¶ Public Health Ontario
.png)
Public Health Ontario (PHO) is an agency of the Government of Ontario responsible for public health guidance in the province. It is a subsidiary agency of the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care.
¶ History
PHO was an exhibitor at the Canadian Immunization Conference 2016, which took place from December 6-8, 2016, at the Shaw Centre in Ottawa, Ontario.[1]
PHO provided funding for a study on narcolepsy as an adverse event following immunization with Pandemrix, an H1N1 vaccine developed by GlaxoSmithKline, published in August 2018.[2]
¶ COVID-19
Kieran Moore became Chief Medical Officer of Health in June 2021.[3] At Moore's request, PHO established the Ontario Immunization Advisory Committee (OIAC) to provide "evidence-based advice... on vaccines and immunization matters including vaccine program implementation in Ontario, priority populations, clinical guidance and vaccine safety and effectiveness."[4]
On August 17, 2021, Moore issued a directive requiring hospitals and healthcare facilities to develop a policy around COVID-19 vaccination effective September 7, 2021.[5] This was officially known as Directive 6 (or the "Vaccine Directive") issued under section 77.7 of Ontario's Health Protection and Promotion Act.[6] As written, Directive 6 enabled employers to adopt accommodation policies for staff who chose not to receive a COVID-19 vaccine, but many chose not to do so.[7]
In late September 2021, Public Health Ontario adjusted its guidance to suggest youth aged 18-24 receive the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine instead of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine product due to elevated risk of myocarditis. However, individuals in that group could still receive the Moderna shot so long as they gave "informed consent."[8]
As of March 14, 2022, Directive 6 was no longer in effect.[9]
¶ Organization
PHO has been a tenant at MaRS Discovery District.[10]
¶ Personnel
| Name | Position | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Kieran Moore | Chief Medical Officer of Health[3:1] | Queen's University, Canadian Lyme Disease Research Network, KFL&A Public Health Informatics |
| Samantha Akingbola | Researcher[11] | Ontario COVID-19 Science Advisory Table (OST), Toronto Public Health |
| Vanessa Allen | Chief of Microbiology and Laboratory Science (former)[12] | University of Toronto Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology, Ontario COVID-19 Science Advisory Table (OST), Provincial COVID-19 Diagnostic Network |
| Shelly Bolotin | Scientist, Health Protection[13] | Canadian Immunization Research Network (CIRN) |
| Kevin Antoine Brown | Scientist, Infection Prevention and Control[14] | Ontario COVID-19 Science Advisory Table (OST), Dalla Lana School of Public Health |
| Sarah Buchan | Scientist, Health Protection[15] | Ontario COVID-19 Science Advisory Table, National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI), Canadian Association for Immunization Research and Evaluation (CAIRE) |
| Cynthia Chen | Senior Health Data Analyst[16] | Canadian Immunization Research Network (CIRN) |
| William Ciccotelli | Member, Provincial Infectious Diseases Advisory Committee on Infection Prevention and Control (PIDAC-IPC)[17] | Ontario COVID-19 Science Advisory Table (OST) |
| Natasha Crowcroft | Chief Science Officer[18] | Dalla Lana School of Public Health, Canadian Immunization Research Network (CIRN) |
| Shelley Deeks | Chief Health Protection Officer[19] | National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI), Canadian Immunization Research Network (CIRN), Vaccine Innovation Prioritisation Strategy (VIPS) |
| Gerald Evans | Consultant Infection Prevention and Control Physician[20] | COVID-19 Therapeutics Interim Working Group, Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences (ICES), Ontario COVID-19 Science Advisory Table (OST) |
