions or concerns, please feel free to contact your family doctor at Davisville Family Practice.