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Distribution of the Pfizer vaccine — which must be stored in ultra-cold temperatures of -80 C — would then be the next step in what Trudeau described as the “the largest mobilization of vaccines in Canada’s history”. And that will be far from an easy task.
“From a logistical and delivery standpoint, this is the largest mobilization of vaccines in Canada’s history,” Trudeau said.
He said that once approved by Health Canada, those initial vaccines doses will be distributed among 14 different vaccination sites throughout Canadians cities.
We know that there is a tremendous amount of uncertainty in terms of which vaccines were going to arrive first
They would then be administered by the provinces, which will prioritize Canadians who are part of the four priority groups as determined by the National Advisory Committee on Immunization.
Those are long-term-care home staff and residents, Canadians over the age of 80, health-care workers and remote or northern Indigenous communities.
But that last group will likely have to wait for the second potential vaccine candidate, by Moderna, to be approved before they receive doses. Their leaders have expressed a preference for that vaccine because it is easier to transport and store, since it only needs to be kept at -20 C.
Ontario also signalled Monday that the first wave of vaccines would likely be given to priority Canadians who can come to one of the country’s 14 central vaccination sites Trudeau said would soon be put in place.
“There will be one (vaccination site) in each province, and two in our country’s largest provinces,” Trudeau explained, referring to Ontario, Quebec, British Columbia and Alberta. “The decision on distribution to provinces and territories, it was agreed, is going to be done on a per capita basis.”
