Hamilton’s vaccine rollout: Examination of our inoculation operation

Hamilton's vaccine rollout has been a bumpy one.

First, we were left out of the province's accelerated vaccination plan. Then, public health stopped saying how many vaccines we had - and then it stopped saying who'd been vaccinated. Now, the fixed-site vaccination clinic is being temporarily shut down.

It's a lot to take in. So we've broken the rollout down for you, bumps and all:

Week 1: Canada's first vaccines

• Monday, Dec. 14: Anita Quidangen, a Toronto personal support worker, is the first person in Ontario to receive the vaccine.

• Friday, Dec. 18: Hamilton public health announces it plans to open a fixed-site vaccine clinic and long-term-care staff will be the first to get the Pfizer vaccine.

Week 2: Hamilton vaccinations begin

• Monday, Dec. 21: Hamilton receives 6,000 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine. This is the last time the public is told how many vaccine doses we have.

• Wednesday, Dec. 23: The first vaccines are administered in Hamilton, with about 30 long-term-care home staff receiving first doses. At this point, the Pfizer vaccine - which requires deep-cold storage - can't be moved, so long-term-care residents aren't yet able to be vaccinated.

Week 3: Local rollout is slow

• Monday, Jan. 4: The vaccine clinic is booking 250 appointments per day. Staff at seniors' homes are given priority, but any doses left over at the end of each clinic day are given to hospital workers from Hamilton Health Sciences (HHS) and St. Joseph's Healthcare to avoid wasting them. By this date, around 480 doses have gone to hospital staff.

• Tuesday, Jan. 5: The province announces Hamilton will not be part of an accelerated vaccination program for select seniors' homes and care staff rolling out in four regions.

• Thursday, Jan. 7: Only 3,000 vaccine doses have been administered in Hamilton - that's just half of the 6,000 doses received two weeks earlier.

• Friday, Jan. 8: Conservative MPP for Flamborough-Glanbrook Donna Skelly confirms Hamilton will receive a small" batch of Moderna vaccine doses.

• Sunday, Jan. 10: Hamilton public health makes the surprise announcement that it will vaccinate all residents of long-term-care homes and those in high risk" retirement homes by Jan. 18 via a mobile clinic. By this point, the province has given public health units the green light to move the Pfizer vaccine.

Week 4: Gag order issued on supply

• Monday, Jan. 11: Public health says the province has told it to stop talking about vaccine supply, though it's not yet clear why. A fixed-site vaccination clinic is vaccinating approximately 1,000 people per day. A total of 5,850 people, including 150 long-term-care residents, have received first doses.

• Wednesday, Jan. 13: A total of 8,000 people in Hamilton have received first doses, including 750 long-term-care residents.

• Thursday, Jan. 14: Public health says 4,000 front-line hospital workers, as well as 4,300 out of 6,200 eligible staff and essential caregivers at long-term-care homes and high-risk retirement homes, have received first doses. Second doses are administered for the first time through Hamilton's fixed-site clinic.

• Friday, Jan. 15: The Ministry of the Solicitor General confirms it told hospitals and health units that sharing information about vaccine supply and location could pose a security risk."

• Sunday, Jan. 17: The city scales back its vaccine rollout in anticipation of a Pfizer vaccine shipment delay affecting all of Canada. Hamilton says the province has now directed it to only vaccinate residents, staff and essential caregivers at long-term-care homes and high-risk retirement homes for the foreseeable future. Those who already received a first dose, such as front-line hospital staff, can get their second - but everyone else will have to wait.

Week 5: Shortage causes plans to change

• Monday, Jan. 18: A total of 13,400 people in Hamilton have received first doses, including approximately 6,500 HHS and St. Joe's staff.

• Wednesday, Jan. 20: Hamilton's mobile clinic has vaccinated 4,594 people in long-term-care and high-risk retirement homes.

• Thursday, Jan. 21: Hamilton Health Sciences says it is looking at delaying second doses for the majority of staff who received first doses, in light of the Pfizer delay. By this point, the province recommends second doses for people outside of long-term-care settings be delayed for as long as 42 days. Pfizer recommends just 21 days.

Week 6: Dosing comes to a halt

• Monday, Jan. 25: Hamilton's vaccine clinic appointment numbers drop from 1,000 a day to 300. Meanwhile, Hamilton's hospitals won't say how many staff got vaccinated ahead of schedule. Workers in the COVID units, emergency department and intensive-care units at highest risk of getting the virus were supposed to be first in line at HHS and St. Joe's. But staff evaluated for themselves which priority group they fell into.

• Tuesday, Jan. 26: The vaccine clinic again schedules just 300 appointments. Public health says 19,200 doses have been administered in Hamilton, but the health unit does not provide a breakdown of who received them.

• Wednesday, Jan. 27: Hamilton's vaccine clinic temporarily shuts down, as does the mobile clinic. All vaccinations are on pause.

• Thursday, Jan. 28: The mobile clinic is expected to be up and running again on Monday.

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