Can we spend Easter with family? 10 COVID-19 questions with Hamilton's top medical officer

Dr. Elizabeth Richardson, Hamilton's medical officer of health, joined CBC Hamilton on Thursday Feb. 25 at noon to take your questions about COVID-19.

You sentus questions and weasked Dr. Richardson. Thanks to everyone who asked a question or made a comment.Here's what she told us about the city's response to COVID-19, the city's rollout plan and more. Read below for an edited and abridged transcript of the interview or hit play on the button above to watch the full interview.

Dr. Elizabeth Richardson, Hamilton's medical officer of health

This question comes in from Thomas Beckett who says: "I am 95 and my wife is 81." He asks "When and How will we be informed about when and where we can get vaccinated? Can we be vaccinated at the same time?"

For people who are out in the community who are older, they're absolutely a group that we're quite concerned about and we want to get the vaccine toquickly. So, General Hillier announced yesterday that they would be opening the portal as of March 15th. So, that's an online way to get registered. And then we're going to look at when we can start to move the vaccine out from there. And they're going to work down through age groups and so it willbe those who are over, I believe he said, 80 and then over 75, over 65 and moving forward, sort of a month at a time. And so, that's the general rollout.

So,for Mr. Beckett, since both he and his wife are over 80, they may be able to get their vaccinations at the same time?

That's right. You know, if they'rein those same age groups, they can. If they are in different age groups, it may be that one gets vaccinated, then the next. But that's the general plan.

What about caregivers?

Dianne Bugiardini asks "I am a caregiver for my elderly Mom who lives alone in an apartment. I am in my early sixties. Will I qualify to get immunized earlier than the rest of my age group?

So, for that group, at this point, the provinces said, no.They would still go by the age groups as they go forward. So, although caregivers that support people in congregate settingspeople who live together, dine together those people have been prioritized. For those in the community at this point, that's not the case.

Cancer patient

Usha is suffering from meta-static cancer for a year now, and she's over 70. She says "I am terrified when I visit the cancer centre every month for various tests and chemo. I hope there's a plan to vaccinate the immune compromised like us." She asks, when I do get my vaccination?

So, certainly people who are at higher risk of becoming ill with COVID, that is a group that is being taken into consideration when we're rolling out the prioritization and the province still hasn't set out the details for what we call the phase two group that we're waiting to see how they rate those pieces, exactly as she's saying, in terms of people who are at higher risk. I think the other thing we need to remember is that we continue to have really good tools in terms of limiting infection. And so all of those measures in terms of mask wearing, in terms of distancing all of those sorts of things whether they're performed by the individual themselves or they're asking those around them to make sure that they are doing those, still remain really important to do.And so it's really important for our health care workers who have started to get vaccinated, for those in all settings to remember to continue to use those measures as we go forward.

Allergies

Brenhut says "I have an Epipen for a fruit allergy. I haven't heard much about allergic reactions after the few that were at the beginning of vaccinations. At that time they said those with Epipens may not be able to get the shot. My allergist has a ninemonth waiting list for an appointment, so how do I find out if I can get vaccinated?" What's your advice?

Pain killers

This question comes in from Margaret Bosnyak who says --- "I read that it is not advisable to take pain killers i.e. Tylenol before getting vaccinated. I myself have arthritis and take Tylenol three times a day , everyday for pain. Have you any knowledge about this and is there a solution?"

So, again, for those that are taking medication for some sort of significant illness, it is best to have that conversation specifically about your situation. Again, your family doctor is a great place to start around that kind of that kind of issue. And just to review together with you what it is that you have and how it impacts your ability to be vaccinated, because sometimes people who have arthritis have more significant disease that's underlying it people who have rheumatoid arthritis, for example, or that sort of thing. And so it is a good idea if you have a significant medical condition to review it with your family doctor, with your specialist and see where you sit in terms of being able to go ahead and be vaccinated. But, you know, really, it's a small group at this point that we're seeing where it would be a contra indication.

A drive-through clinic?

Carol asks "Is there going to be a drive-through vaccine clinic? Ancaster Fairgrounds would be a great site."

We've looked at a drive-through clinic as a potential that's not been landed on as a specific way right now. Our biggest challenge, I come back to right now, is that we don't have enough supplyto open up some of these other sorts of facilities.

Schools

Paul asks: "When will COVID vaccines be available for educators and people who work in schools?"

We are so thankful that the schools are back open. We know for our kids that that is the best place for them to be. And it's so important for their development academically, personally, socially. I'm so, so grateful to all the teachers, to all the custodial staff, to all of the people that are keeping our schools up and running and doing the very best they can.As you know, there's been enhanced control measures put in place in schools in order to keep them as safe as they can possibly be... from a vaccination perspective, the vaccine for teachers and other essential workers that's part of that phase two vaccination piece when you look at the provincial guidance around how they're prioritizing vaccine use. So, teachers are definitely in phase two in terms of that rollout.

Community spread

Philip Moruzi says: "A fair percentage of cases come from community spread. Where and how is community spread happening? Given the closures and restrictions, how is community spread still a significant portion of cases?"

That's a great question, Philip. We're seeing about a quarter of our cases are being related to community spread. And so the reasons that might be coming up may be that people haven't been following their protective measures quite as well as they might have thought in terms of their use of their masks or how long they're spending with somebody. And so, they may be judging that an interactionis somewhat minor. But if we were to look at it from the standpoint of disease spread, it may have been that it was more more significant.

Easter

Claire asks "Will we be permitted to spend Easter with our families with limits of 10?"

As we think about Easter just being just over a month away, it's unlikely that we're going to be able to gather for Easter at this point in time. I think what we're seeing in the modeling is we're definitely going to stay in the red. We may even need stricter control measures as we go forward. So, any kinds of gathering that goes above the limits that are in place today, I definitely wouldn't see happening at this point or it's highly unlikely. And it may be that things actually even needto be more strict at that point.

How are you doing?

Dr. Richardson from Queenie: "How have you personally managed this stressful time?"

And thank you for for asking. Yeah, it is a stressful time. I don't think I'm at all special in that. And, you know, I love my job.
I'm so privileged to be able to serve Hamilton in the way that I do. One of my colleagues at Hamilton Health Sciences said it really well just a couple of days ago. There have been so many losses. You know, we had the question about Easter, all the family gatherings we've missed, the birthdays, the special holidays and our families. You know, many of us have known people who've become quite sick or who have got an existing illnessheart disease, cancerthat they've been waiting longer than anybody would have liked to because of the fact that our hospitals have been working to support people who've had COVID.... You know, I miss being able to spend time with family. My son, one of my sons, has lost their job as a result of this.

I can't do my job if I don't make sure tospend some time taking care of my mental health, taking care of my physical health. And so, you know, making sure I get some exercise, make sure I do connect in the ways that I can with my friends, with my family. That has been so important... I've had some really good days at looking at what people are doing to make things better for our community. Andthat certainly lifts my spirits.