March 12, 2021: A letter to the communities of Sudbury East

A letter to the communities of Sudbury East

The COVID-19 Vaccine Implementation Committee for Sudbury East, a committee comprised of key community partners and the municipalities of Sudbury East, and led by Public Health Sudbury & Districts, is proud to announce that the first doses of the COVID-19 vaccine have been administered in the Sudbury East area. As the vaccine begins to rollout, some of the highest priority health care workers, who have been diligently working the front lines throughout the pandemic, were among the first to receive the vaccine in Sudbury East area following a vaccine clinic on Monday, March 1, 2021, in Alban.

The COVID-19 vaccine is an important tool to help keep our health care workers safe as they continue to provide essential services throughout the pandemic. The vaccine is safe and effective and will continue to be rolled out across our communities.

Once all reasonable steps were taken to administer the first-dose vaccinations to staff, essential caregivers and residents of long-term care homes, high-risk retirement homes, and First Nations Elder care homes across Ontario, the first dose of the vaccine started to be made available to the remainder of the phase one population. This includes:

• adults 80 years of age and older
• staff, residents, and caregivers in retirement homes and other congregate care settings for seniors (for example, assisted living)
• health care workers in the Highest priority level followed by Very High and then High priority in accordance with the Ministry of Health’s guidance on Health Care Worker Prioritization
• all Indigenous adults
• adult recipients of chronic home care

This means that in the coming weeks, Sudbury East will continue to receive amounts of vaccine for the groups listed above, as available, and all dates and times for future immunization clinics will be provided directly to eligible individuals when details are known. Through extensive planning and to best meet the needs of the communities of Sudbury East, the COVID-19 Vaccine Implementation Committee has selected locations that will be used to host community-based mass immunization clinics. The committee is excited to announce that the St.-Charles Community Centre and the Alban Community Centre will be locations used for vaccine clinics throughout the local COVID-19 vaccine rollout.

The COVID-19 Vaccine Implementation Committee for Sudbury East continues to work together to ensure the needs of the community are met, and to address the challenges of stringent vaccine storage and handling guidelines. Clinics will be available in the Sudbury East area so please prepare to attend one of these area clinics and limit travel as is currently recommended. We are committed to ensuring support is available for appointment scheduling, travel-related challenges, and to support information needs as available.

Over time, every eligible individual living throughout the Public Health Sudbury & Districts catchment area, including Sudbury East, will have access to the safe and effective COVID-19 vaccines. We are all committed and hopeful to bring an end to the COVID-19 pandemic!

Vaccination Timeline and Eligible Populations

Week of March 2 to 8

• Indigenous adults (First Nations, Métis, Inuit) aged 55 and over from area First Nations.
• Highest priority health care workers and then very high priority health care workers.

Week of March 9 to 15

• Highest priority health care workers and very high priority health care workers.
• Indigenous adults (First Nations, Métis, Inuit) aged 55 and over from area First Nations and in urban settings.

Week of March 16 to 22

• Adults 80 years of age and older and adult recipients of chronic home care.
• Very high and then high priority health care workers.

If you are a health care worker, please complete your pre-registration online at: https://www.surveymonkey.ca/r/PreRegistrationHealthCareWorker .  If you are an adult 80 years of age and older, or a recipient of chronic home care, pre-register for a COVID-19 vaccination appointment using the online form here: http://www.surveymonkey.ca/r/vaccineappointment  or call 1.800.708.2505.

On behalf of Public Health Sudbury & Districts’ COVID-19 Vaccine Implementation Committee for Sudbury East, we appreciate everyone’s patience as we rollout this unprecedented COVID-19 immunization program. The planning efforts needed to bring the COVID-19 vaccine to our communities are extensive and have benefited from collaboration and are very dependent on cooperation from various sectors, such as health care, municipal, and Indigenous partners, to ensure readiness.

While we understand that some questions may be unanswered at this time, we will continue to provide updates as they become available. For questions, please do not hesitate to contact Public Health Sudbury & Districts at 705.522.9200 or toll-free at 1.866.522.9200 or connect with your local primary care provider.

This letter to the community is being sent on behalf of the COVID-19 Vaccine Implementation Committee for Sudbury East, which is comprised of community partners from:

The Municipality of St.-Charles, Municipality of French River, Municipality of Killarney, Municipality of Markstay-Warren, Univi Health Centre, Killarney Health Centre, Dokis First Nation Health Centre, Sudbury-East Seniors Support, Alban Pharmacy, Noëlville Pharmacy, St.-Charles Pharmacy, Manitoulin-Sudbury District Services Board, North East Local Health Integration Network, Nipissing West (Sudbury) Ontario Provincial Police Detachment, and led by Public Health Sudbury & Districts.