Waterloo Region administers first doses of Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine

After receiving our first 2,400 doses of the Pfizer vaccine at Grand River Hospital on Monday, the Region has begun its first steps in rolling out COVID-19 vaccinations. An important milestone in pandemic response, the first vaccination clinic began on Tuesday afternoon with staff from Chartwell Elmira Long Term Care Residence.

Speaking during the Region’s Public Health media briefing on Tuesday, Grand River Hospital President & CEO Ron Gagnon referred to the important moment as a light at the end of the tunnel, as he said the Region has been on a ‘long journey’ in its battle against COVID-19. The first doses of the Pfizer vaccine will be focused on long term care home and hospital staff, as our Region’s vaccine distribution task force continues to follow the lead from the provincial task force.

“Over the course of the next couple of weeks, we will ramp up to doing 400 vaccinations a day through the clinic…” said Gagnon. “… that will be focused on long term care home staff as the first priority.”

Elmira personal support worker Siham Ibrahim became the first person to receive the COVID-19 vaccine in Waterloo Region on Tuesday afternoon – one of 10 staff vaccinated in the Region's first COVID-19 immunization clinic. Speaking to the experience, Ibrahim said she was proud to be able to show the public that there's nothing to worry about when it comes to getting vaccinated. Working closely with our Region's seniors, Ibrahim said she felt that making the decision to get vaccinated is just one more tool to make sure she's doing her best in taking care of and protecting the residents at her care home.

“This vaccine is here for us to defeat this disease and get back to our normal lives…” said Ibrahim. “With so much scepticism and people uncertain about the vaccine, I just hope that they see this and know that there's nothing to worry about…”

Waterloo Region Police Service Deputy Chief Shirley Hilton said the Region’s vaccine distribution task force will continue to work closely with local long-term care homes to schedule vaccination clinics, with regular clinics running throughout December into January on an appointment-only basis. Hilton also issued a reminder to members of the public to not call local pharmacies or their doctors to book an appointment for the vaccine.

“The vaccine is not anticipated to be available to members of the general public until later in 2021.” said Hilton. “Although the vaccine is an important step toward recovery, safe distribution to the general public will take time.”

In the meantime, both Gagnon and Hilton stressed the importance of a continued adherence to the guidelines set out by public health – including wearing a mask in public, minimizing time spent outside the home, maintaining physical distance and washing your hands frequently.

“This is an exciting point in the journey, and it is really important that we follow the advice we’ve just heard from Dr. Wang.” said Gagnon. “The light is there at the end of this tunnel – by pulling together we can have the success we had early on and see a much better future in the not too distant future.”