Hamilton public health mum on how Indigenous adults access vaccine

Hamilton public health is sharing little information on how Indigenous adults can book COVID-19 vaccines or what is happening with their second dose.

Under the province's vaccine priority framework, Indigenous adults living in urban settings are currently eligible to receive vaccines. Indeed, in Hamilton, they are receiving them - public health just won't say more.

It remains unclear how they should book appointments.

Asked how Indigenous adults who live within Hamilton should book appointments, public health spokesperson James Berry would only say: More information will come on this later in the week."

While public health says all Indigenous adults" are eligible, an online vaccination booking portal that opened Monday is only available to Ontarians 80 years of age and older.

Also unclear is if urban Indigenous adults, some of whom have higher risk factors for severe COVID-19 disease and outcomes, will have to wait four months for their second dose.

No, they won't, said Michelle Baird, the city's director of epidemiology, wellness and communicable disease control, at a Friday media briefing.

Urban Indigenous adults ... will continue to receive second dose on their original schedule," said Baird.

Asked for clarity on this claim, Berry provided a statement from the province: Further discussion on dosage intervals for administering to the Indigenous population beyond Operation Remote Immunity will occur." Operation Remote Immunity refers to the province's vaccination of people in remote Indigenous communities. They will also receive second doses within the previously outlined schedule.

While one dose of the province's approved COVID vaccines provides substantial protection, two is optimal.

Dr. Danuta Skowronski, lead epidemiologist at the British Columbia Centre for Disease Control, told the Toronto Star that raw data from Pfizer-BioNTech's and Moderna's randomized control trials showed swift and substantial protection with the first dose" at about 14 days out of about 95 per cent. AstraZeneca's vaccine has also shown good results when its second dose was spread out from six weeks to 12, Skowronski said.

A St. Joseph's Healthcare clinic is currently vaccinating Indigenous adults 55 years of age and older.

Baird said Friday that, come this week, all other Indigenous adults in Hamilton will be eligible to receive the vaccine. A mobile pop-up clinic for Indigenous adults is also planned for the week of March 22 at the De dwa da dehs nye>s Aboriginal Health Centre, she said.

Meanwhile, more than 9,000 Hamiltonians were able to book vaccine appointments on Monday through the province's online portal, confirmed the office of Donna Skelly, Progressive Conservative MPP for Flamborough-Glanbrook.

On Tuesday, Hamilton recorded 66 new cases of COVID-19, bringing the city's total to 547 active cases, and one new death. The person who died was in their 50s. Just seven of the city's 296 COVID deaths have been people under the age of 60.

There are 93 people in hospital - eight more than Monday.

A total of 31 sites within the city are in outbreak status. One new outbreak was reported Tuesday at Community Church in Millgrove, with five cases in congregants and four in staff.

An outbreak at Queen's Garden Long Term Care Home is now over. One staff member tested positive.

Katrina Clarke is a Hamilton-based reporter at The Spectator. Reach her via email: katrinaclarke@thespec.com