| Nahuel Fittipaldi | Scientist, Public Health Ontario Laboratory[21] | Ontario's COVID-19 Genomics Rapid Response Coalition (ONCoV) |
| Jonathan Gubbay | Medical Microbiologist[22] | National Collaborating Centre for Infectious Diseases (NCCID), Canadian Immunization Research Network (CIRN), SickKids |
| Jessica Hopkins | Chief Health Protection and Emergency Preparedness Officer[23] | Ontario Immunization Advisory Committee (OIAC), Dalla Lana School of Public Health, Ontario COVID-19 Science Advisory Table (OST), Technical Advisory Committee for COVID-19 |
| Frances Jamieson | Director of the TB and Mycobacteriology Laboratory[24] | University of Toronto Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology, Canadian Immunization Research Network (CIRN) |
| Caitlin Johnson | Epidemiologist[25] | Canadian Immunization Research Network (CIRN), Regional Municipality of York |
| Jeff Kwong | Scientist[26] | Vaccine Surveillance Reference Group (VSRG), Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences (ICES), Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre |
| Bradley Langford | Pharmacist Specialist, Antimicrobial Stewardship Program[27] | Dalla Lana School of Public Health, Ontario COVID-19 Science Advisory Table (OST), Hotel Dieu Shaver Health and Rehabilitation Centre |
| Pamela Leece | Public Health Physician - Health Promotion, Chronic Disease and Injury Prevention[28] | Ontario COVID-19 Science Advisory Table (OST), Dalla Lana School of Public Health, Women's College Hospital |
| Lennon Li | Biostatistical Specialist[29] | Dalla Lana School of Public Health, Statistical Society of Canada, Canadian Immunization Research Network (CIRN) |
| Alex Marchand-Austin | Manager of Lab Surveillance and Data Management[30] | Canadian Immunization Research Network (CIRN), Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) |
| John McLaughlin | Chief Science Officer (former)[31] | Ontario COVID-19 Science Advisory Table (OST), Dalla Lana School of Public Health, Canadian Partnership for Tomorrow's Health (CanPath) |
| Michelle Murti | Associate Chief Medical Officer of Health[32] | Ontario COVID-19 Science Advisory Table (OST), Fraser Health Authority |
| Nancy Ondrusek | Director of Research and Ethics[33] | Ontario COVID-19 Bioethics Table, Dalla Lana School of Public Health |
| Samir Patel | Chief, Microbiology and Laboratory Science[34] | Ontario COVID-19 Science Advisory Table (OST), University of Toronto Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology |
| Brian Schwartz | Vice President[35] | Ontario COVID-19 Science Advisory Table (OST), Dalla Lana School of Public Health, Canadian Pandemic Influenza Preparedness Task Group, Ontario SARS Scientific Advisory Committee |
| Premy Selvakumar | Administrative Assistant[36] | Ontario COVID-19 Science Advisory Table (OST) |
| Kathy Torkos | Administrative Assistant, Environmental and Occupational Health Program[37] | Ontario COVID-19 Science Advisory Table (OST) |
| Bryna Warshawsky | Medical Director, Communicable Diseases, Emergency Preparedness and Response Department[38] | Canadian Vaccination Evidence Resource and Exchange Centre (CANVax), Canadian Immunization Research Network (CIRN), Middlesex-London Health Unit |
| Ashini Weerasinghe | Epidemiologist[39] | Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH), Ontario COVID-19 Science Advisory Table (OST) |
| Sarah Wilson | Medical Epidemiologist, Health Protection[40] | Canadian Immunization Research Network (CIRN), Training Programs in Epidemiology and Public Health Interventions Network (TEPHINET), Immunization Canada, Centre for Vaccine Preventable Diseases, National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI) |
¶ Partners
Public Health Ontario is a member organization of the Evidence Synthesis Network (ESN),[41] Immunize Canada,[42] the Ontario Hospital Association (OHA),[43] Ontario's COVID-19 Genomics Rapid Response Coalition (ONCoV),[44] Public Health Training for Equitable Systems Change (PHESC)[45] and Vaccine Safety Net (VSN).[46]
