Anticipating increased demand for the flu shot this season, pharmacist Sean Simpson has invested in a few unorthodox supplies that go well beyond extra face masks: street signage, traffic cones, a pop-up tent and hard hats.
He’ll need them for the drive-thru vaccination clinic he’s setting up in the parking lot of his Virgil, Ont., Pharmasave, a scheme he hopes will address COVID-19 fears while offering customers a quick way to get their shot.
“We’ve worked it out in our heads a number of times, and we seem to think it’ll work,” said Simpson, who was still waiting Tuesday for his vaccine shipment to arrive.
“We’ll have a setup where we’re able to vaccinate people in the car and monitor them for the recommended period of time and let them go on their way so that we can reduce the interaction with others.”
Pharmacist Sean Simpson poses outside his pharmacy in Virgil, Ont., on Monday. He’ll be offering a drive-thru flu clinic this year. (Tara Walton/The Canadian Press)
While residents in Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick have been among the first in Canada to receive doses in recent weeks, pharmacies and doctor’s clinics in much of the rest of the country are still waiting and preparing to deliver their shots. Many start their programs in October or early November.
Canadian Medical Association president Dr. Ann Collins said varied start times depend on when the vaccine supply is delivered to the province, when it is dispersed to depots, when it’s picked up by the provider and ultimately when providers have their provision plan in place.
This season, the Fredericton-based physician said pharmacists and doctors are eager to try novel ways to offer large-scale flu clinics that can maintain pandemic safety precautions, noting her own family physician hosted a flu clinic in a parking lot last weekend.
At Simpson’s Pharmacy in Virgil, drive-thru visits will be by appointment only, with waivers and related paperwork to be filled out online.
Simpson expected the outdoor clinic will limit face-to-face interaction between strangers, avoid any need for a waiting room and reduce crowding in the actual store.
Ottawa family physician Dr. Aly Abdulla said COVID-19 precautions rule out traditional mass-vaccination tactics, such as renting out the nearby legion.
At the same time, getting the shot to as many people as possible was more crucial than ever to avoid a feared “twindemic,” in which simultaneous flu and COVID-19 outbreaks overwhelm the health-care system.
Pharmacy chain staggers rollout
Abdulla expected to offer the flu shot when patients come in for routine appointments. But he’s also in talks with local public health about a joint effort that might see several doctors share the cost of renting a large space for a flu clinic, which would also allow them to pool their doses if needed.
“Our plan is to have public health screening areas — maybe arenas, maybe clinics that are not using their space on evenings and weekends — to have these flu clinics,” said Abdulla. He said he’s also heard of doctors in Guelph, Ont., and Georgian Bay considering drive-thru clinics.
“[They] will essentially be ad hoc in the community, based on what the needs are.”
This year, the Public Health Agency of Canada said more than 13 million doses have been ordered, a jump from last season’s 11.2 million doses. Ten per cent of that is the high-dose influenza vaccine — itself a 25 per cent increase from last season as public health focuses on inoculating more adults 65 years and older, who account for most hospitalizations and deaths from flu and COVID-19.
Shoppers Drug Mart said its stores in P.E.I. began delivering the flu shot Sept. 28, while those in New Brunswick began Oct. 5.
The chain, including its Loblaw pharmacies, continued a staggered rollout in Ontario on Wednesday; Manitoba and Nova Scotia next week; British Columbia, Alberta and Saskatchewan on Oct. 19; Yukon on Oct. 26 and in Quebec’s Pharmaprix outlets on Nov. 1.
WATCH | Flu shots could help avoid ‘twindemic,’ doctors say:
Health authorities are urging Canadians to get a flu shot this year to avoid the spectre of a “twindemic,” where the health-care system is overwhelmed by COVID-19 and influenza, but there are concerns about how to safely deliver flu shots to more people. 3:31
A spokesperson said availability in Newfoundland and Labrador was still to be determined and that customers should contact their local pharmacy to confirm details.
Requests ‘off the charts,’ Toronto pharmacist says
Theresa Firestone, senior vice-president of health and wellness at Shoppers Drug Mart, touted a contactless digital consent form that includes screening for COVID-19 symptoms, drop-in appointments and dedicated senior’s clinics — when stores will be opened exclusively for older shoppers — with meeting increased demand.
“Physician offices often close at the end of the workday. We have many stores open until midnight … and we have a number of stores that are 24-hours,” said Firestone.
Victor Wong, an associate owner and pharmacist at a Shoppers Drug Mart in east-end Toronto, said requests for the flu shot “have been off the charts,” with some customers asking about its arrival since the summer.
Needles and syringes used to administer the flu shot. Doctors face added costs of personal protective equipment and cleaning supplies to give the vaccine this year. (Tara Walton/The Canadian Press)
He expected demand will be high at his store after hearing some doctors were skipping the season entirely.
“We have local doctors, even within our close proximity, who have already phoned us to let us know that they will not be opening up their clinics this year for flu shots or will be diverting their flu shot patients to our store,” said Wong, whose store delivered more than 600 flu shots last year.
A recent survey by the Canadian Medical Association suggested half of 598 respondents expected they won’t have enough doses this season. A broader survey of 1,459 doctors found half had trouble accessing personal protective equipment, and many feared they’ll have trouble safeguarding patients and staff while delivering the flu shot.
The Canadian government says it will donate up to 200,000 vaccine doses to fight the mpox outbreak in Congo and other African countries.
