Canadian hospitals will be among the first facilities to give out the coronavirus vaccine, potentially as early as next week, according to Maj. Gen. Dany Fortin, a former NATO commander leading the vaccine distribution process.
Speaking at a media conference Tuesday, Fortin said when Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine arrives in Canada (potentially next week), the provinces have chosen 14 initial locations to administer them.
“Those places were chosen by the provinces, they meet certain criteria… some will be in hospitals,” Fortin said in French. “The provinces have chosen additional sites and over the coming days and weeks, we will start to activate those sites. They were chosen based on the conditions laid out by Pfizer so the vaccines can be administered as quickly as possible to Canadians.”
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Fortin added that the initial 14 delivery sites were chosen in order to be “close to the population that will receive the vaccines.”
Delivering the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine is complicated because it needs to be stored at super-chilled temperatures: about -70 C. However, the vaccine is stable at normal refrigerator temperatures, between 2 and 8 C, for a few days, meaning it can be stored locally.
This news comes one day after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced that Canada has secured an agreement to receive its first batch of Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine before the end of the year — up to 249,000 doses.
Pending Health Canada approval, “Canadians will be getting vaccinated starting next week,” Trudeau said.
Canada’s chief public health officer also added on Tuesday that the first doses of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine are likely to be given only to people who can physically be at one of the 14 delivery sites.
4:13 Canada to receive 249,000 COVID-19 vaccine doses this month
Canada to receive 249,000 COVID-19 vaccine doses this month
Dr. Theresa Tam says experience moving the vaccine around might eventually allow it to be taken to other sites but acknowledged this likely means many long-term care home residents won’t get the initial doses.
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Long-term care residents and staff are among those who are to be prioritized for the first doses of vaccines but Tam says most residents can’t easily be moved to another site.
Canada’s first doses of Pfizer’s vaccine are to come from lots produced at the company’s manufacturing plant in Belgium.
A Pfizer spokeswoman told The Canadian Press that the company is asking for the delivery limitation.
“For the initial stages of vaccination, I can confirm that we are asking for vaccines to be administered only at the first vaccination points,” said Christina Antoniou.
She said where the vaccine can be injected is “part of ongoing discussions” with provincial governments, who are in charge of getting the vaccine into patients. However she noted Pfizer’s actual contract for the COVID-19 vaccine is with the federal government.
“Pfizer, the Public Health Agency of Canada and the provinces are working together to finalize preparations at the first point of use sites this week, including training on how to handle the product,” she said. “These are the sites identified by the federal government’s National Operations Centre for initial vaccination of priority populations.”
EDMONTON – RCMP say a second suspect has been arrested in the killing of an Alberta county worker.
Mounties say 28-year-old Elijah Strawberry was taken into custody Friday at a house on O’Chiese First Nation.
Colin Hough, a worker with Rocky View County, was shot and killed while on the job on a rural road east of Calgary on Aug. 6.
Another man who worked for Fortis Alberta was shot and wounded, and RCMP said the suspects fled in a Rocky View County work truck.
Police later arrested Arthur Wayne Penner, 35, and charged him with first-degree murder and attempted murder, and a warrant was issued for Strawberry’s arrest.
RCMP also said there was a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of Strawberry, describing him as armed and dangerous.
Chief Supt. Roberta McKale, told a news conference in Edmonton that officers had received tips and information over the last few weeks.
“I don’t know of many members that when were stopped, fuelling up our vehicles, we weren’t keeping an eye out, looking for him,” she said.
But officers had been investigating other cases when they found Strawberry.
“Our investigators were in O’Chiese First Nation at a residence on another matter and the major crimes unit was there working another file and ended up locating him hiding in the residence,” McKale said.
While an investigation is still underway, RCMP say they’re confident both suspects in the case are in police custody.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
RICHMOND, B.C. – The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team says the 26-year-old son of a man found dead on British Columbia’s Sunshine Coast has been charged with his murder.
Police say 58-year-old Henry Doyle was found badly injured on a forest service road in Egmont last September and died of his injuries.
The homicide team took over when the BC Coroners Service said the man’s death was suspicious.
It says in a statement that the BC Prosecution Service has approved one count of first-degree murder against the man’s son, Jackson Doyle.
Police say the accused will remain in custody until at least his next court appearance.
The homicide team says investigators remained committed to solving the case with the help of the community of Egmont, the RCMP on the Sunshine Coast and in Richmond, and the Vancouver Police Department.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
VANCOUVER – Mediated talks between the union representing HandyDART workers in Metro Vancouver and its employer, Transdev, have broken off without an agreement following 15 hours of talks.
Joe McCann, president of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1724, says they stayed at the bargaining table with help from a mediator until 2 a.m. Friday and made “some progress.”
However, he says the union negotiators didn’t get an offer that they could recommend to the membership.
McCann says that in some ways they are close to an agreement, but in other areas they are “miles apart.”
About 600 employees of the door-to-door transit service for people who can’t navigate the conventional transit system have been on strike since last week, pausing service for all but essential medical trips.
McCann asks HandyDART users to be “patient,” since they are trying to get not only a fair contract for workers but also a better service for customers.
He says it’s unclear when the talks will resume, but he hopes next week at the latest.
The employer, Transdev, didn’t reply to an interview request before publication.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
