COVID-19 Vaccine Update # 1
On December 8, Health Canada approved the Pfizer BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for use in Canada. This is the first COVID-19 vaccine approved for use in the country. The vaccine works with the individual’s immune system to help keep them from getting COVID-19, to lower how much of the virus can spread in the population, and to help build herd immunity.
Ontario received approximately 90,000 doses of the vaccine in its first shipment from the federal government. The doses were shipped to 17 hospital sites in red and grey tier regions of the province. Our regional site is at London Health Sciences Centre. Because there is a limited supply, the doses are prioritized for health care workers and essential caregivers who work in high risk settings or with high risk patients in hospitals, long-term care homes, retirement homes and other congregate settings caring for seniors.
London Health Sciences Centre will work closely with Huron-Perth Health Unit, Middlesex-London Health Unit and Southwestern Public Health to identify the health care workers and essential caregivers from across the region who should be prioritized to receive the vaccine.
The Pfizer BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine is called a mRNA vaccine. It uses genetic “instructions” to generate a coronavirus protein in the body that encourages the body’s natural production of antibodies and immune response. mRNA vaccines are not live vaccines and cannot cause infection in the host. mRNA vaccines also cannot alter a person’s DNA. All recipients of the vaccine need 2 doses, 21 days apart. It is administered by injection into the muscle of the upper arm. Common side effects affect approximately 1 in 10 people and include pain at injection site, fatigue, headache, muscle pain, chills, joint pain, and fever.
As more information becomes available about further vaccine rollout, including availability to the public, we will provide updates on our website and our social media pages.