While vaccine rollouts are already well underway in Ottawa and the Eastern Ontario Health Unit's region, Renfrew is still waiting to kick-start its vaccination campaign.
“[The Renfrew County District Health Unit (RCDHU)] has been advised that we can expect to receive Pfizer and/or Moderna vaccines in early February, but there has been no confirmation of the number of doses,” Dr. Robert Cushman, Acting Medical Officer of Health of RCDHU, said in an announcement Tuesday afternoon.
Cushman explains that the RCDHU hasn’t received any confirmation on the number of doses they’ll be getting yet either.
The vaccine is not currently available in Renfrew County and its district, but the unit is leading the development and implementation of a local COVID-19 Vaccine roll-out plan.
The plan will follow the provincial government’s three-phase implantation plan, which is currently in its first phase.
In Phase One, the vaccines will be given to the most vulnerable populations that are at the greatest risk. The key populations that will be the first to get the vaccine are as follows:
- Residents, employees and staff, and essential caregivers of congregate living settings that provide care for seniors;
- Health care workers (including all those who work in health care settings and those in direct contact with patients);
- Adults in First Nations, Métis, and Inuit populations where infection can have disproportionate consequences, including those living in remote or isolated areas;
- Adult recipients of chronic home health care.
Phase 2 is expected to begin later in the winter, and will include:
- All members of the groups in phase 1;
- Additional congregate care settings (for example, shelters);
- Adults over 70 in expanded regions.
Phase 3 dates are unknown but will start once priority groups from the first two phases have gotten their vaccinations, and vaccines are available for the general public to be immunized.
A new shipment of COVID-19 vaccines were received in Ottawa on Wednesday, which were administered to Phase 1 groups in the city starting in the morning.
