Hamilton paramedics will do mobile clinics to help make sure everyone gets a flu shot

Hamilton's paramedic service is expanding its mobile flu vaccine clinic this year to meet what it expects will be increased demand in light of COVID-19.

The service has offered the clinics at nine places — most of them seniors homes — for two years and vaccinated about 400 people, Chief Mike Sanderson said. This year, paramedics will vaccinate more than 2,000 people at homeless shelters, social housing buildings, rec centres and other spots to encourage people to get a flu shot.

"We're going to be far more aggressive in terms of reaching out," he said. 

"We expect to have a bigger uptake on it, and we just want to get ahead of it."

The move comes as the province enters what officials say will be the largest flu immunization campaign in Ontario's history. The province is spending nearly $70 million to buy 5.1 million flu vaccines to meet the demand, including 1.5 million high-dose shots for seniors. Overall, it's ordered 700,000 more flu shots than last year. 

The flu vaccine doesn't prevent COVID-19, but health authorities say they want to avoid a "twindemic" — outbreaks of COVID-19 and influenza overloading the system at the same time.

Sanderson said the service will start the mobile clinics on Oct. 15, pending vaccine availability. 

Some city councillors said at a Wednesday general issues committee meeting that constituents are already eager to get the flu vaccine.

"I'm getting a lot of calls about it," Coun. Judi Partridge (Ward 15, Waterdown) said.

"I've got people who are very, very concerned. Elderly people who are saying, 'Am I not going to have any vaccine until Christmas?'"

Dr. Ninh Tran, associate medical officer of health, said agencies are working together to roll out "as many shots as we can, as fast as we can." The timelines will be similar to other years, he said, and the vaccine will definitely be available sometime in November. 

Sanderson said two paramedics will do the pop-up vaccine clinics, typically with one paramedic per clinic. The service will advertise the clinics before they happen.

It costs $40,437 to assign two paramedics to the clinics, Sanderson said. For the last two years, the Hamilton Niagara Haldimand Brant Local Health Integration Network (LHIN) has paid that bill. Sanderson hopes to get similar funding again this year. 

Local paramedics have also being doing COVID-19 tests since June, Sanderson said.