The Yukon government will be updating its emergency plans with lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic including the auditor general’s report on COVID-19 vaccine rollout.
That’s what officials said in a submission to the Yukon Legislative Assembly’s standing committee on public accounts with status updates on the audit’s seven recommendations for the departments of Health and Social Services, Community Services and the Executive Council Office.
Territorial government officials have indicated that positive changes are already underway to bolster future emergency management in the territory.
During the committee’s Dec. 12 hearing on COVID-19 vaccines in the Yukon, deputy minister of the Executive Council Office Justin Ferby said the government understands the need to revise emergency plans regularly and keep people trained on incident command.
The audit, released in June, found that the departments worked well together to vaccinate Yukoners quickly and by priority despite not having complete pandemic plans. While the rollout was effective, the audit found weaknesses in monitoring and reporting. Without having a proper inventory management system to track the supply and inventory of vaccines, the health department relied on manual documentation which led to errors and discrepancies in the inventory levels and waste reported. The lack of a tracking system prevented the department from knowing how many vaccines it had.
Furthermore, the audit found a lack of early, often and meaningful engagement in the planning of the rollout with Yukon First Nations.
Deputy auditor general Andrew Hayes told the committee the audit was intended to identify how the government acted and implemented the rollout.
“This audit is important because vaccines are one of the most important public health tools for preventing serious illness and controlling infectious disease outbreaks, such as COVID-19,” he told the committee.
Hayes noted pandemic-related plans were released in 2009 and 2010. Only in 2020, after the pandemic began, were these plans updated. However, those updates were limited to deleting references to H1N1 and adjusting appendices. That’s partly why he calls the plans “outdated and incomplete” in addition to changes in technology, relationships with First Nations and demographics.
“These plans need to have up-to-date information on roles and responsibilities, who to contact and when in an emergency. It’s difficult to expect that people will have the time available to figure things out on the fly,” he said.
According to Hayes, individual department plans were also out of date and unfinished, with the Executive Council Office’s plans dating back to 2012 and the other two departments’ plans from 2015.
“Now’s the time to fix it,” Hayes said.
The Yukon’s audit was one of multiple COVID-19-related audits in the country, however the territory wasn’t directly compared to other jurisdictions. Hayes pointed to consistent findings regarding the need for governments to have full and updated plans for emergencies including pandemics as well as systems to track inventory and wastage.
Hayes said auditing done at the federal government level found the feds responded quickly and secured enough vaccine doses for any Canadian who chose to get the jab but illuminated problems with wastage and information sharing problems with provinces and territories.
Deputy minister of Health and Social Services Tiffany Boyd outlined the complexities with getting vaccines out to small, rural communities in the North not limited to ultra-low temperatures required for storing vaccines, long travel times and fragile contents.
Boyd noted the territory received its first doses on Dec. 28, 2020, and the first vaccination took place on Jan. 4, 2021. She said the Yukon became “one of the first jurisdictions in Canada and the world to vaccinate its population.”
“I feel that Yukon is better positioned than ever to manage future health emergencies,” she said, adding that there’s “always room for improvement.” For example, she realizes they could’ve done better at creating a standardized electronic filing system at the beginning of the process.
Boyd said weekly calls with First Nations governments were held but having that central system would have allowed the information to be more readily available.
“Creating a more centralized filing system is certainly a lesson learned. That said, it’s important to note that this had no impact on safety or the delivery of the vaccine,” she said.
Another improvement Boyd mentioned relates to recognizing staff and health-care providers involved in the process.
Boyd said about $3.5 million has been budgeted to “rebuild a number of long-term resiliency measures to remain responsive to COVID-19 and other public health needs” such as more staff and infection control measures at long-term care homes. She said additional resources have been put toward emergency management.
She noted some changes include expanding the scope of practice for pharmacists so more people can provide vaccines and establishing a permanent vaccine clinic.
Boyd said steps have been taken on each of the audit’s seven recommendations, which have been accepted. Most will be completed in the next one to two years, she said. Others that require legislative review and action will take longer.
“A new vaccine inventory management system is now fully functional, and that work is considered complete,” she said. “Work on the review of the Civil Emergency Measures Act and the Public Health and Safety Act are proceeding as scheduled, and it’s anticipated that engagement with Yukon First Nations and municipal governments will start this spring.”
Deputy minister of Community Services Matt King said decisions on legislative reviews likely won’t be made until sometime after 2025 or 2026.
Contact Dana Hatherly at dana.hatherly@yukon-news.com