It says the donated doses of Imvamune will come from Canada’s existing supply and will not affect the country’s preparedness for mpox cases in this country.
Minister of Health Mark Holland says the donation “will help to protect those in the most affected regions of Africa and will help prevent further spread of the virus.”
Dr. Madhukar Pai, Canada research chair in epidemiology and global health, says although the donation is welcome, it is a very small portion of the estimated 10 million vaccine doses needed to control the outbreak.
Vaccine donations from wealthier countries have only recently started arriving in Africa, almost a month after the World Health Organization declared the mpox outbreak a public health emergency of international concern.
A few days after the declaration in August, Global Affairs Canada announced a contribution of $1 million for mpox surveillance, diagnostic tools, research and community awareness in Africa.
On Thursday, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention said mpox is still on the rise and that testing rates are “insufficient” across the continent.
Jason Kindrachuk, Canada research chair in emerging viruses at the University of Manitoba, said donating vaccines, in addition to supporting surveillance and diagnostic tests, is “massively important.”
But Kindrachuk, who has worked on the ground in Congo during the epidemic, also said that the international response to the mpox outbreak is “better late than never (but) better never late.”
“It would have been fantastic for us globally to not be in this position by having provided doses a much, much longer time prior than when we are,” he said, noting that the outbreak of clade I mpox in Congo started in early 2023.
Clade II mpox, endemic in regions of West Africa, came to the world’s attention even earlier — in 2022 — as that strain of virus spread to other countries, including Canada.
Two doses are recommended for mpox vaccination, so the donation may only benefit 100,000 people, Pai said.
Pai questioned whether Canada is contributing enough, as the federal government hasn’t said what percentage of its mpox vaccine stockpile it is donating.
“Small donations are simply not going to help end this crisis. We need to show greater solidarity and support,” he said in an email.
“That is the biggest lesson from the COVID-19 pandemic — our collective safety is tied with that of other nations.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
Canadian Press health coverage receives support through a partnership with the Canadian Medical Association. CP is solely responsible for this content.
HALIFAX – The Nova Scotia government says it could be months before it reveals how many people are on the wait-list for a family doctor.
The head of the province’s health authority told reporters Wednesday that the government won’t release updated data until the 160,000 people who were on the wait-list in June are contacted to verify whether they still need primary care.
Karen Oldfield said Nova Scotia Health is working on validating the primary care wait-list data before posting new numbers, and that work may take a matter of months. The most recent public wait-list figures are from June 1, when 160,234 people, or about 16 per cent of the population, were on it.
“It’s going to take time to make 160,000 calls,” Oldfield said. “We are not talking weeks, we are talking months.”
The interim CEO and president of Nova Scotia Health said people on the list are being asked where they live, whether they still need a family doctor, and to give an update on their health.
A spokesperson with the province’s Health Department says the government and its health authority are “working hard” to turn the wait-list registry into a useful tool, adding that the data will be shared once it is validated.
Nova Scotia’s NDP are calling on Premier Tim Houston to immediately release statistics on how many people are looking for a family doctor. On Tuesday, the NDP introduced a bill that would require the health minister to make the number public every month.
“It is unacceptable for the list to be more than three months out of date,” NDP Leader Claudia Chender said Tuesday.
Chender said releasing this data regularly is vital so Nova Scotians can track the government’s progress on its main 2021 campaign promise: fixing health care.
The number of people in need of a family doctor has more than doubled between the 2021 summer election campaign and June 2024. Since September 2021 about 300 doctors have been added to the provincial health system, the Health Department said.
“We’ll know if Tim Houston is keeping his 2021 election promise to fix health care when Nova Scotians are attached to primary care,” Chender said.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 11, 2024.
ST. JOHN’S, N.L. – Newfoundland and Labrador‘s chief medical officer is monitoring the rise of whooping cough infections across the province as cases of the highly contagious disease continue to grow across Canada.
Dr. Janice Fitzgerald says that so far this year, the province has recorded 230 confirmed cases of the vaccine-preventable respiratory tract infection, also known as pertussis.
Late last month, Quebec reported more than 11,000 cases during the same time period, while Ontario counted 470 cases, well above the five-year average of 98. In Quebec, the majority of patients are between the ages of 10 and 14.
Meanwhile, New Brunswick has declared a whooping cough outbreak across the province. A total of 141 cases were reported by last month, exceeding the five-year average of 34.
The disease can lead to severe complications among vulnerable populations including infants, who are at the highest risk of suffering from complications like pneumonia and seizures. Symptoms may start with a runny nose, mild fever and cough, then progress to severe coughing accompanied by a distinctive “whooping” sound during inhalation.
“The public, especially pregnant people and those in close contact with infants, are encouraged to be aware of symptoms related to pertussis and to ensure vaccinations are up to date,” Newfoundland and Labrador’s Health Department said in a statement.
Whooping cough can be treated with antibiotics, but vaccination is the most effective way to control the spread of the disease. As a result, the province has expanded immunization efforts this school year. While booster doses are already offered in Grade 9, the vaccine is now being offered to Grade 8 students as well.
Public health officials say whooping cough is a cyclical disease that increases every two to five or six years.
Meanwhile, New Brunswick’s acting chief medical officer of health expects the current case count to get worse before tapering off.
A rise in whooping cough cases has also been reported in the United States and elsewhere. The Pan American Health Organization issued an alert in July encouraging countries to ramp up their surveillance and vaccination coverage.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 10, 2024.
