States discussed their COVID-19 vaccine roll-out plans after announcing on Monday that Canada expects to receive 249,000 doses of the vaccine by the end of December.
Health Canada approves the Pfizer / BioMTech vaccine this week, with the first shipment expected next week. Immunization for this vaccine requires two doses over a period of weeks, so the initial batch is suitable for approximately 125,000 Canadians.
Pfizer recommends storing its vaccine at -80C to -60C in the freezer or at a temperature of -90C to -60C in a thermal container. The vaccine will be distributed to 14 sites across Canada, with doses divided by state on a per capita basis.
See here how the provinces and territories are planning for the arrival of the first round of vaccinations.
Ontario
Retired General Rick Hillier, who leads Ontario’s vaccine task force, noted that the province should be able to vaccinate 1.2 million people in the first three months of 2021 – but there is still uncertainty around the initial rollout and there is no clear timeline. Yet.
See | Rick Hillier discusses Ontario’s vaccine rollout plan:
Retired General Rick Hillier said he hopes Ontario will provide an “effective” and “equivalent” COVID-19 vaccination program to enable every eligible person in the province to be vaccinated voluntarily. Watch the video for more details about the province’s three-step plan to develop the vaccine. 3:08
“Every day we learn more about the properties and characteristics of the vaccine and one of them is that the stability data are uncertain when it is moved,” Hillier said, adding that 85,000 doses will be available in the province this month. “For now, we may be somewhat limited in moving it after we receive it.”
Those receiving the vaccine include vulnerable seniors, their caregivers and even health care workers, Premier Doug Ford said Monday. Adults from indigenous communities, residents of retirement homes and long-term home health care recipients are also priority groups, although it may be April before shots become widely available to others.
Hillier said the second phase of the roll-out will make the vaccine more widely available to the public from April, taking six to nine months to distribute across the province. “People have to be patient that their turn will come,” he said.
Quebec
Quebec Health Minister Christian Dubey said the province should receive four boxes of Pfizer / BioMTech vaccine by next Monday, which will allow 2,000 people to be vaccinated in two unnamed long-term care homes.
Between 22,000 and 28,000 cubes will be immunized to COVID-19 by January 4 because the province will receive higher doses of the vaccine, Dubey said.
See | Christian dubQue discusses Quebec’s rollout plan
Residents of long-term care homes and health care workers receiving the COVID-19 vaccine for the first time in Quebec. 1:53
“Yes, today’s news is good news, but let it not distract us. We need to focus,” he said.
Residents of long-term care homes and health care workers are vaccinated, followed by people living in private seniors’ residences and those in isolated communities, including indigenous communities. Those four groups represent the 547,000 people living in Quebec.
Newfoundland and Labrador
Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Andrew Fury said 1,950 doses of the Pfizer / Bioantech Kovid-19 vaccine would arrive next week, with more coming later.
“Thank God,” he said. “Hope is on the horizon … [but] We are not there yet, “he said.
Fury said the vaccination task force, announced on Dec. 4, was first working for logistics on who would be vaccinated. Although there is no yet defined list for the province, the Premier suggested Guidelines from the National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NICI) Regarding vaccine preference.
Fury also said last week that vaccination is highly recommended, but not mandatory.
New Brunswick
A spokesman for the New Brunswick Department of Justice and Public Safety said up to 1,950 doses of the Pfizer / BioTech vaccine should arrive “on December 14 as part of the first of two shipments this month.
That dose is enough to vaccinate 975 people.
“The province is working to identify priority groups for vaccination in the first phase based on the federal government’s recommendations,” spokesman Sean Berry said in an email.
“Any dose that comes before January based on New Brunswick’s action plan will be given to members of those priority groups.”
Nova Scotia
The Kovid-19 vaccine will receive 1,950 doses in the province next week, the Nova Scotia Ministry of Health said in a statement to CBC News.
Prior to this, the state was involved in dry-work with partner, federal government, Dalhousie University and health system partners to prepare for vaccine arrival. This exercise tests shipping, delivery, tracking and storage, but does not contain the vaccine.
