Hospitals are distributing scarce vaccine doses according to provincial guidelines that prioritize the highest-risk individuals and face intense pressure to vaccinate as quickly as possible. UHN spokesperson Gillian Howard said Southlake’s offer was made to five hospitals: UHN, Sick Kids, Mount Sinai, Women’s College and Toronto Grace. Most of the hospitals who responded said they have so far been only vaccinating frontline staff that work with patients. Kerry Bowman, a bioethicist at the University of Toronto, believes offering the vaccine to non-frontline staff is “fundamentally wrong” and a “clear ethical violation” that should be investigated. But what troubles him is that there are still so many long-term-care staff and residents waiting — and they’re the ones at highest risk of getting sick and dying of COVID.

Source: thestar January 12, 2021 02:41 UTC