PHO's partners include:
- BORN Ontario[47]
- Canadian College of Health Leaders (CCHL)[48]
- Canadian Lyme Disease Research Network[49]
- CIHR Canadian HIV Trials Network[50]
- KFL&A Public Health Informatics[51]
- Occupational Health Clinics for Ontario Workers (OHCOW)[52]
PHO has additionally provided funding to:
¶ Publications
Report of Adverse Event Following Immunization (AEFI)
Adverse Events Following Immunization (AEFIs) for COVID-19 in Ontario
¶ External links
CIC 2016 Final Program. Canadian Immunization Conference. Retrieved April 22, 2022, from https://web.archive.org/web/20220420010352/https://www.cpha.ca/sites/default/files/uploads/conferences/2021/cic16-final-program-en.pdf ↩︎
Weibel, D., Sturkenboom, M., Black, S., de Ridder, M., Dodd, C., Bonhoeffer, J., Vanrolleghem, A., van der Maas, N., Lammers, G. J., Overeem, S., Gentile, A., Giglio, N., Castellano, V., Kwong, J. C., Murray, B. J., Cauch-Dudek, K., Juhasz, D., Campitelli, M., Datta, A. N., & Kallweit, U. (2018). Narcolepsy and adjuvanted pandemic influenza A (H1N1) 2009 vaccines – Multi-country assessment. Vaccine, 36(41), 6202–6211. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.vaccine.2018.08.008 ↩︎
Hilkene, A., & Jensen, D. (2021, May 30). Ontario To Appoint New Chief Medical Officer of Health. Government of Ontario. https://web.archive.org/web/20210530133915/https://news.ontario.ca/en/release/1000224/ontario-to-appoint-new-chief-medical-officer-of-health ↩︎ ↩︎
Ontario Immunization Advisory Committee (OIAC). Public Health Ontario. Retrieved October 15, 2021, from https://web.archive.org/web/20211015041743/https://www.publichealthontario.ca/en/about/our-organization/external-advisory-committees/oiac ↩︎
Ontario Makes COVID-19 Vaccination Policies Mandatory for High-Risk Settings. (2021, August 17). Government of Ontario. https://web.archive.org/web/20210817171447/https://news.ontario.ca/en/release/1000750/ontario-makes-covid-19-vaccination-policies-mandatory-for-high-risk-settings ↩︎
Newell, S., Reid, A. E., Trattner, P., Watts, M., Putyra, M., Arella, A., & Cohen, S. (2021, November 3). Ontario Superior Court of Justice dissolves injunction to stay terminations under hospital’s mandatory vaccination policy. Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP. http://archive.today/2024.06.13-191327/https://www.osler.com/en/resources/regulations/2021/ontario-superior-court-of-justice-dissolves-injunction-to-stay-terminations-under-hospital-s-mandato ↩︎
Sturgess, L., Natsheh, S., Forte, M., & Andersson, D. (2022). A Citizens’ Hearing: Examining Canada’s Covid Response (pp. 56-57). Canadian Covid Care Alliance. https://doi.org/10.31219/osf.io/sk3d5 ↩︎
Casaletto, L. (2021, September 30). Ontario recommending Pfizer over Moderna vaccine for young adults. CityNews Toronto. https://web.archive.org/web/20220716051319/https://toronto.citynews.ca/2021/09/29/ontario-moderna-vaccine-side-effect/ ↩︎
Gooding, A. (2022, September 9). Mandatory COVID-19 Vaccine Policy. Home and Community Care Support Services. http://archive.today/2024.06.13-193226/https://healthcareathome.ca/mandatory-covid-19-vaccine-policy/ ↩︎
Treurnicht, I., & Nixon, G. (2014, December 9). 2012 MaRS Annual Report. Issuu; MaRS. https://issuu.com/derekaubichon/docs/mar-anr6786_2012_annual_report_elec/1 ↩︎
van Ingen, T., Akingbola, S., Brown, K. A., Daneman, N., Buchan, S. A., & Smith, B. T. (2021). Neighbourhood-level risk factors of COVID-19 incidence and mortality. medRxiv. https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.01.27.21250618 ↩︎
Vanessa G Allen. University of Toronto Department of Laboratory Medicine & Pathobiology. Retrieved June 13, 2024, from https://web.archive.org/web/20240613224423/https://lmp.utoronto.ca/faculty/vanessa-g-allen ↩︎
Dr. Shelly Bolotin. Public Health Ontario. Retrieved February 29, 2024, from https://web.archive.org/web/20240229161310/https://www.publichealthontario.ca/en/About/Research/Our-Researchers/Shelly-Bolotin ↩︎
