11.89°C Vancouver 11.89°C Vancouver
Dec 14, 2020 4:08 PM -
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says the first shipments of the COVID-19 vaccine have arrived in Canada.
Trudeau made the announcement Sunday night on Twitter, and noted that while it's good news, the fight against COVID-19 is not over and Canadians must keep up their vigilance.
The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines are bound for 14 distribution sites across the country.
There are distribution sites in all 10 provinces, but none in the territories because health officials say the Pfizer shot's -70 C storage temperature make it difficult to stock there.
Quebec is expected to be the first province to administer the vaccine, saying it's prepared to start inoculating residents of two long-term care homes as early as Monday.
Ontario expects to receive 6,000 doses of the Pfizer BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine today.
It will give them to approximately 2,500 health-care workers at a hospital in Toronto and another in Ottawa.
The rollout is scheduled to begin tomorrow.
Other provinces say they'll vaccinate long-term care residents and front-line health-care workers later in the week.
