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The first vaccines to be used in B.C. are from Pfizer-BioNTech, which must be stored at -70 C temperatures. Approval for use in Canada of a Moderna vaccine, which needs to be stored at -20 C, is expected soon.
The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines will initially be provided at two sites — at unnamed health-care facilities in the Vancouver Coastal and Fraser Health regions — to health-care providers who work at long-term care homes where the pandemic has been most deadly and also for those on the COVID-19 front lines such as intensive-care units.
Once a safe way to transport the vaccines to long-term care homes has been worked out, tricky because of the temperatures involved, the vaccines will also be administered to long-term care home residents. As more vaccine becomes available, people who will be prioritized to get the vaccine include the elderly, other front-line workers such as paramedics and firefighters, and the vulnerable such as those living in shelters. Isolated Indigenous communities will also be a priority.
The province expects to have about 400,000 vaccines administered by the end of March, less than 10 per cent of the population. Later in the spring, Henry expects that more vaccines that are easier to dispense will be available for rapid distribution.
The province is setting up an operations centre to co-ordinate the immunization effort in B.C., which will be headed by Dr. Ross Brown, vice-president of pandemic response for Vancouver Coastal Health. The province expects to have another seven sites to dispense vaccines by January, with sites in all health regions — and eventually 30 sites around the province.