About Us. Ontario COVID-19 Science Advisory Table. Retrieved June 13, 2024, from https://web.archive.org/web/20240613214617/https://covid19-sciencetable.ca/about/#brown-kevin-antoine ↩︎
Dr. Sarah Buchan. Public Health Ontario. Retrieved May 12, 2022, from http://archive.today/2022.05.12-073231/https://www.publichealthontario.ca/en/about/research/our-researchers/sarah-buchan ↩︎
Cynthia (Yiqun) Chen. LinkedIn. Retrieved June 13, 2024, from https://www.linkedin.com/in/cynthia-yiqun-chen/ ↩︎
Provincial Infectious Diseases Advisory Committee on Infection Prevention and Control (PIDAC-IPC). Public Health Ontario. Retrieved May 2, 2022, from http://archive.today/2022.05.02-054851/https://www.publichealthontario.ca/en/about/our-organization/external-advisory-committees/pidac-ipc ↩︎
Crowcroft, Natasha Sarah. Dalla Lana School of Public Health. Retrieved February 10, 2024, from https://web.archive.org/web/20240210182917/https://www.dlsph.utoronto.ca/faculty-profile/crowcroft-natasha-sarah/ ↩︎
Briefing with Public Health Ontario. (2020, September 28). Long-Term Care COVID-19 Commission. https://web.archive.org/web/20210810150355/http://www.ltccommission-commissionsld.ca/transcripts/pdf/GovOntario_PHO_Briefing_with_Public_Health.pdf ↩︎
Seasonal Influenza 2020-2021 Recommendations in the Context of COVID-19. (2020, August 25). National Collaborating Centre for Infectious Diseases. https://web.archive.org/web/20240613211559/https://nccid.ca/webcast/seasonal-influenza-2020-2021-recommendations-in-the-context-of-covid-19/ ↩︎
Dr. Nahuel Fittipaldi. Public Health Ontario. Retrieved June 13, 2024, from https://web.archive.org/web/20240613223140/https://www.publichealthontario.ca/en/About/Research/Our-Researchers/Nahuel-Fittipaldi ↩︎
Dr. Jonathan Gubbay. National Collaborating Centre for Infectious Diseases. Retrieved February 23, 2024, from https://web.archive.org/web/20240223161615/https://nccid.ca/partner/jonathan-gubbay/ ↩︎
Dr. Jessica Hopkins. Public Health Ontario. Retrieved May 28, 2024, from https://web.archive.org/web/20240528172543/https://www.publichealthontario.ca/en/About/Research/Our-Researchers/Jessica-Hopkins ↩︎
Frances Jamieson. University of Toronto Department of Laboratory Medicine & Pathobiology. Retrieved June 13, 2024, from http://archive.today/2024.06.13-201424/https://lmp.utoronto.ca/faculty/frances-jamieson ↩︎
Caitlin Johnson. LinkedIn. Retrieved June 13, 2024, from https://www.linkedin.com/in/caitlin-johnson-8b341b48/ ↩︎
Dr. Jeff Kwong. Public Health Ontario. Retrieved February 5, 2024, from https://web.archive.org/web/20240205204943/https://www.publichealthontario.ca/en/About/Research/Our-Researchers/Jeff-Kwong ↩︎
Bradley Langford. LinkedIn. Retrieved June 13, 2024, from https://www.linkedin.com/in/bjlangford/ ↩︎
Dr. Pamela Leece. Public Health Ontario. Retrieved June 13, 2024, from https://web.archive.org/web/20240613215600/https://www.publichealthontario.ca/en/about/research/our-researchers/pamela-leece ↩︎
Li, Lennon. Dalla Lana School of Public Health. Retrieved June 13, 2024, from https://web.archive.org/web/20240613201854/https://www.dlsph.utoronto.ca/faculty-profile/li-lennon/ ↩︎
Profile: Alex Marchand-Austin. (2018, January 12). Public Health Ontario. https://web.archive.org/web/20231209031003/https://www.publichealthontario.ca/en/About/News/2018/Profile-Alex-Marchand-Austin ↩︎
John R. McLaughlin. ResearchGate. Retrieved June 13, 2024, from https://web.archive.org/web/20240613215850/https://www.researchgate.net/profile/John-Mclaughlin-36 ↩︎
Moore, K. (2024, April 2). Balancing Act: Focus on Tobacco/Vaping Products, Cannabis, Alcohol, and Opioids An All-of-Society Approach to Substance Use and Harms - 2023 Annual Report of the Chief Medical Officer of Health of Ontario to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario. Government of Ontario. https://web.archive.org/web/20240613221533/https://www.ontario.ca/files/2024-04/moh-cmoh-annual-report-2023-en-2024-04-02.pdf ↩︎
