Canada has widely been acclaimed as being one of the most well-positioned countries to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic, thanks to its sophisticated universal health-care system. But for me, and others like me who don’t qualify for medical coverage, the pandemic has come with its own unique set of challenges.
I’m an international student studying and working in Ontario. As a temporary resident, I do not qualify for Ontario Health Insurance Plan (OHIP) coverage, and hence don’t have a health card.
So when I started to develop flu symptoms in late October, the first thought I had was: “How will I afford the health-care costs if I have COVID-19?” My international health insurance, which was purchased last year, way before most knew of the term coronavirus, did not cover COVID-19 related illness.
I was relieved when I got to know that Ontario had announced at the very beginning of the first wave, that testing and other COVID-19 services will be free for everyone, even for those without OHIP coverage.
I had developed a sore throat and low-grade fever, two symptoms which according to the COVID-19 self-assessment tool, qualified me to get tested at one of the province’s assessment centres.
Booking an appointment and getting the actual test was a straightforward process. However, obtaining the test result was where not having a health card proved to be a major hurdle.
Individuals who have an Ontario health card can check their result on the province’s website within 48 hours. Those without one though, have to contact the specific COVID assessment centre they got tested at to obtain their result.
Due to a high volume of tests, the phone lines at the assessment centre were backed up. The only option was leaving a voicemail — which I did several times.
Eventually, I had to wait nine days to get my result, almost five times longer than the average time it takes for a health-card holder.
Another temporary resident living in Toronto, Manraj Singh, got tested at the same location as I did and faced a similar predicament.
“I have been trying for the past seven days, without any luck. I’m thinking of going to the centre to try and get the result,” Singh said.
Not being able to get the result was especially challenging for Singh, who was required to submit a negative test result to his workplace. He was eventually able to access his test result 10 days after being tested, a delay which cost him a week’s work. “My cousin who has a health card and got tested along with me, got his result the next day,” Singh added.
Many assessment centres in the GTA, like the ones at Michael Garron Hospital and William Osler Health System, have since streamlined the process for people without health cards by setting up their own online portals to access results.
“Osler has seen a high number of people requesting results via phone and email and our teams have worked hard to meet these requests as quickly as possible,” Cara Francis, chief communications officer at William Osler Health System told the Star in an email.
“With the implementation of OslerCovid19.ca, people will have another option to receive their results, increasing capacity for Osler’s Health Information Management department to assist those who do not have an Ontario health card or online access,” Francis added.
After having tested negative for COVID-19, I felt the next logical thing to protect my immune system would be getting the flu vaccine, but there were hiccups with that process too.
Those looking to get the flu shot in Toronto have three options to get the shot: a family doctor, the local pharmacy or one of the City’s four bimonthly flu vaccination clinics. Some universities which usually offer flu vaccinations on campus, like University of Toronto, suspended those services this year as well.
Temporary residents like me, who only have private health coverage, do not qualify for a family doctor, so I looked to pharmacies with hopeful eyes.
I approached pharmacies inside places like Shoppers Drug Mart and Walmart, but they turned me away, citing their inability to let me pay over-the-counter for the vaccine. One pharmacist told me that the pharmacy directly bills the province for the vaccine, and hence was unable to offer it to those without a health card.
Ontario’s Ministry of Health’s website states that under its Universal Influenza Immunization Program, any individual without an OHIP card is “still eligible to receive publicly funded influenza vaccine.” Pharmacies need only submit a form in order to receive $7.50 per dose administered to these individuals.
In an email statement to the Star, a public relations officer at Loblaws stated, “While the process is seamless for those with an Ontario health card, additional paperwork is required to be filled out as per the Ministry of Health’s process for those without.” The officer added that due to high demand for the flu shot recently, “a patient without an Ontario health card may be asked to book an appointment to receive the vaccine (versus a walk-in).”
Walmart Canada did not respond to a request for comment from the Star before publication.
The only option that remained was getting the shot at one of the city’s four flu vaccination clinics. Trying to book an appointment at one of these clinics proved futile, as all four were out of available slots.
Over the next several weeks, I constantly tried to book an appointment at any of these four clinics, without any luck. Finally, on Dec. 12, after almost six weeks since I started trying, I was able to get inoculated with the flu shot at the City’s Etobicoke vaccine clinic.
I believe my experiences were not isolated incidents, and point to a set of challenges faced by a large group of people.
As of April 2020, there were about 642,000 non-permanent residents in Ontario. This group consists of international students, visa workers and refugee claimants, a majority of whom do not qualify for OHIP coverage.
This raises the question of whether the current system offers equitable health-care access to non-permanent residents. This, coupled with the pandemic making it almost impossible for temporary residents to move forward on their path to permanent residency by finding a job, has made things especially challenging.
As Canada’s largest vaccination campaign for the COVID-19 vaccine ensues in the coming months, it will be pertinent to note whether vaccination policy framework sidelines the non-permanent resident segment of Ontario’s population.
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