Province warns talking about vaccine supply a ‘security risk’

Hamilton public health says it can't talk about vaccine supply because the province told it not to. But other regions can - or at least, they are.

One ethics expert calls the province's move a red herring" - one that's not really working.

On Monday, Hamilton public health officials said they couldn't share information about the city's vaccine supply due to a directive from the province. The province will not say if it muzzled public health, but it did say it issued guidance" to health units and hospitals about vaccine security risks" prior to the vaccine rollout.

This guidance noted that publicizing storage locations or inventory levels may pose a security risk to both health-care staff and the vaccines," said Ministry of the Solicitor General spokesperson Brent Ross in an email to The Spectator.

We recommend you contact individual public health units directly for more information regarding individual operational decisions."

It seems different health units are interpreting the guidance differently.

Haldimand-Norfolk's medical officer of health confirmed the region received around 1,000 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine this week and it expects 1,000 more doses next week. The Ottawa Hospital, which is handling vaccines for the Ottawa region, says it has received 22,425 vaccine doses. York Region public health says it received 8,400 doses of the Moderna vaccine on Dec. 31. It expects 600 more this week.

Other health units The Spec reached out to about vaccine supply directed questions to the province.

Hamilton public health did not respond to questions before deadline on Friday about why other regions can share information when it can't.

Public health did confirm Friday it has administered more than 10,000 Pfizer vaccines to date. It has also received the long-awaited Moderna vaccine, which doesn't require the deep-cold storage Pfizer does. Vaccinations with Moderna start Saturday.

Arthur Schafer, director of the Centre for Professional and Applied Ethics at the University of Manitoba, called the province's guidance a red herring."

It's a non-existent danger," Schafer said. No one needs to know exactly where the vaccine supply is being stored, but what people would like to know is how much is being delivered."

Supply numbers can indicate, for example, the efficiency of a vaccine rollout.

Premier Doug Ford has come under fire in recent weeks for his government's failure to more rapidly vaccinate Ontarians. Vaccination clinics were on pause over the holidays.

In Hamilton, it became apparent that 3,000 doses from a 6,000-dose Pfizer shipment sat in a freezer for more than two weeks. This was the last time the health unit confirmed vaccine supply numbers.

The media, as the eyes and ears of the public, wants to be able to monitor ... how effectively it's being administered," Schafer said.

Ford has routinely asked the federal government for more vaccines in recent weeks, saying the province will soon run out.

But without true supply numbers, it's impossible to say if Hamilton is on the verge of running out or if we have a stockpile sitting in a freezer. If we do have a stockpile, that could be a sign public health lacks the resources to administer vaccines in a timely manner, Schafer said.

There's also the issue of vaccine distribution - and redistribution - a touchy subject that came to a head in the Niagara Region this week.

In an interview with The St. Catharines Standard reporter Grant LaFleche on Thursday, Niagara's acting medical officer of health, Dr. Mustafa Hirji, said he could not disclose the size of a now-diverted Moderna vaccine shipment that was to arrive this week, but was instead sent to another community without explanation.

Hirji said those details are being kept confidential" by order of the Solicitor General's office, which is in charge of vaccine security.

Hirji said he could not explain why disclosing the size of shipments after they arrive in a community is being kept under wraps. He directed the newspaper to contact the Solicitor General's office for details.

Meanwhile, Ford's office issued a release Friday saying Ontario is facing a delay" in Pfizer vaccine shipments. No numbers or details about the delay were provided.

We will adjust as necessary recognizing the fact that Ontario will soon have a baseline capacity to vaccinate nearly 40,000 people a day with the ability to triple or quadruple this capacity with notice," Ford said in the statement. I know the federal government is working to secure more supply and when they are able to deliver more vaccines, Ontario will be ready to administer them."

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