‘I am afraid’: Patients with chronic illnesses want COVID vaccine

Stacy Saman has been putting off every medical appointment possible throughout the pandemic.

But with chronic respiratory illnesses and multiple sclerosis, she can't avoid in-person visits to the health system altogether.

I am afraid," said the 49-year-old Fonthill woman. I definitely have all the risk factors."

Ontarians with high-risk chronic conditions are part of Phase 2 of the COVID vaccine rollout expected to take place from April to July. But many like Saman feel they should be a higher priority.

It doesn't make sense," she said. I have huge concerns. It just blows my mind."

On March 15, the Canadian Cancer Survivor Network called on provinces to speed up vaccination for cancer patients.

The anxiety and fear that cancer patients and caregivers are experiencing about contracting COVID-19 can be assuaged by the prioritization of COVID-19 vaccinations ... so that they feel safe when they go to cancer care appointments," the network said in a statement.

It commissioned two Leger surveys on COVID-19 disruption of cancer care in Canada that found more than one-third of patients and caregivers were cancelling, postponing or avoiding certain health-care services during the pandemic.

Clearly, the ability of cancer patients to access health care and cancer care remains in doubt and may lead to worse outcomes, including later diagnoses and postponed or missed appointments, tests or treatment," states the network.

Paul Murphy can personally attest to being scared stiff" to go to Juravinski Cancer Centre regularly - sometimes daily - during the pandemic.

However, thousands of us in Ontario haven't any choice," he said. Battling cancer ... is difficult enough. The fear of COVID-19 only adds to the anxiety and depression that many of us are experiencing."

Exacerbating their fears are the high number of hospital outbreaks - Hamilton has six ongoing that involve patients, including on the dialysis unit of the Charlton campus of St. Joseph's Healthcare after three patients tested positive.

Murphy says COVID is always in the back of our minds" and that he feels doomed if we do or doomed if we don't" about spending time in hospitals.

A bout with cancer in 2009 left the 84-year-old Grimsby man with such a weak immune system that he has to go to the hospital every three weeks for treatment. A second cancer diagnosis requires radiation therapy, which has brought him to the hospital dozens of times since January.

Nobody's given any thought to the people who are on dialysis or taking chemo or on radiation that have to go to the hospital," he said. I totally agree with those who are in nursing homes getting the shot and front-line workers, but what about us?"

Murphy was recently able to get the COVID vaccine because of his age, but he thinks of his fellow patients who aren't seniors age 80 or above. He believes they too deserve to be better protected."

The NDP is calling for people with disabilities to be added to the priority list for vaccination.

Greater clarity is needed as the current plan does not explicitly identify people with disabilities as a high-risk group," Peter Athanasopoulos, director of public policy at Spinal Cord Injury Ontario, said in a statement March 15.

Saman describes feeling abandoned" and left out" by her place in the vaccine rollout.

It's hard to be young and sick, for so many reasons ... and now we have yet another illustration of that," she said. I have faced many obstacles ... but yet I continue to feel invisible."

Joanna Frketich is a Hamilton-based reporter covering health for The Spectator. Reach her via email: jfrketich@thespec.com