Dear Colleagues,

You may well be aware of the information released yesterday by retired general Rick Hillier, head of Ontario's Vaccine Distribution Task Force. We were pleased to see the Ministry endorse the role for family physicians/primary care in Phase 2 of the vaccination rollout and the news of piloting vaccination in our offices in select Public Health Units (PHUs). There has been significant advocacy by the OCFP and our primary care partners, and I know we all want to be part of the vaccines rollout. Further key updates are below: 

• A high volume of AstraZeneca (AZ) vaccines is coming to Ontario, expected by end of next week, and some of those 190,000 doses will be distributed to a subset of PHUs and ultimately, we understand, to primary care clinics initially as part of a pilot program the following week (mid-March). With approval of the Johnson & Johnson (J&J) vaccine in Canada yesterday, more vaccines will be coming in the next weeks and months. 

• The pilot program will see the AZ vaccine administered through select primary care clinics and pharmacies. PHUs will liaise with local clinics to pilot the AZ vaccinations. Details on the PHUs involved will be available very soon and we will share this information when we have it. For those on Twitter, follow @OntarioCollege and @OCFP_President for updates. 

• We support the PHUs and local primary care health leaders in making this pilot a success, along with our primary care partner associations in the Primary Care COVID-19 Vaccination Action Council(PC-VAC). We are planning a community of practice, co-facilitated by Ontario Health in partnership with others including the SGFP, to help connect those involved in the pilots. 

• Next week, the OCFP, together with the Association of Family Health Teams of Ontario, Alliance for Healthier Communities, Indigenous Primary Health Care Council, Nurse Practitioner-Led Clinics Association and OMA Section on General & Family Practice, will participate in several meetings with the Ministry, including a "table top exercise", to demonstrate primary care's role in the vaccine rollout. 

• OntarioMD will be providing additional training and onboarding on COVaxON (the vaccine registration system) for physicians, starting with those involved in the pilot, including support for technical questions that arise throughout the process. 

• OMA has negotiated funding for physicians to provide vaccines. Further information can be found in this OHIP INFOBulletin. Thank you to the Ministry and OMA for supporting family physicians. 

• A practical COVID Immunization Toolkit for primary care clinics has been developed through a collaboration of national partners. 

• Information on all vaccines, including J&J, is available on the CEP vaccines page. 

• Plans for widespread mass and mobile vaccine clinics in all PHUs continue to move forward. This article includes links to individual PHU plans where they are available. 

OTHER UPDATES  

• Community family physicians are still identified as "very high priority" for vaccination in Phase 1. You should receive notice from your local PHU or hospital about being vaccinated. Vaccination should accelerate as more supply arrives. 

• Our next COVID-19 Community of Practice, with UofT DFCM, will take place on Friday, March 12, and Drs. Kieran Moore and Daniel Warshafsky will cover the role for family physicians in the vaccine rollout, and the new vaccines.  

I know all of you are working tirelessly and many are involved in efforts with PHUs to help plan and participate in vaccination efforts – we thank you for your leadership in all corners of the province. We will continue to keep you informed as we know more.

 Liz