Is herd immunity threatened by the Delta variant?
Public health and several experts in immunology consider that it is essential to accelerate the administration of the second dose of vaccines to counter the spread of the Delta variant.
The latest estimates put forward by Dr. Nathan Stall, NIA Associate Fellow and Assistant Scientific Director the Scientific Advisory Table show that protection is 30 to 40% effective after the first injection, and rises to 70 to 80% with the second dose.
Accelerating the vaccine rollout
The Delta COVID-19 variant spreads 1.5 times faster than the variant that fueled Ontario's punishing third wave, and one dose of the vaccine is proving less effective against it. Dr. Nathan Stall, Assistant Director of the Ontario Science Advisory Table, and NIA Associate Fellow says "with the Delta variant we need to make the vaccine as accessible as possible and lower all the barriers."
Read MoreNational long-term care services standard technical committee
This week, Health Standards Organization (HSO) announced the 32 members of its Long-Term Care (LTC) Services Technical Committee — chaired by NIA Director of Health Policy Research, Dr. Samir Sinha — which will lead the work on Canada's National Long-Term Care Services standard. "I am honoured to be leading the development of the new National Long-Term Care Services standard with the members of our Technical Committee. I am humbled by the breadth of expertise and lived experience each member brings to the table to do this important work," said Dr. Sinha.
Read MoreCanada still lacks national guidance for fully vaccinated Canadians as travel restrictions ease
More than 60 per cent of the population has at least one dose and more than eight per cent have two, but as our vaccine rollout strategy shifts toward getting more Canadians fully vaccinated — national guidelines for what activities are safe to do still don't exist.
"We seem to be paralyzed in Canada," said Dr. Nathan Stall, NIA Research Fellow and geriatrician at Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto. "We don't differentiate between who's vaccinated and unvaccinated."
Ontario to release new COVID-19 projections
"Counties like the United States put out guidance as early as March 8 for what a fully vaccinated individual should do. We still don’t have that in Canada." says Dr. Nathan Stall, Geriatrician and NIA Research Fellow.
Read MorePolice services weighing investigations into long-term care as families wait for justice
By: Jessica Smith Cross
Mallick died on April 27, 2020 at the Hawthorne Place long-term care home, one of the homes assisted by the Canadian Armed Forces during the first wave of the pandemic. A year after his death, a report from the military was made public that detailed neglect and horrific conditions at the home, alleging that there had been "resident deaths due to dehydration and malnourishment."
Geriatrician and NIA Research Fellow Nathan Stall said staffing levels described in the report mean it "would be impossible to meet any basic level of care" for the residents, adding that higher staffing levels would have been required because of the demands of caring for residents with COVID-19.
What's next for vaccinated Canadians?
Some doctors are calling for more clarity on what people can and cannot do if they've had two COVID-19 vaccine doses. "If you're fully vaccinated, you're in the same boat as everyone else. We're here in early June, and we still do not have any specific guidance for what fully vaccinated, compared to partially vaccinated, compared to unvaccinated individuals can do. What we're left with is this population level guidance that's applied to all individuals" says Dr. Nathan Stall, Geriatrician and NIA Associate Fellow.
Read MoreElderly expressing shock for the ability of New Brunswick nursing homes to evict residents with just 15 days notice
The elderly are expressing shock over the ability of New Brunswick nursing homes to evict residents with just 15 days notice.
"It's scary. It's scary because it reminds us how vulnerable individuals who are living in our long-term care homes are" says Dr. Samir Sinha, NIA Director of Health Policy Research. "When there are rules or regulations that say one can be evicted, it's often these are people who are in long-term care because they have nowhere else to go. So when a home can give just 15 days notice for someone to try and relocate themselves to another home, when there are, if you're in Ontario, 39,000 people on the waitlist, that's almost a near impossible task."
Should vaccines be mandatory for LTC staff?
Ontario announced yesterday that it will be mandating for homes to have an immunization policy in place, and track and report its implementation. Kelly talks to Dr. Samir Sinha, NIA Director of Health Policy Research.
Read More2nd vaccine doses speed up in fight against B.1.617 variant
With just a fraction of Canadians fully vaccinated, and re-opening plans playing out in several provinces, doctors say don't let your guard down. "We want to make sure we aren't putting ourselves in a situation where we all crowd onto a beach and we're all standing shoulder to shoulder with each other. That's actually how these things start to spread" says Dr. Samir Sinha, NIA Director of Health Policy Research.
