Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19)

Ottawa Public Health (OPH) and the City of Ottawa are working to ensure that all Ottawa residents who want to receive the COVID-19 vaccine will be able to access it as quickly and efficiently as possible. All essential workers of any age who want to be vaccinated against COVID-19 are anticipated to be vaccinated with their first dose by the end of June 2021, sooner if supplies of vaccine increase.

In December 2020, the Province of Ontario released its Ethical framework for COVID-19 vaccine distribution. This framework aligns with guidance from the National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI) and Health Canada, which is evidence-informed and helps guide planning for the efficient, effective and equitable allocation of COVID-19 vaccines in the context of limited vaccine supply. The provincial ethical framework is based on the principals of stewardship, trust, equity and transparency. It evaluates the patient population risk of exposure, the risk of severe disease or outcomes and health system capacity to ensure ongoing care to the population.

As vaccine supply continues to be limited, OPH and the City of Ottawa have been and will continue to follow the provincial ethical framework and the Province’s three-phased vaccine distribution plan.

While significant progress has been made in vaccinating Phase 1 populations, not all individuals who are eligible to be vaccinated in Phase 1 have received their first dose.

Notwithstanding that vaccination of some Phase 1 populations is ongoing, on April 6, 2021 the Government of Ontario announced that it was moving to Phase 2 of its COVID-19 Vaccine Distribution Plan, which places primary and initial priority on:  

• Older adults
• Individuals in "hot spot" communities where COVID-19 has disproportionately impacted certain neighbourhoods;
• Individuals with the highest risk health conditions and their caregiver;
• People who live and work in congregate settings and some essential caregivers;

The sequencing of populations in the provincial Phase 2 plan supports OPH’s goal of reducing the risk for people who are more severely impacted by COVID-19 in Ottawa. In four neighbourhoods with some of the highest rates of COVID-19, where many essential workers live, people over 50 are now eligible for vaccine through the provincial booking system. In other priority neighbourhoods, people over 50 are eligible through OPH’s pop-up clinic process. Ottawa’s vaccination program for the general population started with a postal code-based approach to protect people over 80 in priority neighbourhoods. High priority neighbourhoods are defined as those that are most impacted by COVID-19 based on rates of COVID-19 and Ottawa Neighbourhood Study (ONS) data on disadvantaged communities. In addition, the City and OPH are reviewing communities in other neighbourhoods who are also disproportionally impacted by COVID-19 and considerations will be made for these communities as the vaccine roll out continues.

The City’s Emergency Operations Centre is now overseeing multiple initiatives to reach workers and residents 50 and above in high priority neighbourhoods in line with the Phase 2 priority. Ottawa’s strategy to make vaccine more accessible in lower income and racialized communities is leading to greater equity in who is being vaccinated. As vaccine supply allows, the eligible age in neighbourhoods at higher risk may be lowered by the province.

Vaccine continues to be prioritized for all adults 55, and over via pharmacies and primary care, changing to 40 and over as of April 20^th, and 60 and over in mass vaccination clinics as the majority of hospitalizations, ICU admissions and deaths, continue to be of people over 50 years of age. At this point, 60% of people in their 60s remain to be vaccinated, and 75% of people in their 50s have not yet been immunized. Preventing each hospitalization possible is important as hospitals are already pressed to provide intensive care for current and projected COVID-19 patients. Vaccine supply should protect all people in their 60s who want to be vaccinated near the end of April and most people in their 50s by mid-May, allowing a shift to greater allocations to workers of younger ages who cannot work from home.

Individuals with the highest risk health conditions (organ transplant recipients, some cancer patients, renal disease patients and people with neurologic diseases in which respiratory function may be compromised) are now also eligible to pre-register for vaccination. These individuals will be provided with booking information through their hospital programs as appointments become available. Vaccinating this population could take weeks, depending on sequencing and vaccine availability.

People who live and work in congregate settings, and some associated caregivers, are being reached with COVID-19 vaccine through dedicated initiatives, starting with higher risk settings.

Further, during an April 7, 2021 press conference, the Premier of Ontario announced that, the Province would be moving to open vaccination bookings to  workers who support students with special education needs, beginning the week of April 12^th, 2021. OPH and the City of Ottawa began vaccinating Ottawa’s special education workers that week, based on a list of eligible workers compiled with the assistance of Ottawa school boards.

When all reasonable efforts have been made to offer a first dose of vaccine to all those within the Primary Priority groups in Phase 2, the Secondary Priority groups will begin, possibly mid-May.  The Second Priority of any-aged essential workers who cannot work from home, will start with education and childcare workers, food manufacturing workers and workers who respond to critical events, among others.

We are grateful for the critical work done by people who cannot work from home. We are encouraging essential workers to access vaccine as it first becomes available to them, such as by age or neighbourhood. “Workers who cannot work from home” is a broad category that includes many priority groups whose members may be eligible to be vaccinated based on age or other factors before the Second Priority part of Phase 2 begins. 

Because vaccines will not be available for even the first group of essential workers all at once, the Ottawa Vaccine Sequencing Task Force will be considering how further prioritization may be achieved within the Secondary Priority group. Following the principle of equity, the local Sequencing Task Force will be asked to consider how best to prioritize special education workers in childcare settings.

Residents who are not yet eligible are encouraged to sign up for the COVID-19 vaccine update e-subscription to receive email updates on the vaccine roll-out. If they are not online, they are encouraged to ask a family member, neighbour or friend to sign up and let them know when they are eligible for the vaccine. OPH and the City of Ottawa will continue broad communications plans to provide more information as it becomes available.

We continue to ramp up our vaccination efforts as we receive additional vaccine supply and encourage residents to keep visiting OttawaPublicHealth.ca/COVID19vaccine or the City of Ottawa website for the latest information on this ever-evolving situation. Residents can also visit OPH’s COVID-19 Vaccination Dashboard for up-to-date data on COVID-19 vaccinations in Ottawa. The dashboard is updated at 12:30 p.m. every Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

In the context of limited vaccine supply and higher levels of COVID-19 transmission across the City of Ottawa, we will continue to focus our efforts on vaccinating individuals who are most at risk of serious illness and death due to COVID-19.