TORONTO, Today, Premier Doug Ford announced that the first doses of COVID-19 vaccine will begin next Tuesday at Toronto and Ottawa hospitals. This welcoming announcement comes as Ontario reported another record-high number of 1,983 COVID-19 cases but also processed a record-high 60,000 tests.
“Beginning Tuesday, December 15, these first doses will be administered at University Health Network and The Ottawa Hospital to health care workers who are providing care in long-term care homes and other high-risk settings.”
The province’s COVID-19 Vaccine Distribution Task Force, is led by Ret. Gen. Rick Hillier, who said Ontario will receive 6,000 doses on Monday, with 3,000 doses each being distributed to the two hospitals.
Why Ottawa and not Peel, which is under Grey – lockdown restrictions, was selected as one of the two sites, Hillier said was because weeks ago Ottawa was chose in order to test the logistics chain outside of just Toronto.
He also said, “They have had some long-term care homes and retirement residents that have had COVID-19 visited upon them and tragic circumstances. So all those things were used to make a decision to use Ottawa as one of the first test cases.”
“The vaccinations are going to be rolled out in a coordinated fashion, so the teams now are working with the long-term care homes whose health care workers will be getting vaccinated first,” said Hillier at the province’s press conference on Thursday.
Because of the -70 celsius temperature storage requirements of this Pfizer vaccine they must remain at the two hospital locations that are set up to store them.
“We cannot move the Pfizer vaccine from where we receive it at those two sites. So, we have to have people who can come to the special vaccination site,” said Hillier.
Once the Moderna vaccine, with its more accommodating storage demands, is approved by Health Canada, Hiller said the province will be able to begin vaccinating at long-term care homes.
Also, right now Ontario has a limited amount of the vaccine but may get as many as 90,000 more Pfizer doses by the end of December, in addition to and expected 35,000 to 85,000 doses of the Moderna vaccine by the end of this month, pending its approval by Health Canada.
Hillier said when the larger shipments arrive 13 more hospitals will serve as vaccination locations provincewide.
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