Ontario criticized for delaying vaccine rollout for nursing-home residents
An Ontario panel says the province failed residents of long-term care homes by not prioritizing them for COVID-19 vaccinations and the decision cost hundreds of lives. Dr. Nathan Stall, Associate Fellow at the NIA, speaks with CBC National.
'This has to be the variant,' Barrie, Ont. long-term care home saw 55 COVID-19 cases in 2 days9
Geriatrician Dr. Samir Sinha told CP24 it is likely up to a third of those residents infected at Roberta Place will die. "On average 1 in 3 of them will end of up dead, there will probably will end up being 30 to 40 people dead by the end of this."
Doctor says Canada underfunding long-term care amid call to end for-profit homes
By: Solarina Ho
“I think partly that also speaks to what’s happening underneath. We often have municipal and not-for-profit providers that actually supplement the meager amounts of money they get from the government so they can actually provide more staffing. And more staffing tends to mean better care,” Dr. Samir Sinha, director of health policy research at the NIA.
Staffing model the ‘secret sauce’ for Toronto’s city-run long-term-care homes battling the second wave of COVID-19
By: Jennifer Pagliaro and David Rider
When you actually look at the hours of direct care per day that are being provided in municipal home, not-for-profits versus for-profits, you’ll find that the city of Toronto is already providing a higher per average hour of day care,” Sinha said, explaining that general manager Raftis brought the plan to Mayor John Tory and Tory saw it approved at council with little debate.
What Ontario can do to save seniors and LTCs
Dr. Samir Sinha, Director of Health Policy Research at the NIA, explains what lessons weren’t learned in the first wave, why ageism kills and what must be done now to save seniors in the months ahead.
COVID-19 outbreak at Tendercare Living Centre in Ontario
Dr. Samir Sinha discusses the failings in long term care homes that are allowing situations like Tendercare Living Centre in Scarborough, Ont to continue, months after the horrors of the first wave.
Ensuring precious COVID-19 vaccines end up in arms - not the garbage
By: Omar Mosleh
Dr. Samir Sinha, director of health policy research at the NIA, said a similar system could work to extend the vaccine to people not on the priority list. At the very least, immunization teams could start reaching out to people on the second priority list, such as those75 and older.
‘We are in worse shape now than ever before’: Toronto records 2,000th COVID-19 death, with the peak nowhere in sight
By: David Rider
“We’re in a really bad place in terms of our province right now,” said Dr. Nathan Stall, Associate Fellow at the NIA. “I think most tragically we’re probably going to end up with a higher death toll in the second wave than we did in the first wave, given the recent severe acceleration of epidemiological trends.
COVID-19 vaccine tracker: tracing every dose of the coronavirus vaccine administered in Canada
By: Kenyon Wallace
“Being able to develop a vaccine against COVID-19 within a year is frankly a miracle of science, and it’s a gift that we shouldn’t squander,” said Dr. Samir Sinha, director of health policy research at the NIA. “The sooner we all get vaccinated, and we reach a vaccinated level of herd immunity we’ll have our freedom again as Canadians.
This seniors' home in Windsor-Essex kept COVID-19 out, but doing so has come at a cost
By: Jennifer La Grassa
In response to these reports, Dr. Samir Sinha, director of health policy research at the NIA , said while the home escaped COVID-19 it seems its residents were likely dying from something else. "The challenge is even when you've had some homes that say 'yay, we haven't had any COVID,' the question is well, what did they actually have and what actually happened as a result?" he said.
Employers can require healthcare workers to get COVID vaccine but union wary of mandatory shot
By: Jennifer La Grassa
Another issue, according to Dr. Samir Sinha, director of health policy research at the NIA, is the lack of convenience or accessibility. At this time, the vaccine is only being distributed from certain centres — in Windsor-Essex, only Windsor Regional Hospital is dishing out the shots, meaning workers across the county need to go there.
How Ontario could have avoided the long-term care crisis
Dr. Samir Sinha — the director of health policy research at the National Institute on Ageing — talks to CBC Front Burner about what Ontario could have done to protect older adults in long term care, but didn't.
Ontario’s COVID-19 vaccination rollout lags some big provinces but shows signs of ramping up
By: Kenyon Wallace
“We know that there are 72,000 residents in our long-term-care homes, we know where they all live … These aren’t people where we’re worried they’ll be off in three weeks so they won’t be able to get their second vaccine because they’re in St. Barts,” said Dr. Samir Sinha, director of health policy research at the NIA, noting that vaccinating residents of long-term-care homes should not be difficult.
He's 101, she's 92. But this couple at an Ontario seniors' home isn't a priority for the COVID-19 vaccine
"We know that those residents are sitting ducks," said Dr. Samir Sinha, director of health policy research at the NIA told CBC News. Copernicus Lodge, located in Toronto's Roncesvalles neighbourhood, offers a long-term care or nursing home setting along with senior apartments. The nursing-home side is facing an outbreak of the novel coronavirus, with 47 residents infected.
More criticism over Canada’s vaccine rollout strategy
Lynda Steele chats with Dr. Samir Sinha, Director of Health Policy Research at the National Institute on Ageing.
Dr. Samir Sinha
Kelly talks to Dr. Samir Sinha, Director of Health Policy Research at the National Institute on Ageing. about staffing issues at Ontario's LTC homes.
LTC staff need better pay, support to ensure safety of residents: experts
“This is why we’ve seen such a huge challenge during this pandemic in Ontario, where so many of these workers … are bringing COVID-19 into the homes,” says Dr. Samir Sinha, Director of Health Policy Research at the NIA. “Frankly, a lot of folks don’t have a choice of taking a day off, but they really don’t have great sick benefits to begin with.”
Why is Ontario dragging its feet on vaccinating in LTC
Ontario has never seen as many long term care homes in outbreak (207) during the entire pandemic (peaked at 190 on May 18). Dr. Nathan Stall, Associate Fellow at the NIA is begging the province and its task force to pick up the pace and vaccinate all homes NOW.
Doug Ford is trying to manage COVID-19 by dribs and jabs. It’s not working
By: Bruce Arthur
“There’s no communication or plan on how to better control community transmission,” says Dr. Nathan Stall, Associate Fellow at the National Institute on Ageing. “The hospitals are being pushed to the brink, the long term care homes are on fire, our vaccines are locked in freezers and there’s no clear plan. I guess you could ask the question, what’s going right?”
Health experts urging quicker vaccine rollout as COVID-19 cases surge, doses sit in freezers
Ontario has been particularly cautious with this guidance compared to Quebec, British Columbia and other jurisdictions around the world, said Dr. Samir Sinha, the Director of Health Policy Research at the NIA. While much has been made about the difficulty of transporting the Pfizer vaccine, Dr. Sinha says that might not have been necessary.
