Each week, journalists turn to Unity Health Toronto’s experts and programs to help make sense of our world. In case you missed it, here’s a recap of the headlines for the week of June 26-July 2.

Changing the minds of the vaccine hesitant requires actually listening to them
Maclean’s on June 28, 2021
Interview with Dr. Suzanne Shoush

That racialized communities have been more often singled out as being vaccine “hesitant” frustrates Dr. Suzanne Shoush, a Black and Indigenous family physician who works at Unity Health Toronto. For one, the narrative can be used to say that low-income and racialized people are getting vaccinated at lower rates by choice, when the reality is likely more by design and accessibility. Dr. Shoush tells Maclean’s why the narrative is discriminatory: “You can have hundreds of white people at a rally against masks and vaccines, and we don’t make the assumption that white people don’t trust the vaccine,” she says. “A Black person says they don’t want the vaccine to one person, and suddenly that becomes, ‘All Black people don’t like the vaccine.’”

Why new guidance for vaccinated Canadians leaves plenty of room for confusion
CBC News Second Opinion on June 26, 2021
Interview with Dr. Fahad Razak

In an infographic posted to the Public Health Agency of Canada’s website on June 25, fully vaccinated Canadians were told they could now gather outdoors with the partially vaccinated or unvaccinated without masking or physically distancing, however little was mentioned regarding children who are not yet vaccinated. Dr. Fahad Razak, an epidemiologist and internist with St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto, tells CBC News he hopes the guidance will be extended to children in the coming days.

Also in CBC News Second Opinion on the path forward to reopen Canada

Parenting: Bridging the language divide
Desi News on June 30, 2021
Feature of Dr. Ripudaman Minhas

Led by St. Michael’s Hospital pediatrician Dr. Ripudaman Singh Minhas, Punjabi Kids’ Health is an invaluable resource for Canadian parents of South-Asian descent, providing health information from a pediatrician who understands their language and culture – in a medium doctors don’t normally tread: TikTok. In this feature, Dr. Minhas tells Desi News why Punjabi Kids’ Health is necessary and what has been the most rewarding part of the promotional health campaign.

Speed and flexibility: Pop-up clinics highlight advantages of learning health systems
Healthy Debate on June 28, 2021
Interview with Dr. Suzanne Shoush

At the local level, there have been success stories in the vaccination rollout – one success has been Auduzhe Mino Nesewinong – a Place of Healthy Breathing in Anishinaabemowin. The vaccine clinic is the collaboration of four partners – Na-Me-Res, Seventh Generation Midwives Toronto, Well Living House at St. Michael’s Hospital and the Women’s College Hospital Centre for Wise Practices In Indigenous Health. Dr. Suzanne Shoush, a family physician with St. Michael’s Hospital who helped launch the clinic, tells Healthy Debate why building vaccine confidence isn’t just about what is said – it’s about trust and well-established community relationships.

Family doctors are getting a new tool to help nudge vaccine stragglers towards getting their first COVID jabs
Toronto Star on July 1, 2021
Interview with Dr. Tara Kiran

With Ontario’s rate of first COVID-19 vaccine doses plateauing, the province’s family doctors are getting a new tool to help reach the roughly 22 per cent of adults who haven’t yet received a shot. The tool will provide primary care physicians with access to information about which patients have been vaccinated, when, and the type of vaccine, so they can find those falling through the cracks. Dr. Tara Kiran, a family physician at St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto, tells the Toronto Star why it’s important for family physicians to get these lists. “We can actually change people’s minds,” she says.

Amid record vaccinations, Ontario is struggling to reach one final group: Young people
Toronto Star on June 25, 2021
Interview with Dr. Tara Kiran

While the vast majority of Canadians appear to want to get the COVID-19 vaccine as fast as possible, younger generations across Ontario are lagging behind the pack when it actually comes down to getting the shot. Dr. Tara Kiran, a family physician at St. Michael’s Hospital, speaks with the Toronto Star about efforts to keep barriers minimal and get more people vaccinated. “We need to involve the health care providers that are most trusted and that includes family doctors,” says Dr. Kiran. “We’ve really been left out of the vaccine rollout in many ways.”

Islanders can access rapid HIV self-tests anonymously through national program
CBC News PEI on July 1, 2021
Feature of work led by Dr. Sean Rourke

A new HIV self-testing and research program could ensure more Islanders get a diagnosis and the followup support they need. I’m Ready is a national program whereby Canadians can order HIV test kits online through a mobile app and get them delivered to their home, or to a local pick-up spot. Dr. Sean Rourke, a clinical neuropsychologist and a scientist at the MAP Centre for Urban Health Solutions at St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto, tells CBC News PEI that over 8,000 people are living with HIV in Canada and don’t know it. Dr. Rourke says it’s incredibly important for people with HIV to get treatment to save their own lives and to prevent transmission to their partners.