Prince Edward Island
Since regional allocation is on a per capita basis, PEI receives only 1,000 doses of the first allotment of Pfizer / Bioentech vaccine.
“We are in a small jurisdiction, so we will be able to serve the islanders much faster than any other jurisdiction,” said PEI Premier Dennis King. Said on November 27th.
Manitoba
Dr Brent Rousin, Manitoba’s chief provincial public health officer, said the province was ready to accept doses sent by the federal government, but hoped they would be “very limited in size”.
“The sooner we are able to receive the vaccine the better,” he said. “We’re definitely ready to receive the vaccine anytime, but we need to set expectations that it will be a very limited supply, especially early on. So give immunity with what we can do with a very limited range.”
Rausin said it was “a huge task” to provide the vaccine to everyone who needed it. He said the plan for the roll-out has made significant progress and details will be announced in the near future.
Last week, Premier Brian Polyester announced that Manitoba had purchased one of the freezers needed to store Pfizer / BioMtech; The low storage temperature poses transportation challenges to deliver the vaccine to remote areas.
See | Experts Discuss COVID-19 Vaccine Roll Out:
As Canada prepares to distribute the COVID-19 vaccine in millions, Dr Caroline Kwach-tan and David Levine, chairmen of the National Advisory Committee on Immunization, which manages the H1N1 vaccine rollout for Montreal, said the vaccine would not go unpublished. 3:05
Saskatchewan
The province has the ultra-low-temperature freezer needed to store the Pfizer / Bioentech vaccine, and Saskatchewan premier Scott Moe said Tuesday that the Saskatchewan vaccine distribution plan will be unveiled.
Mo said vaccination will be done in an unstable manner as the province receives higher doses throughout 2021. He said the plan was to start vaccinating health care workers and vulnerable residents like seniors living in long-term care homes.
Alberta
Alberta will receive 3,900 doses of Pfizer / BioMTech vaccine next week, enough to vaccinate 1,950 people.
The regional government has said it will prioritize vulnerable populations such as frontline health care workers and seniors in long-term care.
See | Biotech says it can ship its vaccine within 24 hours of Health Canada approving it:
Sean Marrett, Bioentech’s Chief Business and Chief Commercial Officer, said the vaccine could be shipped within 24 hours after Canada approves the Pfizer rollout. 9:41
British Columbia
The province hopes to receive the first delivery of the vaccine next week, said Dr Bonnie Henry, public health officer for British Columbia.
“This is the beginning of our program, a very important start, but a very small amount to start making sure our logistics go,” Henry said. “However, our ability to begin to protect adults and seniors, especially in our care homes and the health care workers who care for them, will be a significant step forward in our fight against COVID-19.”
Henry said she and other regional officials will give a full briefing on BC’s vaccine roll-out plan later this week.
Yukon, NWT and Nunavut
Trudeau said the “more important logistical challenges” regarding the distribution of the Pfizer / Bioentech vaccine were that it would not immediately go to northern communities. He said those who need to be vaccinated with the first three million doses will be regional residents, which are expected in early 2021, including the modern vaccine.
“We have worked very closely with the Premiers in the Northern Territories, and with Indigenous leaders across the country. We know they are a priority population,” Trudeau said. He said the first three million doses would be a combination of Pfizer and Modern vaccines.
Dr Michael Patterson, Nunavut’s chief public health officer, said last week that the modern vaccine was likely to arrive in the region because of the strict storage and shipping requirements for the Pfizer vaccine.
The Northwest Territories Health Department, or the Office of the Chief Medical Officer of the Yukon Office, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
See | Nunavut’s top physician calls the Pfizer / BioMTech vaccine ‘remote’ for remote areas:
Dr. Michael Patterson, Nunavut’s Chief Public Health Officer, said it was impossible for remote communities to transport the Pfizer vaccine due to the extreme cold storage requirements. 0:19
About The Author
More Stories
Scotiabank customers can't get their pay: “We've fixed the problem”
His wife was badly beaten at CHSLD
Here is my response to Minister Pierre Fitzgibbon's insult about the school tax