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TORONTO Emergency room doctors and nurses in Canada are growing increasingly frustrated that many of them have yet to receive a second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. Amanda Dodge McLean, a registered nurse in Sarnia, Ont., received her first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine on Feb. 26 and was scheduled to receive the second dose on March 27, but the appointment was cancelled. To date, she has not been rescheduled. âIt s frustrating because you know you could be better protected for myself, my family, my 16-month-old son, my autoimmune-disordered husband, my parents who are my childcare, who are in their 60s,and for all my patients,â she told CTV News. âIt doesn t feel right.â
LONDON, ONT. Many health care workers who treat COVID-19 patients are growing concerned that they haven’t yet been fully vaccinated against the virus. The concerns come as intensive care units acoss the province continue to operate beyond their capacity. “Everything feels a little more heavy,” said Amanda Dodge McLean, an emergency room nurse working in southwestern Ontario. “Then obviously it compounds and when, especially if you ve had a case where we resuscitate somebody, and you find out later they re COVID positive.” Dodge McLean tells CTV News London she received her first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine on Feb. 26. She was supposed to get the second dose four weeks later, but the appointment was cancelled.
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Dr. Michael Herman can’t get much closer to the front lines of pandemic health care than he already is. During every recent shift in the emergency department at Queensway Carleton Hospital, he has treated at least three or four COVID-positive patients, sometimes performing procedures with a high potential risk of spread.
And, while the emergency doctor uses full personal protective equipment, he does not have the same level of protection as many of his colleagues, even those who don’t see patients face-to-face: He has not received a second dose of COVID-19 vaccine.
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Posted: Apr 26, 2021 4:00 AM ET | Last Updated: April 26
A nurse tends to a patient suspected of having COVID-19 in a Toronto intensive care unit. Canadian doctors and nurses are all similarly trained, but reams of paperwork, reference letters, and professional documents are required to practice in each separate province or territory.(Evan Mitsui/CBC)