As Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine arrives in the Lower Mainland, it should now be available in the Kamloops area by next week.
Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry shared that news on Monday afternoon, noting the first vaccinations are set to happen tomorrow.
“We’re in the final leg of this now but there is still a ways to go and especially its going to be hard these next few weeks because we are going to be saving lives with every single dose that we give, but its not enough yet to stop transmission in our community,” Henry said.
“Who would have known just 11 months ago that we would have come together globally and quite frankly put the money towards developing a vaccine that is game changing. It is going to make the difference.”
Interior Health’s interim vice president of pandemic response, Dr. Karen Bloemink, says when the vaccine arrives in the Interior, it will be stored in two cities to start.
“Right at this moment, we have freezer capability in Kamloops and Kelowna, on the ground today. And we are working with BC CDC to secure additional freezers that meet the specifications. All health authorities are working with BC CDC. So we’re engaged in that planning, and we do have additional resources coming.”
The vaccine will be available for healthcare workers and long-term care residents to begin, with more specifics for distribution in IH still being finalized.
IH chief medical health officer Dr. Albert de Villiers says Canada has contracts with seven companies that have been developing vaccines, and he says future vaccines that come online will be easier to transport compared to the Pfizer vaccine.
“Because it needs to be kept at minus 80 Celsius, it’ll most likely be that we’ll have to bring people to the vaccine. And then as the other vaccines come in, like the Moderna one that only needs to be kept at minus-20 – which is still cold but it’s a little bit easier – we’ll be able to take it out further to some of the more remote communities.”
Over this week, 30,000 doses of the Pfizer vaccine will be sent to 14 Canadian cities including include St. John’s, Halifax, Mirimichi, Quebec City, Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, Winnipeg, Regina, Edmonton, Calgary, and two cities in B.C.’s Lower Mainland.
Henry says she will be on hand to see the first healthcare workers get their vaccines in the province tomorrow.
Editor’s Note: This story had comments from Interior Health staff made on Dec. 9 about the timeline for the vaccine coming to IH; as of 3:05 p.m. today, the PHO gave an updated timeline saying the vaccine will be available in all health authorities next week.
