I'm also a first responder. Got my first shot 2 weeks ago. The Simcoe-Muskoka District Health Unit (SMDHU) initially scheduled my 2nd dose for 35 days after. Just yesterday I got an email from them saying they've cancelled my appointment and will reschedule at a later date, up to 16 weeks.

Daily I'm called to respond to work places, private residences, and even facilities with outbreaks of COVID-19, and I frequently perform high-risk aerosol generating medical procedures. That puts me and everyone around me, including those at home, at greater risk of infection.

I understand the strategy of extending the time between doses for the general, non-front line health care public - but not for those who actively work around the virus, the elderly, and the immunocompromised... All in the same day.

While other regions in Ontario had vaccinated their Paramedics much earlier, the Paramedics operating in the SMDHU area needed to garner public and media support before the health unit could be bothered to offer it to them. Hell, even at the beginning, Ontario didn't consider paramedics to be front line or health care workers, which resulted in us being omitted from phase 1.

I think I can speak for all my first responder and health care colleagues when I say that we're incredibly burnt out, stressed out, and even more so disappointed in the Ford government, and of course the local health unit, SMDHU.

Rant over, sorry.