Read MoreCBC News - Warmer weather and outdoor gatherings
Doctors say being outside is much safer than being indoors, but it's not at zero risk. "Especially when we have the Delta variant now, which is extremely transmissible, and more deadly. And we have the vast majority of Canadians who haven't received a second dose which is what you need to really protect yourself against that variant. We are not out of the woods yet" says Dr. Samir Sinha, Director of Health Policy Research at the National Institute on Ageing.
Read MoreNew national standard for LTC will improve the safety and quality of care
Dr. Samir Sinha is NIA's Director of Health Policy Research and the Director of Geriatrics at Mount Sinai and the University Health Network (UHN) Hospitals. He’s the expert lead of Ontario’s Seniors Strategy. In this column, Dr. Sinha reflects on developing new national LTC standards for Canada in light of the COVID-19 pandemic and how RPNs can be pivotal to the process.
Read MoreOntario eases restrictions on long-term care residents
Long-term care residents will finally be able to spend quality time outside the facility. The province has relaxed restrictions and starting next Wednesday, long-term care residents who've been fully vaccinated will be able to leave their facilities for day and overnight trips.
Dr. Nathan Stall, NIA Associate Fellow and Geriatrician says this is another step towards normalcy.
Today’s coronavirus news: Experts urge Ontario to speed up second doses for essential workers in hot spots; 10K Tokyo Olympics volunteers drop out; Ontario could reopen early
Dr. Nathan Stall, NIA Associate Fellow says, with Ontario getting increasing supplies of Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, the required interval between shots for the oldest residents — most at risk of serious illness or death — should be reduced to get them protected quicker.
Read MoreCorbella: Improving the quality of life of our seniors in care is at the centre of new strategy
By: Licia Corbella
Dr. Samir Sinha — NIA Director of Health Policy Research and the Director of Geriatrics at Sinai Health System — says whenever he has a chance to speak to policy makers, he reminds them that helping the elderly live longer in their homes by providing home care is the only time government can give people what they want and spend less money.
Sinha says home care is the least costly form of continuing care out there. Sinha says that at any given time, about 15 per cent of hospitalized Canadians are elderly people designated as “alternate level of care” or patients who should be in a nursing home or in their own home with more supports.
More older Canadians hope to age at home post-COVID: Here’s how to do it successfully
That desire is echoed in research conducted in July 2020 by the National Institute on Ageing at Toronto’s Ryerson University. COVID has further reinforced the conviction of many Canadians to stay in their homes rather than moving into a nursing home or long-term care facility. Sixty per cent of study participants said the pandemic had changed their opinion on whether they’d arrange for themselves or an older loved one to live in a nursing or retirement home. Meanwhile, 91 per cent of respondents said they aimed “to live safely and independently in their own home as long as possible.”
Read MoreToronto Star - Staff at Ontario long-term-care homes will need to get the COVID vaccine, or get educated about it, barring a medical exemption
By: May Warren
“This is kind of the step before actually mandating vaccination” said Dr. Samir Sinha, NIA Director of Health Policy Research. As well, homes will now be asking staff for their personal medical information on whether they got the COVID vaccine.
“It might actually create more resistance in some people as opposed to figuring out what is the barrier,” he said, adding it’s also important to make it more convenient for staff to get vaccines and “easy for them to do the right thing.”
Are we reopening too fast or too slow?
Many Canadians over 70 have not yet received their second COVID-19 vaccine dose. That's raised questions about potential risks to our elders as provinces begin to open up. Dr. Samir Sinha is the Director of Geriatrics at Mount Sinai and UHN, and NIA Director of Health Policy Research.
"Before we reopen up too quickly, we need to make sure as many of these vulnerable people across Canada get their second doses, and if they haven't had their first dose we need to get those in too" says Dr. Sinha.
CTV News - Doctor fears 'vaccine Hunger Games 2.0' for Ontario seniors looking to book second dose
By: Joshua Freeman
“So they (the province) has neither reserved doses for these older adults for second shots, nor have they guaranteed them bookings,” says Dr. Nathan Stall, NIA Associate Fellow. “So this is going to create, I fear, the sort of vaccine ‘Hunger Games’ 2.0 for these older adults, where they're now being asked to go back onto the multiple booking systems through multiple sites.”
He said rather than put the onus on seniors to re-book their appointments, the province should have proactively reached out to seniors to offer them earlier appointments.
CBC Radio Ontario Morning with Julianne Hazlewood - Upgrading long-term care facilities and staffing
Dr. Samir Sinha, NIA Director of Health Policy Research and Director of Geriatrics at Sinai Health System and the University Health Network in Toronto offers his perspective on how successful the provincial government has been in its commitment to upgrade facilities and staffing at our long term care facilities.
"It's not having enough beds, it's when you don't have enough people actually there to provide the right amount of care. That's when things really suffer for these residents" says Dr. Sinha.
