The first deliveries of COVID-19 vaccine will arrive in Canada later on Sunday, the official in charge of the country’s vaccine rollout told the CBC, with the first Canadians likely to roll up their sleeves as soon as Monday, Trend reports citing Reuters.
Canada and the United States are set to become the first Western nations after the UK to begin inoculations with the vaccine developed by Pfizer Inc and Germany’s BioNTech SE.
The initial 30,000 doses will go to 14 sites around Canada. The most vulnerable people, including the elderly in long-term care facilities and healthcare workers, will be first in line for shots.
“Some flights will arrive tonight. Some flights will arrive tomorrow. Some trucks will cross the border tomorrow, so it’s all coming in the coming day or two,” Major-General Dany Fortin told the Canadian Broadcasting Corp.
The vaccines left Belgium, where they were produced, on Friday, and traveled to Germany and the United States before being split up and sent to inoculation points in Canada.
The distribution timetable is going according to plans, and administration points for the vaccine will slowly be increased starting this week, Fortin said on the Rosemary Barton Live morning show.
“The intent here is to ensure that we continue to have regular drip feed of vaccines in the coming weeks,” with 249,000 doses expected to be in Canada by the end of the year, he said.