How community clinics in Toronto are still working to address COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy
Posted November 11, 2021 5:40 pm.
Last Updated November 11, 2021 7:43 pm.
It has been more than 11 months since the first COVID-19 vaccine received interim authorization for use in Canada, but community organizations and clinics in Toronto and beyond continue their daily push to boost uptake among those hesitant to accept a shot.
“I think at this point we need to really get creative with our tactics and getting the information about there about the vaccine. We’ll continue to have appointments available, and tons of people are calling into the VaxFacts clinic. But that’s just one angle we’re talking,” Dr. Latif Murji, the physician lead of Scarborough Health Network’s VaxFacts clinic, told CityNews on Thursday.
“I actually went to a factory, a place of frontline work, and spoke with a lot of employees there. We want to go to community events – places where people are gathering and really meet people face to face and have those discussions.”
From his home, Murji is part of a dedicated team working to boost COVID-19 vaccine uptake in Toronto’s east end and beyond.
The VaxFacts clinic has seen gradual success months after launching. Murji said person by person, one call at a time, the team – made up of family and emergency doctors and various specialized physicians such as an internal medicine physician, a pediatrician, a gynecologist — has spoken with around 1,000 people.
Through those conversations, he said around 80 per cent of the patients spoken with chose to get vaccinated.
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“The VaxFacts clinic started out as Scarborough’s clinic for our community, and now we’re available for anyone in Canada, and starting in Scarborough, we really took a health equity approach. We wanted to minimize barriers for any members of our community,” Murji said.
“We know that Scarborough has a higher percentage of multi-generational households, frontline workers, racialized individuals — and those individuals are at higher risk of COVID, and they’re at increased likelihood of not wanting to get vaccinated.
“We took this approach where we connect physicians with patients and have those detailed conversations with members of our community, and meeting them in person – not just virtual conversations. We’re trying to take a multi-faceted approach to address vaccine hesitancy and build confidence about the vaccine in our community with the facts.”
It’s a direct and personal approach that has been mimicked by other organizations such as the Black Creek Community Health Centre.
Dr. Mar Lyn, a project coordinator at the centre, told CityNews he and others have been focusing on being accessible and visiting malls and community centres to have conversations with area residents. He said representation matters when it comes to providing information and can help if it’s coming from someone familiar.
“We’re here to not only provide vaccines but information and promote health in every aspect,” Lyn said.
“[Community members] know when they see me, they’re getting valuable advice, information, that is not bias and is reflective of people in the community, so I’m fully aware of the fears.”
Lyn said for some in the community, there’s a distrust of government — especially when it comes to things like mandates and mixed messaging throughout the pandemic. However, he said there isn’t a consistent set of concerns being raised.
“We recognize these are real concerns. We recognize fear has been put into us for many different reasons,” Lyn said, adding he and other staff are prepared to provide support before, during and after the vaccination process.
“We have health professionals that look like the community, so when they’re speaking to us they’re seeing themselves in us. They’re seeing that, ‘OK listen, these are health professionals that want the best for [us] I will trust the advice they give to me and my family.’
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“I find that there’s more support and empathy given when they see us and that’s our goal at Black Creek … and to acknowledge their fears and their concerns and not to brush it under the wing.”
In Toronto, more than 87.9 per cent of eligible residents (12 and older) have received their first COVID-19 vaccine dose and 84.5 per cent of the same population have received both doses.
When asked about the City of Toronto’s goal of having at least 90 per cent of the eligible population vaccinated, the local medical officer of health highlighted multiple campaigns (Shop and Vax at local shopping centres, TTC clinics etc.) in recent months to boost overall dose coverage.
“We’ve also said over the past many weeks that as we get higher and higher, as we get to the last stages of any campaign — whether it’s a vaccine campaign or any other kind of initiative — the last stages always take a little more effort and take a little more time,” Dr. Eileen de Villa told reporters during her weekly briefing on Wednesday.
“Making sure that people have access to vaccines, bringing vaccines to places live, work and play — this has really been very substantive and has made a huge difference in our vaccination efforts. And you’re going to see us continue to do that.
“When we bring vaccines to people and when they get the information they need and have that opportunity to talk with trusted members of their community, community ambassadors, trusted health care providers, people who they already have an established relationship — it’s that combination of making vaccines available and answering questions that has served us well.”
COVID-19 vaccination resources
VaxFacts Clinic
“We made our service available seven days a week, 9 a.m. to 8 p.m., we always have a physician available to speak with patients. We take appointments to be booked online or over the phone. We will call our patients. This is a confidential and judgement-free space. We also have over 200 languages available to live interpretation services to speak with our patients.” — Dr. Latif Murji describing how the VaxFacts Clinic works
Click here to access the clinic’s website.
Black Creek Community Health Centre
“We do interact at different sporting events, different social events, and so it gives them more real perspective when someone like myself is able to identify. These are guys I see all the time socially … whether they decide to get their vaccine or not, at least they’re stepping away one step closer to having valuable information.” — Dr. Mar Lyn discussing the importance of having professionals embedded in the community when providing information on vaccines.
Click here to access the centre’s website.
Other community resources in Toronto
Click here to access the City of Toronto’s website. Community resources can be found under the vaccine engagement teams tab.
