Residents of Ottawa’s long-term care homes are first in line to receive their second dose of the coronavirus vaccine while some health workers could face delays amid impending shortages of additional doses.
Anthony Di Monte, the head of Ottawa’s vaccine distribution task force, said Wednesday that long-term care residents are prioritized to receive their second dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine within 21-27 days after receiving their initial jab.
Some health-care workers who have already received an initial dose could have to wait closer to 42 days before getting a second injection, Di Monte said, depending on the final allocations provided by the province.
The city’s vaccine task force has to prioritize due to an impending shortfall of vaccines. The federal government confirmed on Tuesday that Canada will receive no doses of the Pfizer vaccine during the week of Jan. 25.
All doses Ottawa is receiving this week will be allocated towards providing at-risk residents with their second doses, Di Monte said.
All of Ottawa’s 28 long-term care homes have received a first-round of doses, with 92 per cent of residents receiving the initial shot.
Ottawa Public Health’s COVID-19 dashboard shows the city has now administered 21,951 shots from the 25,350 doses it has thus far received.
Di Monte couldn’t say for sure whether the city has enough impending doses for everyone who received a first dose to receive their second, noting the Ottawa Hospital, which receives the vaccines, is “doing that math” now.
The city is also waiting for further directions from the province, expecting “clarity in the next couple days” on the available supply in Ontario.
Comments