Leadership Team. Public Health Ontario. Retrieved June 13, 2024, from https://web.archive.org/web/20240613214225/https://www.publichealthontario.ca/en/About/Our-Organization/Leadership-Team ↩︎
Dr. Samir Patel. Public Health Ontario. Retrieved June 13, 2024, from https://web.archive.org/web/20240613222436/https://www.publichealthontario.ca/en/About/Research/Our-Researchers/Samir-Patel ↩︎
Dr. Brian Schwartz. Public Health Ontario. Retrieved January 25, 2022, from http://archive.today/2022.01.25-082238/https://www.publichealthontario.ca/en/about/research/our-researchers/brian-schwartz ↩︎
Selvakumar, P. (2021, February 3). Declaration of Interest. Ontario COVID-19 Science Advisory Table. https://web.archive.org/web/20210830140024/https://covid19-sciencetable.ca/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Declaration-of-Interest_Behavioural-Science-Working-Group_Premy-Selvakumar.pdf ↩︎
Contact Directory Results - Kathy Torkos. Public Health Ontario. Retrieved May 25, 2022, from http://archive.today/2022.05.25-150845/https://www.publichealthontario.ca/en/contact/contact-search%23kathy torkos ↩︎
Bryna Warshawsky. CANVax. Retrieved June 13, 2024, from https://web.archive.org/web/20240613202331/https://www.canvax.ca/bryna-warshawsky ↩︎
Brunton, N., Russell, K., Booth, G., Hobin, E., Mcgavock, J., Klaprat, N., Swanson, A., Pancoe, D., & Manley, E. (2019). Abstract #61 (0346_0513_000075). Child Health Research Days Manitoba. https://web.archive.org/web/20220525054556/https://chrdmb.ca/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/2019-09-13-Final-Abstracts-61.pdf ↩︎
Dr. Sarah Wilson. Public Health Ontario. Retrieved April 20, 2022, from http://archive.today/2022.04.20-062955/https://www.publichealthontario.ca/en/about/research/our-researchers/sarah-wilson ↩︎
Evidence & Knowledge for COVID-19 Response. Evidence Synthesis Network. Retrieved May 9, 2022, from http://archive.today/2021.03.14-063900/https://esnetwork.ca/ ↩︎
Member Organizations. Immunize Canada. Retrieved December 2, 2021, from http://archive.today/2021.12.02-060043/https://immunize.ca/member-organizations ↩︎
OHA Members. Ontario Hospital Association. Retrieved January 23, 2022, from http://archive.today/2022.01.24-010645/https://www.oha.com/membership/oha-members ↩︎
Home. ONCoV. Retrieved September 10, 2022, from https://web.archive.org/web/20220910203044/https://www.oncov.ca/ ↩︎
Home 1 | PHESC. Public Health Training for Equitable Systems Change. Retrieved May 10, 2022, from http://archive.today/2022.05.11-032548/http://www.phesc.ca/ ↩︎
Vaccine Safety. Public Health Ontario. Retrieved June 13, 2024, from https://web.archive.org/web/20240613224045/https://www.publichealthontario.ca/en/Health-Topics/Immunization/Vaccine-Safety ↩︎
Partnerships. (2022, September 13). BORN Ontario. https://web.archive.org/web/20221018172920/https://www.bornontario.ca/en/about-born/partnerships.aspx ↩︎
Healthcare Organizations using LEADS. Canadian College of Health Leaders. Retrieved April 17, 2023, from https://web.archive.org/web/20230417064121/https://cchl-ccls.ca/leads-network/healthcare-organizations-using-leads/ ↩︎
Our Partners. Canadian Lyme Disease Research Network. Retrieved November 24, 2021, from http://archive.today/2021.11.24-211620/https://www.clydrn.ca/about-the-network/our-partners/ ↩︎
Partners. CIHR Canadian HIV Trials Network. Retrieved February 2, 2023, from https://web.archive.org/web/20230202063247/https://www.hivnet.ubc.ca/partners/ ↩︎
Partners. KFL&A Public Health Informatics. Retrieved January 12, 2022, from https://web.archive.org/web/20220112190709/https://www.kflaphi.ca/partners/ ↩︎
Partners. Occupational Health Clinics for Ontario Workers. Retrieved June 9, 2022, from http://archive.today/2022.06.09-080538/https://www.ohcow.on.ca/partners/ ↩︎
2018 Annual Report. Canadian Public Health Association. Retrieved June 4, 2023, from https://web.archive.org/web/20230604220449/https://cpha.ca/sites/default/files/uploads/about/reports/2018-annual-report-web-e.pdf ↩︎