(06-23-2021, 06:28 AM)jeffster Wrote: If we honestly can’t look at our situation, and understand where we could have done better, then that’s a pride issue.
I'm not saying there aren't areas where we could have done better. I'm saying we didn't do any worse than the rest of the province, and the difference in case counts between here and Toronto is mostly chance (with a little bit of Toronto getting vaccine priority from the province).
(06-23-2021, 06:28 AM)jeffster Wrote: my first thought would have been to have several locations, especially in hot zones, and have them in there until things start to wind down. Now, I had no idea Kitchener had two locations (not sure when they popped up), and 1 of them (and 2 in Waterloo) are being used for walk-ins coming up, but how helpful is this when they are all so far away from those that need to get vaccinated?
The region did do a number of mobile clinics in priority (harder hit) areas. They sent out mailers in those areas letting people know about the clinics, and giving booking information. I agree this was probably the weakest part of the region's response, as the booking system was only via phone and email (no website) so it wasn't great. But they succeeded in administering all the doses they had, to residents of those areas, so absent more vaccine supply I don't think a permanent location would have added much.
(06-23-2021, 03:27 PM)jeffster Wrote: I still think the province needs to take over the vaccination program in this region though. Todays numbers suggest that things are still not under control, at all.
Waterloo Region is at 75.4% of adults with a first dose, Toronto is at 75.6% of adults with a first dose. What exactly would the province taking over accomplish? We're not behind the province in vaccinations anymore, now that the province finally gave us more doses.
We are a little behind Toronto in second doses, but again, Toronto has been effectively prioritized over Waterloo as a delta hotspot, so that's the province's doing. If you're wondering why, the answer is the criteria the province used. The province made the eligibility criteria for accelerated second doses "lives in a delta hotspot and got a first dose before May 9", with both Toronto and Waterloo being defined as delta hotspots. Except early May was when the province focused vaccine allocation on third wave hotspots, so a much higher percentage of Toronto got vaccinated before May 9 than did in Waterloo. The effect was that rule made FAR more people eligible for second doses in Toronto, whereas most people in Waterloo wouldn't become eligible for another few weeks (when today the province moved it to before May 29). They really should have set the cut-off dates per-region, rather than using the same date for all delta hotspots, which favoured vaccines to areas that were third wave hotspots.