‘Not a good start’ to kids COVID vaccine rollout in Hamilton
Not a good start," was how one Hamilton parent described the first day of the COVID-19 vaccine rollout for kids.
Siblings ended up with appointments on different days, at least one clinic had no openings and parents had to search more than a dozen individual locations to find the earliest appointment.
Hamilton recently brought in its own booking system to make the rollout to 42,000 kids age five to 11 easier. But it had at least as many issues Tuesday as the abandoned provincial portal.
I tried online and by phone to book," Cindy Stranak tweeted. There were no appointments available."
The Kirkendall mom wanted to take her two daughters to the location most convenient for her family, but the David Braley Health Sciences Centre Vaccine Clinic was wrongly listed Tuesday as providing shots only to ages 12 and up.
I was told there was a glitch," tweeted Stranak. Not a good start."
She was far from the only parent expressing frustration. NDP Sandy Shaw, MPP for Hamilton West-Ancaster-Dundas, said her office heard from parents having a variety of issues.
It's really a relief for parents that ... the vaccines are now available," she said. The bad news is that when parents try to do that, they're met with all kinds of roadblocks."
The snags are a significant considering Ontario Health Minister Christine Elliott estimated Monday that just half of parents would get their kids the shot immediately. A further 30 per cent want more information.
It has prompted Hamilton Health Sciences to create a package for parents at hamiltonhealthsciences.ca/share/pai-encouraging-childrens-covid-vaccines.
Information is also available at hamilton.ca/coronavirus/covid-19-vaccines-children.
In addition, parents can get their questions answered by phone from nurses at Toronto's Hospital for Sick Children by booking an appointment at sickkids.ca/vaccineconsult.
The hesitancy puts higher stakes on an easy-to-use booking system.
This is a serious concern," said Shaw. We're two years into the pandemic and this should have all been worked out."
During question period at Queen's Park, MPP Catherine Fife said, This chaos could have been avoided."
There shouldn't be more roadblocks for families," said Fife, who is NDP. They've already been through enough."
Health Minister Christine Elliott defended the provincial vaccine portal saying it has been very very successful with respect to adults."
Hamilton dumped it on Nov. 1 to bring in a system called VERTO that public health says is more customizable."
However, it also doesn't allow parents to book all of their children together which was one of the main complaints about the provincial portal.
I don't know if it's a news flash to the ... government that people have more than one kid," said Shaw. These kind of barriers and frustrations are unacceptable."
Hamilton public health says kids can be booked together by calling the COVID hotline at 905-974-9848, Option 7.
This is not a serious concern," said Elliott. This is a situation that can be dealt with very, very easily by simply making the phone call."
Hamilton's booking system also has no calendar for parents to pick a certain day and see all the clinics available. For mobile clinics, the dates they're running don't show up so parents have to click each day until they hit the right one.
In addition, public health said it has no information on how many parents were able to book Tuesday. Stranak doesn't have an appointment for her kids yet, but plans to keep trying.
I am impressed that the pediatric vaccine was approved in Canada on Friday and we're looking at appointments starting this week so that's incredible," she told The Spectator. I do have a lot of respect for Hamilton public health. They are not perfect, but I know they're doing their best."
Joanna Frketich is a Hamilton-based reporter covering health for The Spectator. Reach her via email: jfrketich@thespec.com