Item - 2021.HL29.1

The Board of Health recommends that:

1.  City Council acknowledge and thank the Black Scientists' Task Force on Vaccine Equity for their work and report and:

a.  fully support the recommendations in the report from the Black Scientists' Task Force on Vaccine Equity;

b.  request the City Manager, in consultation with the Medical Officer of Health, to advance the recommendations in the report from the Black Scientists' Task Force on Vaccine Equity;

c.  request the City Manager, in consultation with the Medical Officer of Health, to report to the Board of Health in the fourth quarter of 2021 on the status of each recommendation in the report from the Black Scientists' Task Force on Vaccine Equity, including actions by the Federal, Provincial and Municipal Governments;

d.  request the Executive Director, Social Development, Finance and Administration, in consultation with the Medical Officer of Health, to use the report from the Black Scientists' Task Force on Vaccine Equity to inform the ongoing development of the Toronto Black Health Plan; and

e.  direct that the report (May 31, 2021) from the Medical Officer of Health, including the report from the Black Scientists' Task Force on Vaccine Equity, be forwarded to Toronto Members of Parliament and Members of Provincial Parliament, the Prime Minister of Canada, the Premier of Ontario, the Federal and Provincial Ministers of Health and all Boards of Health in Ontario.

The Board of Health:

1.  Requested the Governments of Canada and Ontario to establish data systems that allow for the regular reporting of COVID-19 epidemiology to include cases of Post COVID-19 Condition (or "Long COVID") and to work with local Public Health Units, as appropriate.

2.  Called on the Government of Ontario to work with arts industry stakeholders and local Public Health Units to address the concerns raised by the Campaign for Fairness for Ontario Arts and to work collaboratively in support of a safe resumption of performance rehearsals, livestreamings, recordings, and planning for the eventual return of live audiences.

3.  Requested the Ontario Ministry of Health and Public Health Ontario to consider adopting and using laboratory methods that provide rapid results on the presence of variants of concern to facilitate the detection of areas with high transmission (e.g., hot spots) and where there may be lagging vaccine coverage, in order to address increased concern around the spread of the Delta variant.

4.  Requested the Ontario Ministry of Health, as it implements the COVID-19 Roadmap to Reopen, to continue working closely with local Public Health Units and to proceed with caution given the learnings that other jurisdictions have had with reopening and emerging evidence on variants of concern.

5.  Requested the Ontario Ministry of Health to provide additional vaccine supplies that would enable the City of Toronto to continue accelerating full vaccination rates through a hot spot campaign, while ensuring high vaccine coverage for older age groups who are most at risk for severe outcomes of COVID-19 infection.

6.  Requested the Ontario Ministry of Health to accelerate its commitment to provide a data linkage between COVaxON, the Provincial vaccine system, and the Provincial Case and Contact Management (CCM) system, in order for Toronto Public Health to have access to more comprehensive vaccine efficacy data, including specific details on potential infection breakthroughs after vaccination and their association with variants of concern.

7.  Requested the Ontario Ministry of Health to take action to mandate and facilitate the collection of socio-demographic data by all vaccination providers, to mandate that the Ontario Health Data Platform support the use of this equity data and to make this data routinely available to local Public Health Units for assessment and planning.

8.  Requested the Ontario Ministry of Health to expedite the assembly of curated lists of enrolled patients that have been vaccinated and to make them available to physicians for the purpose of engaging these clients and promoting the opportunity for vaccinations.

9.  Acknowledged and thanked the Black Scientists' Task Force on Vaccine Equity for their work and report and:

a.  fully supported the recommendations in the report from the Black Scientists' Task Force on Vaccine Equity;

b.  requested the Medical Officer of Health, in consultation with the City Manager, to advance the recommendations in the report from the Black Scientists' Task Force on Vaccine Equity; and

c.  requested the Medical Officer of Health, in consultation with the Executive Director, Social Development, Finance and Administration, to use the report from the Black Scientists' Task Force on Vaccine Equity to inform the ongoing development of the Toronto Black Health Plan.

10.  Requested the Medical Officer of Health to provide an update at the September 20, 2021 meeting of the Board of Health on the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on children and youth and measures to enhance the safety of schools.

11.  Requested the Medical Officer of Health to clarify with the Government of Ontario when strip clubs, swinger clubs and bathhouses will be permitted to reopen under the COVID-19 Roadmap to Reopen and to urgently consult and work with industry stakeholders and community organizations that carry out public health promotion in these facilities to develop detailed guidelines for their safe reopening.

12.  Requested the Medical Officer of Health to provide an update on the Provincial public health modernization that considers lessons from COVID-19, including the current and future role of public health partnerships with community agencies, recommended performance indicators related to health equity and community inclusion and recommended governance structures that maximize health equity and systems resilience.

The Medical Officer of Health and the Director, Finance and Administration, Toronto Public Health gave a presentation on Response to COVID-19: June 2021 Update.

The Director, Homelessness Initiatives and Prevention Services, Shelter, Support and Housing Administration gave a presentation on Update on the COVID-19 Response and Overdose Prevention in the Shelter System.

The Director, Community Resources, Social Development, Finance and Administration gave a presentation on Community Engagement and Mobilization Plan Update.

Dr. Akwatu Khenti, Special Advisor, TO Supports: COVID-19 Equity Action Plan and Chair, Black Scientists' Task Force on Vaccine Equity and Dr. David Burt, Member, Black Scientists' Task Force on Vaccine Equity gave a presentation on Black Scientists' Task Force on Vaccine Equity: A Final Report on Town Hall Engagements and Findings.

The COVID-19 pandemic continues to have a significant impact on our city, with variants of concern requiring continued public health measures to decrease the risk of transmission and the risk of serious illness or death. While COVID-19 cases and hospitalization rates are trending downward, it is imperative that all people in Toronto adhere to the recommended public health measures and draw on lessons learned in waves 1, 2, and 3 of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The City's vaccination campaign throughout the month of May has continued to be a critical strategy to mitigate the COVID-19 pandemic. In particular, the expansion of pop-up and mobile vaccine clinics has been especially successful in facilitating vaccine delivery and ensuring those at greatest risk have access to vaccines.

This report provides an update on the Toronto Public Health response to the COVID-19 pandemic, in partnership with City divisions, health system partners, and community stakeholders. In addition, this report includes an update on COVID-19 equity indicators, as requested by the Board of Health in October 2020, and an overview of the status and trends in workplace COVID-19 outbreaks, as directed by the Board of Health in January 2021.