Sudbury health unit transitioning to Phase 2 of vaccination with new tool at its disposal

SUDBURY -- As it prepares for Phase 2 of the vaccine rollout, Sudbury's health unit is one of just two across the province using new internal software to help ensure there is enough staff to meet the demand.

As of Tuesday, about 12 per cent of Sudbury's population had received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. Public Health Sudbury & Districts has been inoculating residents who were eligible as part of Phase 1, which included adults 80 years and older and residents and essential caregivers of long-term care homes amongst others.

"So our goal is to offer the vaccine opportunity to everyone who is eligible in Phase 1 as we start to transition into Phase 2," said Nastassia McNair with Public Health. "There will be a few outstanding individuals. That means anybody who is eligible in Phase 1 can continue to book in the clinics that are happening as we start Phase 2."

After giving out more than 21,000 doses as of Wednesday afternoon, the health unit is ready to move ahead to Phase 2. Key priority groups include:

- Older adults (starting with those 75-79 and decreasing in five-year intervals).

- People with certain health conditions and caregivers (starting with the highest risk).

- Residents, essential caregivers and staff of high-risk congregate living settings.

- Those in hotspot communities (starting with the highest age).

As it switches to Phase 2, the health unit will begin to use the provincial booking system for vaccination appointments. Public Health created its own after the province said its system would be delayed.

"Part of the transition is ensuring that everything can happen smoothly and there's nobody lost in the transition process," said McNair. "So for a little while we will be continuing to use both booking systems; the details on what that's going to look like of course will be communicated. We just want to make sure that everybody has the chance to call in and get their appointment."

In order to ensure there is enough staff to meet the demand, Sudbury is one of only two health units across the province who have partnered with a Canadian start-up company called BookJane. The company offers software it says makes internal scheduling of staff easier than ever.

"The fulfillment rate is 99 per cent, meaning that 99 per cent of those physicians picked up those open shifts in those locations," said Curtis Khan, CEO of BookJane. "We're providing a platform to really help with resources, I would say resources for medical and non-medical healthcare workers."

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