TORONTO – The deadline for Ontario’s long-term care homes was set for tomorrow to be fully immunized against Covid-19 but the government has decided to postpone it until December 13. This was announced by the spokesperson of the Minister of Long Term Care Rod Phillips Vanessa De Matteis: by today, however, the staff of these houses must receive at least the first dose of the vaccine. 

Associate Deputy Minister for Long Term Care Erin Hannah informed LTC managers of the extension granted to nurses, psws and various employees to comply with vaccinations since the National Advisory Committee on Immunization a month ago determined that “the optimal interval between the first and second dose of a Covid-19 mRNA vaccine is eight weeks”.

The province said that until last Friday 98% of the staff was partially immunized while 95% of the staff received two doses. These are high but incomplete percentages made known by the government. Due to technical issues, De Matteis said, 57 LTC have yet to submit updated data from their facilities, so the immunization rate could vary.

That of long-term care homes is a delicate situation due to the fragility of their residents who, in addition to being elderly, often suffer from serious pathologies that affect their ability to fight against Covid: so far 3,824 people have been in these structures, especially during the first two waves of the pandemic, they lost their lives. Precisely to prevent the massacre of the elderly from continuing – after the pressure of doctors and family members – the government has decreed the mandatory vaccination for those who work in these LTC. Last month this policy was announced along with other measures such as random testing for vaccinated staff and visitors in order to detect outbreaks of the virus in the bud.

At the moment there is only one covid outbreak in an LTC – The Pines in Bracebridge – only one resident and 6 staff members infected. But the situation could change just as the concept of citizens on long-term care homes has changed since the beginning of the pandemic.

According to a survey recently conducted by Asking Canadians in collaboration with the Canadian Institute for Health Information, 70% of respondents – driven by the desire to avoid entering LTC homes – call for greater support for the home care sector.

In the fall of 2020, another Asking Canadians survey of more than 3,000 people aged 50 to 69 in Ontario and Quebec found that 72% said they wanted to reside in a Long Term Care and 70% said they were concerned about the risk to their health at these facilities. The pandemic has fundamentally changed Canadians’ perception and preferences about LTC.

Being able to continue living in one’s own home is the desire of the elderly but home care is expensive even when government subsidies exist.

And for those who do not have family members who can provide care, long-term public homes are often their only choice.

According to the Canadian Institute for Health Information, during the first wave of the pandemic, from March to August 2020, more than 80% of Canadian deaths from Covid-19 were linked to LTC and seniors homes already in precarious situations in the pre-pandemic years.