C1 - Primary Care’s Role in COVID-19 Vaccination Efforts in Ontario

1. It takes a team: Collaboration Inside and Out

  • Date: 2022-10-12
  • Concurrent Session: Concurrent Session C
  • Time: 2:45- 3:30 pm
  • Room:
  • Style: Presentation (information provided to audience, with opportunity for audience to ask question)
  • Focus: Research/Policy (e.g. Presentation of research findings, analysis of policy issues and options)
  • Target Audience: Leadership (ED, clinical lead, board chair, board member, etc.)

Learning Objectives:

  • 1. Describe the role of primary health care during Ontario’s COVID-19 vaccination distribution strategy.     
  • Identify the benefits and challenges that primary health care face when distributing COVID-19 vaccinations across Ontario.  
  • Describe how primary health care can be utilized effectively to engage in future vaccine distribution efforts, including booster shots for COVID-19. 

Summary/Abstract:

Primary health care (PHC) teams are an optimal location to integrate and lead public health initiatives like mass vaccinations due to their large, rostered patient populations; established trusting relationships with patients; advanced electronic health records; and interdisciplinary teams of various health care providers. As such, PHC teams have been instrumental in implementing Ontario’s COVID-19 vaccine distribution strategy. This qualitative study identifies the PHC teams’ role in COVID-19 vaccine distribution by answering the following questions: i) What are the barriers and facilitators for integrating COVID-19 vaccination in PHC in Ontario, and ii) How can PHC best contribute to ongoing and future vaccine distributions, including COVID-19 boosters? We used a descriptive qualitative design and conducted 8 online focus groups (N = 39 participants) that represented a diverse range of providers and geographic regions of Ontario. This presentation will share findings on how PHC teams across the province have implemented Ontario’s COVID-19 vaccination distribution strategy. In addition, we will offer recommendations at a systems level to inform how to position PHC teams to respond to future mass vaccination efforts. 

Presenter:

  • Rachelle Ashcroft, PhD and Assistant Professor, University of Toronto