A qualitative examination of primary care team's participation in the distribution of the COVID-19 vaccination

Primary health care (PHC) has historically led and implemented successful immunization programs, driven by strong relationships with patients and communities. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Canada began its vaccination strategy with mass immunizations that later included local efforts with PHC provid...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:BMC family practice 2024-03, Vol.25 (1), p.85-85, Article 85
Main Authors: Ashcroft, Rachelle, Donnelly, Catherine, Lam, Simon, Sheffield, Peter, Hamilton, Bryn, Kemp, Connor, Adamson, Keith, Brown, Judith Belle
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Codes
Coronaviruses
COVID-19 vaccination distribution
COVID-19 vaccines
Data analysis
Data collection
Focus groups
Immunization
Interprofessional
Long-term care of the sick
Nurse practitioners
Pandemics
Primary health care
Qualitative research
Teams
Vaccinations
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Primary health care (PHC) has historically led and implemented successful immunization programs, driven by strong relationships with patients and communities. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Canada began its vaccination strategy with mass immunizations that later included local efforts with PHC providers. This study seeks to understand how PHC contributed to the different phases of the COVID-19 vaccination rollouts in Ontario, Canada's most populous province. We conducted a descriptive qualitative study with focus groups consisting of PHC providers, administrators, and staff in Ontario. Eight focus groups were held with 39 participants representing geographic diversity across the six Ontario Health regions. Participants reflected a diverse range of clinical, administrative, and leadership roles. Each focus group was audio-recorded and transcribed with transcriptions analyzed using thematic analysis. With respect to understanding PHC teams' participation in the different phases of the COVID-19 vaccination rollouts, we identified five themes: (i) supporting long-term care, (ii) providing leadership in mass vaccinations, (iii) integrating vaccinations in PHC practice sites, (iv) reaching those in need through outreach activities; and (v) PHC's contributions being under-recognized. PHC was instrumental in supporting COVID-19 vaccinations in Ontario, Canada across all phases of the rollout. The flexibility and adaptability of PHC allowed teams to participate in both large-scale and small-scale vaccination efforts.
ISSN:2731-4553
2731-4553
1471-2296
DOI:10.1186/s12875-024-02327-2