Over 6,000 people tuned in to a webinar Monday to hear local community leaders answer questions, discuss vaccine rollouts, mental health and the current stage of the pandemic the community finds itself in.
Linda Hasenfratz, CEO of Linamar and appointee to the province's COVID-19 Vaccine Distribution Task Force joined this month’s webinar of Finding the Balance During COVID-19 with Dr. Anne-Marie Zajdlik and Helen Fishburn, executive director of CMHAWW, to talk about the vaccine roll out.
Hasenfratz said while there is a lot of misinformation about the safety of the vaccine, she assures that no steps were skipped during the development of the vaccine and no steps were skipped in the approval of the vaccine by Health Canada
“It really is just critical for the vast majority of us to get the vaccine in order for us to achieve the herd immunity that we need to achieve in order for us to go back to a normal existence,” said Hasenfratz.
She said the four key reasons why this vaccine developed as quickly as it did was because of the different technology used (mRNA), scientists being familiar with the coronavirus, the expedition of the drug approval process and pharma companies collaborating with each other to bring answers fast.
Last week, the government of Ontario announced a three-phase roll out of the COVID-19 vaccine.
Hasenfratz said phase 1 of the vaccine will focus on long-term care homes, residents, caregivers and staff which will be identified through Public Health, hospitals, and long-term-care homes.
“After that, the vaccine will be distributed to the highest risk areas, then people over the age of 80, then people over 70,” said Hasenfratz.
“The whole priority is around who is the most vulnerable.”
She said once the vulnerable populations have received it, the vaccine will be distributed to the general population which would start with those with occupations that require them to be exposed to a large number of people such as teachers.
“Prioritization within the large number of groups is still something that is being developed,” said Hasenfratz.
She said the vaccine roll out for the general public will take place around April and the procedures to get that vaccine are currently in the works.
Zajdlik said once the vaccine rolls out and you receive the vaccine, your body is not immediately immune to the virus.
“It takes time for your body to develop those very important antibodies to COVID-19,” said Zajdlik.
“It takes two to four week for an average person to develop a sufficient amount of antibodies which means two to four weeks from the second vaccine. The first for Pfizer is Day 1, the second for Pfizer is 21 days later and then you’ve got to wait two to four weeks before you’re immune.”
Many at the webinar seemed to have a lot of questions around gathering during the holidays. Dr. Zajdlik said the Christmas holidays will be very difficult for some people but people must avoid gathering with large groups or with anyone outside of our household bubble.
“Or we’re in horrible trouble in January, February with a soaring case count, increasing R value and a huge increase in a number of deaths,” said Zajdlik.
“It will make the final three or four months until we all have access to the vaccine extremely difficult if we’re not careful in Christmas.”
Fishburn said the pandemic has been really tough on people’s mental health
She said while there were certainly people who struggled before the pandemic, anxiety and stress has reached extreme levels because of isolation. She said the pandemic has also amplified domestic violence cases while there has been increase in substance abuse and people losing their jobs
“Isolation feeds domestic violence as well as people not feeling any sense of control and the victims of domestic violence not having those networks of support which has really been hampered by the pandemic,” said Fishburn.
She said the other group on the watch are folks compounded by racism.
“We know that systemic racism and inequities and injustices also lead to more suffering they’re more vulnerable in the pandemic as well,” said Fishburn.
She added that the CMHA and other organizations like Family Counselling and Support Services for Guelph-Wellington are offering services virtually and face to face, and urged the community to access support whenever needed.
“Help is there and we really have to build that bridge for folks that are feeling that loneliness and isolation,” said Fishburn.
A recording of the webinar can be accessed here.