Seniors living at home in northeastern Ontario need more vaccine information, advocate says

The chair of the northeastern Ontario chapter of CARP(formerly Canadian Association for Retired Persons) says seniors who live in their own homes want details about the COVID vaccine roll-out.

Hugh Kruzelsays he's been fielding questions from seniors about when the vaccine will arrive,how they will know it's their turn and getting help to go to a vaccinationclinic.

While Public Health Sudbury and Districts has a plan,the messaging is not clear about when seniors who don't live in long-term care will have access to the vaccine, Kruzel says.

Part of the problem stems fromthe reality that many seniors have troubleusing technology.

"If they don't know how to use the device that accesses [the internet] and, in fact, letsface it, much of the information on the internet is of very limited use anyways," he said.

"We can put an iPad in everybody's hand, but will it get used? What about those who don't have broadband, [even] if they are on the Internet?"

Kruzel says people in smaller communities such as Elliot Lake, Onaping and Foleyet are worried about accessibility and being left out, and that they're worriednorthern Ontario is being put on the back burner.

"We're 92 percent of the landmass, but only eight percent of the population. I think we don't get enough visibility, despite the efforts of many of the MPPs," he said.

"We need clarity, we need understanding of what's going to happen, what's going to be rolled out. We need those pieces of information now."

Putting more statements in the newspaper would be helpful for many seniors, he notes.

"We've been relying on hearsay so much."

Kruzel adds that, for manyseniors who still live ontheir own,isolation is making their anxiety worse.

"They could be in their 90s, some arein their 70s or 80s. But when is [the vaccine]actually coming to them so that they can not just resume a normal life but be protected against the possibilities of what COVIDcould bring."