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Advocates for people with complex medical needs and severe disabilities want them to receive higher priority for the COVID-19 vaccine.
People with Down syndrome are at a much greater risk than the general population of becoming seriously ill if they contract the virus, said Ron Coristine Jr., executive director of Community Living Chatham-Kent.
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But other groups should also be in the first phase of Ontario’s vaccine rollout, he said.
“What about people who have maybe had an organ transplant or somebody who has cystic fibrosis?” Coristine asked. “It’s not just people who we support. … We know there are people out there who have nothing to do with our organization but have complex medical needs. What about these individuals?”
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Community Living Chatham-Kent’s executive director is calling on the provincial government to move his residents and workers to the front of the line for the COVID-19 vaccine.
People who live and work in congregate settings aren’t scheduled to be inoculated until Phase 2 of the vaccine rollout, but Ron Coristine Jr. said that’s too far away.
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Community Living members are “highly vulnerable” to the virus, he said, and should be vaccinated in Phase 1 with people from long-term care and hospital settings.
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The COVID-19 vaccine is a key tool in our fight to contain this global pandemic. With numbers continuing to rise in communities across Ontario, it is critical that the most vulnerable people, and the staff who support them, are at the front of the line to receive the vaccine.
Sadly, this is not happening.
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Despite the fact that Community Living Chatham-Kent provides essential support to several people who are highly vulnerable, neither these people, nor our staff, are scheduled to get the COVID-19 vaccine in this first wave.
January 22, 2021
The Executive Director of Community Living Chatham-Kent has written an open letter outlining his concerns that the community he represents is falling through the cracks when it comes to the COVID-19 vaccine. Ron Coristine points out that while their clients are among the most vulnerable they are not included in the first wave of people to get the vaccine. Same with the staff at Community Living Chatham-Kent. Coristine blames the provincial government because he feels they are not in his words “ allocating the vaccines based on the needs of vulnerable populations, but is making the decisions based on institutional categories.”