McMaster Children’s Hospital joins call for more restrictions and vaccines for essential workers

McMaster Children's Hospital is calling for the strictest measures" to stop the spread of COVID-19 variants as well as changing the vaccine rollout to prioritize essential workers in hot spots.

Hamilton is one of 13 public health units in Ontario to have hot spot postal codes identified by the province and those age 50 and over will be prioritized for vaccination there.

The postal codes are L9C on the west Mountain and L8W on the east Mountain. No date has been given yet for when those age 50 and over in these postal codes can book a vaccination appointment except that it will be soon."

However, the Children's Health Coalition of Ontario, which includes McMaster Children's Hospital, wants essential workers in hot spots - regardless of age - added to that priority list.

The coalition is made up of all of Ontario's children's hospitals, Children's Mental Health Ontario and Empowered Kids Ontario.

It is asking the government to refocus our vaccine strategy on prioritizing essential workers in hot spot neighbourhoods, including teachers and early childhood educators, other education staff and caregivers of kids with serious illness or chronic conditions."

The coalition predicts another long-term school closure if community transmission of COVID isn't brought under control in Ontario.

As a result, it's also calling on the government to put in place enhanced measures to urgently reverse the trend in community transmission and respond to the crisis in adult critical care, while better protecting children from the overall harmful impacts of the pandemic."

The coalition joins the Ontario Hospital Association, the Ontario Medical Association and the Registered Nurses' Association of Ontario in raising alarm about the increasing strain the virus is putting on the health-care system.

With variants that spread faster, hit younger people harder and cause more severe illness, Ontario is predicted to have nearly 800 COVID patients in the ICU within a few weeks, which is well above the threshold for overwhelming the province's hospitals.

The coalition flags that schools are closing and more may shut down in-person learning because we haven't been able to contain community transmission of coronavirus in Ontario."

Collectively, we have failed our children," the coalition says in a statement that names McMaster Children's president Bruce Squires among those pleading for urgent action.

We are calling on the government to recognize the hardship kids and families will face and do everything in their power to reopen schools where they have closed as soon as possible and save the school year."

Turning the tide requires the strictest measures to be put in place to reduce community spread and reverse the trend," says the coalition.

It's also calling for the province to ramp up efforts to ensure strong infection prevention and control strategies, partnered with robust testing, tracing and prioritization of the highest risk communities."

The coalition wants a provincial campaign to improve vaccine confidence and increase uptake, particularly for those who have been disproportionately affected by COVID-19.

Lastly, it's looking for supports to minimize the impact of school closures.

As leaders in children's health care, we believe that schools should be the last to close and the first to open," states the coalition. We know that long-term school closures can seriously harm the learning, mental health and development of children. Children who face the most harm from the loss of in-person learning are often also those most at risk: children from racialized communities, low-income families, children with disabilities, children with mental illness and children with learning difficulties."

At the same time, the coalition recognizes that schools, above all, must be safe learning environments."

Ending in-person learning should only be done as a last resort and will be ineffective if not accompanied by other stricter measures that include things like the paid sick days for essential workers, closure of non-essential retail businesses and where possible, sending all staff to work from home," states the coalition.

The need for action is urgent. If we don't act swiftly to protect schools, education workers and students, we may have no choice but to face another long-term school closure, which can have devastating and long-term impacts on children, youth and families."

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