Vaccination decision at P.A. care home questioned after three people ‘jump the queue’

Wayne Nogier is the CEO of MSJ, and explained to paNOW on Jan. 11 and Jan. 12, 290 staff and residents were vaccinated. After a day and a half, Nogier found himself in a position where he had three doses left, and could not find a single staff member interested in taking it.

“It’s 6:30 at night … I’ve got 40 minutes left of shelf life on these three doses and I’ve got one of two options – I do the responsible thing and find an arm to put them into or I destroy them,” he said.

Nogier made the decision to not waste the doses and began calling board members – starting with the ones who are in the 70-plus age group. Nogier said a number of board members didn’t answer, and others simply said they were not comfortable taking the shot at this time. Another board member even asked if he could transfer the shot to his wife.

“That would be out of what I would be able to rationalize and explain,” Nogier told the member.

With respect to why there were leftover doses, Nogier explained despite his personal opinion that everyone should get vaccinated, he does not have tools to compel staff or even residents to get a vaccine shot. Nogier is however still required to order enough vaccines to get everyone immunized. So with the clock ticking, he received a response from one board member who was over 70, and the other was younger.

“And literally those are the only two board members I’ve got, that we were able to contact to come in,” Nogier said.

The third dose went to a clergy member at MSJ, who also makes rounds at the care homes connected to the hospital. Nogier noted one of the challenges he faced was there were no instructions from the province with what to do with leftover vaccines.

“The only directive we were given was nothing goes to waste,” he said, adding if someone challenges his decision, he would in turn challenge them with the question would it have been better to push that dose into the sink.

Response from the Sask. Health Authority

In a statement provided to paNOW, the Saskatchewan Health Authority said: There have been fewer than five reports of “queue jumping” where it has been reported an individual received a vaccination when they were not eligible.

We are actively following up on those reported cases to determine next steps. On the instance reported in Prince Albert, it was determined that all residents and staff in the facility had received their vaccinations and the remaining two doses were distributed to prevent wastage.

The Ministry also indicated it is examining options for situations where an individual misrepresents themselves or their circumstances in order to access the vaccine when not currently entitled.

What is the province’s rollout plan for seniors?

Earlier this week, paNOW made an inquiry with the SHA with respect to the rollout of the phase one vaccines. According to a statement it said:

The lack of vaccine availability has created challenges as residents become aware of clinics but have not been yet contacted by public health to book an appointment.

It’s important to recognize that demand for vaccine is far outweighing our current available supply.

At this time, the province remains in Phase 1 of the vaccine rollout, meaning when vaccines are distributed to a community, long term care and personal care home residents and certain prioritized health care workers are receiving the COVID-19 vaccine as the priority group.

After those populations are vaccinated, local public health officials will be establishing clinics for eligible residents 70+.

Premier calls for patience

Speaking with CKOM on Wednesday, Premier Scott Moe urged those Saskatchewan residents categorized as Phase 1, to be patient.

Addressing concerns related to why some people have not heard when they will receive their shots, Moe said the silence is the result of not having enough vaccines to inoculate everyone in a given community categorized under Phase 1, which includes high-risk populations.

He said the Saskatchewan Health Authority will administer vaccines for long-term care residents and health-care workers and then proceed to its age-based criteria.

“This does mean that not everybody in Phase 1 is going to be contacted when the first influx or even the second influx of vaccines come into their community,” Moe said.

Moe also said he expects the province to be done Phase 1 by early April.

“I’m asking people in the province just to be a little bit patient. You will be contacted when we get to the end of March (or) early April if you haven’t been,” he said.

By mid-March, Moe said anybody who has gone without notification can dial a phone number to book an appointment.

NDP response

Based on what happened at the Mont St. Joseph Care Home, NDP health critic Vicki Mowat told paNOW it’s obvious the province does not have a clear plan.

“What we know is we should have a consistent plan, not situations like this where things are being done ad-hoc and are open to potential abuse,” she said.

Pointing to a similar situation that happened in Regina, in which a lottery type system was used to choose who should get the extra doses, Mowat said the public should be very concerned there appears to be no guidance from the government regarding what to do with extra vaccines.

“We certainly want to make sure they are not wasted but it should not be an ad-hoc process,” Mowat said.

Prince Albert mayor calls for answers

Prince Albert Mayor Greg Dionne said he was disappointed and shocked when he heard what happened at Mont. St. Joseph care home.

“Strictly because I was on the phone yesterday trying to get a 92-year-old vaccinated that somehow got missed, and three 84-year-olds,” he said.

Dionne said he plans to lean on the SHA asking them what they plan to do about people who ‘jump the queue’, as he put it, adding a suggestion for a $10,000 fine put forward at the most recent meeting involving the province’s mayors and ministers. He said in the Mont St. Joseph situation the person who was under 70 who took the jab had “not broken any law, but morally they have certainly done wrong.”

When asked by paNOW what he would do if placed in a similar situation, Dionne who is 68, confirmed he has already rejected not one, but two opportunities to get a vaccination, offered to him by other unnamed groups.

“And I won’t get vaccinated until I know they are ready to get off 60 [years olds], to go to 50,” he said. “I know there are more people at risk than me and those are the people I want to get vaccinated so I’ll be patient and when it’s my turn, I’ll step up.”

The Saskatchewan Health Authority also explained they will be using contact lists as generated by eHealth, identifying people by the location and their age. These contact lists are created from Health Card information, Vital Statistics data and other eHealth client information systems.

“Using these lists, individuals are being contacted by phone based on their age until all available appointments are filled. Priority sequence is maintained, contacting the oldest residents first and descending by years,” the SHA statement said.

Editors note: This story was updated at 5:20 p.m. on Wednesday to include additional comment from the Saskatchewan Health Authority.

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nigel.maxwell@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @nigelmaxwell

— with files from 650 CKOM

by Nigel Maxwell

Vaccination decision at P.A. care home questioned after three people ‘jump the queue’

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