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Individuals with highest risk health conditions eligible for COVID-19 vaccine – assistance requested to advise patients

Advisory Alert

March 31, 2021

*Cette information est seulement disponible en anglais.

To: Primary Care Practitioners

FOR IMMEDIATE ATTENTION

Seeking your assistance to advise patients who are next in line for the COVID-19 vaccine

The purpose of this Advisory Alert is to share information on the planning underway to immunize individuals who have health conditions as described in Phase 2 of the provincial plan and to seek your assistance in contacting eligible patients who have highest-risk health conditions. I am also requesting that you consider immunizing patients at upcoming clinics.

Identify patients with highest-risk health conditions

Public Health Sudbury & Districts is requesting primary care providers to contact your patients who have highest risk health conditions to inform them they are eligible for vaccine. We are asking you to share with them the booking information they will need to schedule an immunization appointment for themselves and their essential caregiver, as appropriate.

Those currently eligible for vaccine under the “highest health risk group” include:

Highest-risk health condition:

Essential caregivers may also be eligible:

Important note: The list of highest risk health conditions is not exhaustive. Health care practitioners are asked to use their best medical judgement to identify patients with health conditions not listed that may put them at similar or greater risk to listed conditions.

Share booking and clinic details with your patients

Once the individuals have been identified, we ask that you share booking details with them.

Booking Instructions

Provide your patients with the following booking information:

This process will ensure that all highest risk patients are offered the opportunity to book appointments before opening up bookings for individuals with high risk and then at-risk health conditions. It will help to ensure the safety of our most at-risk community members.

Clinic details

Clinics will be offered by appointment during the month of April. All clinics will follow the mass immunization model with special considerations to ensure clients have time to ask questions.

In Greater Sudbury, clinics will occur at Carmichael Arena on:

In the areas of Chapleau, Lacloche Foothills, Manitoulin Island, and Sudbury East, opportunities for immunization will align with the mass clinic model dates and locations throughout the month of April.

Schedule yourselves or members of your practice into a shift at an upcoming clinic

Scheduling details

In Greater Sudbury, Public Health Sudbury & Districts is using the BookJane scheduling app to schedule individuals to work in our vaccine clinics. The app sends available clinic shifts out and allows us to quickly confirm staffing resources. If you are interested in working a vaccination clinic and are part of our primary care registry, please contact us at PCC_Vaccine_Questions@phsd.ca so we can invite you to join the app.

In the areas of Chapleau, Lacloche Foothills, Manitoulin Island, and Sudbury East, if you are not already connected to a local Implementation Committee and involved in clinic scheduling and you would like to be, please contact us at PCC_Vaccine_Questions@phsd.ca.

Next Steps

Please be prepared to follow the same process for patients with high riski health conditions and then for at-riski health conditions. Once those with highest risk health conditions have had an opportunity to book an appointment, we will request that you advise your patients with high risk health conditions to book appointments. Following that, we anticipate requesting that you advise your patients with at-risk health conditions to book. As it is expected that primary care will have Astra Zeneca vaccine for use in your practices, it is my hope that you will soon be able to offer COVID-19 vaccine to your patients in your offices. Until that time, Public Health will organize clinics with your assistance to ensure your patients can be immunized in a timely fashion.

All clinic details are available on our website as they open for booking: https://www.phsd.ca/health-topics-programs/vaccines-immunizations/coronavirus-covid-19-vaccine/upcoming-vaccination-clinics-for-specific-priority-groups/

For additional information on the COVID-19 vaccines, as well as for specifics on how it is being rolled out locally, please visit Public Health’s COVID-19 vaccine webpage.

Sincerely,

Original Signed By

Dr. Penny Sutcliffe
Medical Officer of Health and Chief Executive Officer

NOTE: All Advisory Alerts are found on our website.

iFor planning purposes, please see the list of high risk and at-risk health conditions below.

High risk health conditions

At risk health conditions

This item was last modified on March 31, 2021