Public Health Sudbury & Districts releases COVID-19 Vaccination Playbook

Public Health Sudbury & Districts has released its plan for COVID-19 vaccinations in its service area. The Public Health Sudbury & Districts COVID-19 Vaccination Program Playbook (PDF, 2.53 MB) is the roadmap to vaccinate area residents against COVID-19 and get to the end of the pandemic.

“When the vaccine arrives locally, we want to get it into the arms of eligible residents as rapidly as possible. This means that pre-planning is essential. We have been working with partners and waiting with great anticipation for this crucial work to begin,” said Dr. Penny Sutcliffe, Medical Officer of Health with Public Health Sudbury & Districts. “The Playbook is our roadmap to put the COVID-19 pandemic in our rear-view mirror. The task ahead of us is daunting, but it’s made possible by our collective ‘can-do’ attitude. So many have stepped up to offer help and planning groups are being set up across our catchment area,” added Dr. Sutcliffe.

Public Health Sudbury & Districts follows the Ontario’s Vaccine Distribution Implementation Plan (Government of Ontario, PDF) and the recent COVID-19 Vaccination Update (Government of Ontario, PDF) to implement the local vaccination program in three phases.

• Phase 1 (January to March): vaccines will be offered to residents of congregate living for seniors like long-term care homes and high-risk retirement homes including staff and essential care givers; health care workers; adult (16+) First Nations, Métis, and Inuit populations; and adult chronic home care recipients (16+).
• Phase 2 (April to August): essential workers; adults aged 60+; staff and residents of additional congregate settings for example shelters and group homes; at-risk populations; and remaining adults aged 16 to 59 will be able to get vaccinated.
• Phase 3 (September and ongoing): all remaining eligible populations who wish to be vaccinated will be able to do so.

The local vaccination program will be implemented in close partnership with many others to ensure access to vaccine is based on sound ethical principles and that the program is run efficiently. Three main approaches are planned for the vaccination of residents in Chapleau, Greater Sudbury, Lacloche Foothills, Manitoulin Island, and Sudbury East. These approaches include mobile vaccination that will occur in settings where specific populations congregate or live such as long-term care and retirement homes; mass vaccination clinics that will be scheduled at various community sites where eligible residents will attend to be immunized; and practice-based clinics in specific provider settings such as primary care offices and pharmacies. The approaches will be selected and adapted to match factors such as vaccine supply, eligible population, community resources, and health provider capacity.

“I know the question that is top of mind for many of us is, ‘When will I get the vaccine?’,” said Dr. Sutcliffe. “Answering that question is very difficult because although we have a Playbook, executing it is dependent on vaccine supply from the province. So, our Playbook maps out the time sequencing of vaccinations using various scenarios. It’s clear that we all still need a big dose of patience and ongoing commitment to COVID-19 prevention measures, but we are embarking on an epic journey.”

Public Health staff, community paramedicine, primary care providers, hospitals, and pharmacies are all anticipated to be involved in vaccinating eligible residents in predetermined clinics and locations. The goal of the local vaccination program is to achieve a coverage level of at least 75% of eligible recipients in the service area, within the prescribed timeframe, and respecting provincial direction on vaccine recipient sequencing.

The status of the COVID-19 vaccine rollout is evolving rapidly. As new developments about vaccine availability and distribution are known, Public Health remains committed to providing timely updates.

As a local public health agency with responsibilities under the Ontario Public Health Standards (Ontario Ministry of Health) for immunization and infectious and communicable disease control, Public Health Sudbury & Districts provides the leadership role in the COVID-19 vaccination program.

For more details on local COVID-19 vaccine implementation and rollout, read the Public Health Sudbury & Districts COVID-19 Vaccination Program Playbook (PDF, 2.53 MB). For more information or if you have questions about the COVID-19 vaccine, please visit phsd.ca/COVID-19 or call Public Health Sudbury & Districts at 705.522.9200 (toll-free 1.866.522.9200).