Dear Colleagues,
The landscape continues to change almost daily as it relates to COVID-19. Here are the latest updates that we have about phase 2 of the vaccine rollout, new resources, and our work to reinforce the critical role of Ontario’s family physicians.
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Update on vaccine rollout
- Vaccine supply delays are the reality now, but we expect the current trickle of vaccines to increase significantly. Your local public health units (PHU) have submitted their plans for approval and have indicated they want to partner with primary care. Family doctors are already supporting vaccination now in some LTC and retirement homes. When vaccine supply increases, we can continue to partner with PHUs in mass vaccine efforts and in phase 3 vaccinate in our offices. Read the latest MOH vaccination update.
- We continue to advocate to policymakers the vital role of family doctors in keeping Ontarians healthy and, more immediately, the important part we must play in vaccination efforts – we are trusted by our patients and are experts in vaccination. Our ongoing work within the Primary Care COVID-19 Vaccination Action Council (PC-VAC) highlights these points.
- Given limited vaccine supply, the Ministry advised that LTC, high-risk retirement and First Nations elder care homes are now to be done by February 10th, with the maximum interval between first and second doses remaining at 21 to 27 days for residents in those groups, and for others, 42 days.
- Details on the specifics of prioritization for patients and healthcare workers will be released shortly after they receive government approval, and we will share these updates with you once we receive them. We continue to hear that family doctors will be prioritized after healthcare workers directly working with high-risk patients (long-term care, assessment centres, emergency departments, etc.) – all dependent on vaccine supply.
- COVaxON is the provincial system to record COVID vaccination, adverse events and eventually also integrate the approved prioritization sequence. Stay tuned to be enrolled (and trained) on the COVaxON system. While it likely won’t be fully integrated into your EMR, we understand COVaxON system will be able to send reports of your vaccinated patients to your EMR.
- If you missed today's OCFP and UofT Department of Family and Community Medicine's timely and practical COVID Community of Practice session on vaccine issues and more, you can watch the recorded session and others here. Mainpro+® credits available.
Developments | Collaborations
- This member communication from the Ontario Retirement Communities Association reinforces that you do not need to provide consent forms or prescriptions. Retirement homes have access to the provincial screening and consent form and can obtain that consent; the form does NOT need to be signed by a physician.
- The OCFP met with the Black Physicians Association of Ontario (BPAO) to discuss how we can amplify messages that encourage vaccine confidence. Check out the details for its upcoming Annual Health Symposium taking place on February 27th.
Resources
- Allergy advice for COVID-19 vaccines (both general questions and patient-specific questions) is now available through eConsult. The general COVID-19 infectious disease group continues to be available on eConsult. Check out our OCFP compilation of vaccination recommendations for special populations.
- Adverse event reporting form and a good summary and Q&A from Public Health Ontario are available here.
- Serology is recommended only for children who have symptoms compatible with Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome and no lab confirmation of COVD-19, or those with severe illness who have tested negative for COVID by PCR. Serology should not be used for screening or diagnosis of acute COVID-19 infection or determining immune status.
- Consent form: Advance consent can help uncover and address potential patient concerns. Note that an updated MOH form is pending.
- Upcoming webinars
- February 9 – resources and practical tips for patients with anxiety. Register here.
- February 17 – office infection control. Link to come shortly from the OMA.
Talking to your patients
- If you are part of vaccination efforts in RHs and LTC, download this customizable presentation to help encourage vaccine confidence among healthcare workers, residents and essential caregivers.
- This decision tree helps support shared decision-making with your pregnant and breastfeeding patients in considering the COVID-19 vaccine.
- Questions about the vaccine’s religious permissibility may be answered by this infographic from the COVID-19 Made Simple
- The resource, “Vaccine Bulletin: What you need to know”, is available in English, French, Bangla, Punjabi, Simplified Chinese, Somali, Tamil and Traditional Chinese. Multilingual infographics from Unambiguous Science may help address patient concerns about the vaccine on topics such as Vaccine Side Effects and What are mRNA Vaccines
- The Centre for Effective Practice has developed a repository of COVD-19 patient resources which include multilingual info-sheets, handouts, videos and infographics.
Learn and celebrate
- OCFP Family Medicine Summit (FMS) – “This is honestly the best family medicine conference I have ever attended.” See how you can learn in ‘real time’ or on-demand, on your own time until July 31, 2021, earn up to 65 Mainpro+ credits for the full conference: ocfpsummit.ca.
- OCFP Awards – nominate a colleague. We need to celebrate the outstanding work of family physicians in their communities. Nominations close February 28. Contact the OCFP for more information: [email protected].
Open for feedback
- Outside of COVID-19, CPSO is conducting policy consultations on a few issues that affect our work. You can share your views on these draft policies by providing your input by March 15 for the first and April 12 for the others in this lineup:
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February in Ontario comes with snow and cold temperatures, and perhaps for some of you this is a welcome opportunity to be outside and ski, skate or snowshoe. For others, the knowledge that the daylight hours are getting a few minutes longer every day may be what you are appreciating. From my end, I’m grateful for the ongoing resilience of our profession as we continue to provide care to our patients despite the ever-present challenges of this pandemic.
Liz