A message from OCFP President-elect Dr. Mekalai Kumanan

July 21, 2022

Dear Colleagues,

With OCFP President Dr. Liz Muggah on a short break, I am pleased to have this opportunity to reach out to all of you, to acknowledge your tremendous work, and to share supports.

It is most certainly summer across Ontario, and we are in the midst of a seventh wave. As we face a surge in COVID-19 cases and continue to manage our ongoing clinical work, I know you are working as hard as ever to meet your patients’ needs.

The OCFP has compiled information to update you on new guidance and other developments to support you in your practice, which you will find below.

We were pleased with our productive introductory meeting with Ontario’s new Health Minister, Sylvia Jones, during her first week in office. Dr. Muggah, and our CEO, Kim Moran, had the opportunity to highlight your essential role and the critical issues facing family doctors.

Our advocacy campaign around these matters is building momentum! You asked the OCFP to advocate for change and to ensure the challenges you face are brought forward to the government. We are pleased to see growing public awareness of our Life Without A Doctor campaign, highlighting the collective crisis facing Ontarians. The OCFP will continue to advocate for the urgent need to address the family doctor shortage and the issues that impede your ability to excel and thrive in your practice. Check out this sampling of the latest media coverage and please continue to share these important messages.

• Family doctors deny they're causing Ontario's emergency room problems, with Dr. Liz Muggah and Dr. Tara Kiran (CBC News)
• How hard is it to find a family doctor?, with Dr. Kamila Premji (audio), (CBC Radio – Cross Country Checkup)
• Northern Ontario's doctors stressed, burnt out; many may retire early, with Dr. Sarah Newbery (The Sudbury Star)
• Is family medicine the cure to our health care system? (video), with Dr. Tara Kiran (TVO, The Thread)

COVID-19

• This memo issued today by the CMOHupdates on the COVID-19 situation, with information on booster eligibility, vaccination, treatments and other helpful reminders.
• Vaccines for ages 6 months to 5 years: Health Canada has approved the Moderna vaccine for kids under 5, stating there were no safety signals from the trial and that it will look to “more data from ongoing studies and real-world use to ensure the benefits of the vaccine continue to outweigh any risks”.
• Starting Thursday, July 28, 2022, parents and caregivers of children in this age group will be able to book appointments. The MOH has said that, over the next several days, “paediatric vaccines are being distributed across the province and will be available through public health unit clinics, as well as participating paediatricians, primary care providers and pharmacies.” For questions about vaccines for your office, contact your PHU.
• For a parent, the choice to vaccinate their child is a personal one. Family doctors are here to provide information, including risks and benefits, to help make the decision. The OCFP has compiled answers to common questions, and here is a short news clip with Dr. Allan Grill speaking about the family physician role.
• You can find a helpful statement from the Canadian Paediatric Societyhere, and patient-facing resources from the University of Waterloo School of Pharmacy: reasons to vaccinate and timing of vaccines.
• Co-administration of COVID-19 vaccine for children aged 5 to 11: Under NACI’s updated guidance for COVID-19 vaccines(June 21, 2022), the vaccine may now be administered at the same time as other vaccines in children aged 5 to 11. Of note, for children 6 months to 5 years, NACI presently advises waiting 14 days between the COVID-19 vaccine and another vaccine. See Q9 in OCFP’s Q&As for more information.
• Second boosters for ages 18 to 59: With expanded eligibility, all 18+ adults in Ontario may receive a second booster (a fourth dose for most). There is no recommendation at present for all healthy people aged 18 to 59 to get the second booster – encourage patients to consider their personal circumstances when thinking of a fourth dose. OCFP resources to help:
• script about boosters you can adapt for your practice
• compilation of answers to common questions
• with UofT DFCM, updated patient factsheet Do I need a COVID booster? When should I get it? in the Confused About COVID series
• Third doses: Encourage eligible patients to get their third doses if they haven’t already done so. Evidence shows vaccine effectiveness remains high six months after the third dose in otherwise healthy patients
• For more information, watch for more details and registration opening soon for our August 19session of the COVID-19 Community of Practice, with UofT DFCM, and you can always access past CoP sessions, including the recordings, resources and slides. 

Monkeypox

• Facts and links to key healthcare provider resources on the monkeypox virus are available on a dedicated website through the Ministry of Health (MOH).
• Use this reference guide to compare presentations of monkeypox, chickenpox, and hand-foot-and-mouth disease, and here is a Q&A for healthcare providers about monkeypox.
• Resharing PHO’s monkeypox resources page, including information on testing.

Managing EAP requests through ODB

• For those of you who manage Exceptional Access Program requests through the Ontario Drug Benefit (ODP) program, see how you can submit via the SADIE portal (Special Authorization Digital Information Exchange) to simplify and speed up patient access to needed drugs and track Ministry decisions. Here is the sign-up to start using SADIE.

I hope you are making time for yourself in these summer months and taking care of yourself along with your patients. Thank you for your continued hard work and dedication.

Mekalai