COVID-19 Vaccine Arrives in Waterloo Region

Waterloo Region – The areas first shipment of the Pfizer COVID-19 Vaccine arrived in Waterloo Region today. Grand River Hospital, with support from the Waterloo Regional Police Service, securely received the vaccine where it will be stored in adherence to security protocols before use in scheduled vaccination clinics beginning December 22.

On Friday, Grand River Hospital was announced as one of 17 sites across Ontario to deliver the initial phase of the COVID-19 vaccine immunization program. 

Due to limited vaccine availability in the initial phase of the vaccination program, the Government of Ontario has identified clear priority populations for vaccination, including staff in long-term care homes and staff in hospitals. Due to restraints on the ability to transport the Pfizer Vaccine, initial focus will be on staff as has been done in Ottawa and Toronto. 

The task force is working closely with local long-term care homes to schedule vaccination clinics, aiming to vaccinate up to 15 per cent of staff of prioritized long-term care homes per immunization clinic day. Spreading out the vaccinations among homes daily is critical to ensure staffing levels in each home are not impacted. Long-term care homes have been prioritized based on previously released criteria. 

“After an intense week of planning, today marks a significant step forward in roll-out of the COVID-19 immunization program,” said WRPS Deputy Chief Shirley Hilton. “I cannot stress enough that the vaccination program will take time. Adherence to public health guidelines is vital to ensure the health of our community while we roll-out the vaccine.” 

Images and footage covering the vaccine’s arrival are available for media use. A separate media advisory will be issued with details regarding media availability and protocols for the first vaccination clinic. 

More information and regular updates on the work of the taskforce are available on the Region of Waterloo’s COVID-19 Vaccine Distribution Taskforce Webpage.

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For media information, please contact:

Connie MacDonald, Chief Strategy & Communications Officer, Region of Waterloo

Email: conmacdonald@regionofwaterloo.ca