Ottawa seeing 300-400 vaccine appointment no-shows a day at community clinics
The head of Ottawa's COVID-19 vaccine rollout insists no doses are going to waste, despite hundreds of no-shows each day for an appointment at a community clinic.
Emergency and protective services general manager Anthony Di Monte says the city is seeing 300 to 400 no-shows daily at community clinics.
"Community clinics currently offer between 10,000 to 12,000 vaccine appointments per day. Of these planned appointments, anywhere from 300 to 400 no-shows may occur across all community clinics combined," said Di Monte in a statement to CTV News Ottawa.
"Any unclaimed doses are used in accordance with the Province of Ontario’s plan and ethical framework for vaccine distribution. This ensures that all unclaimed doses are reallocated and administered."
Speaking with reporters on Friday, Di Monte said the numbers of no-shows for appointments is not significant, but "it does seem to be increasing."
"We are keeping a very close eye on it. I want to reassure you, there's no loss."
Di Monte says Ottawa Public Health and the city have a list of priority groups, including priority healthcare groups that will receive any unused vaccines at the end of the day.
He added that staff will only prepare vaccines at clinics to meet the daily needs.
"The clinical staff and the staff that are in the clinics only thaw out and prepare vaccines a little bit a head of time," said Di Monte.
"If there are a hundred no-shows in a clinic at the end of the day, those 100 vaccines aren't lost because they aren't thawed out and they're not prepared or diluted, and they'll be ready for the next day."
Di Monte says Ontario has recently launched a tool to help residents reschedule or cancel their vaccination appointments. You can visit, https://vaccine.covaxonbooking.ca/manage.
In late May, the Kingston, Frontenac, Lennox and Addington Public Health unit reported a "high number of no-shows" at clinics. There were over 25 no-shows at clinics in Kingston and Napanee on May 30.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Trudeau calls violence in Montreal 'appalling' as NATO protest continues
Anti-NATO protesters gathered again in Montreal on Saturday to demand Canada withdraw from the alliance, a day after a demonstration organized by different groups resulted in arrests, burned cars and shattered windows.
7 suspects, including 13-year-old, charged following 'violent' home invasion north of Toronto
Seven teenage suspects, including a 13-year-old, have been arrested following a targeted and “violent” home invasion in Vaughan on Friday, police say.
These vascular risks are strongly associated with severe stroke, researchers say
Many risk factors can lead to a stroke, but the magnitude of risk from some of these conditions or behaviours may have a stronger association with severe stroke compared with mild stroke, according to a new study.
Widow of Chinese businessman who was executed for murder can sell her Vancouver house, court rules
A murder in China and a civil lawsuit in B.C. have been preventing the sale of multiple Vancouver homes, but one of them could soon hit the market after a court ruling.
Cher 'shocked' to discover her legal name when she applied to change it
Cher recalls a curious interlude from her rich and many-chaptered history in her new book 'Cher: The Memoir, Part One.'
Black bear killed in self-defence after attack on dog-walker in Maple Ridge, B.C.
A black bear has died following a brawl with a man on a trail in Maple Ridge, B.C.
Retiring? Here's how to switch from saving for your golden years to spending
The last paycheque from a decades-long career arrives next Friday and the nest egg you built during those working years will now turn into a main source of income. It can be a jarring switch from saving for retirement to spending in retirement.
Canadian neurosurgeons seek six patients for Musk's Neuralink brain study
Canadian neurosurgeons in partnership with Elon Musk's Neuralink have regulatory approval to recruit six patients with paralysis willing to have a thousand electrode contacts in their brains.
Police thought this gnome looked out of place. Then they tested it for drugs
During a recent narcotics investigation, Dutch police said they found a garden gnome made of approximately two kilograms of MDMA.