By Cecilia Nasmith
Northumberland Hills Hospital is delighted to announce that it can expect to receive its first shipment of COVID-19 vaccine some time next week.
The Haliburton Kawartha Pine Ridge District Health Unit notified the hospital of the news, saying that this will probably be Pfizer-BIONTech vaccine (which, with Moderna, is one of the two vaccines currently approved for use in Canada). In anticipation of this, the hospital recently acquired and calibrated a large-capacity refrigeration unit necessary to ensure the stability of this sensitive product.
NHH President and Chief Executive Officer Linda Davis said in the announcement that they are looking forward to the shipment.
“Capacity to store Moderna vaccine at NHH is also set to come on stream shortly, with a dedicated refrigerator specifically for Moderna vaccine received on Feb. 16 and now in the process of calibration. With both refrigeration units in place, we will be well positioned to support local vaccine roll-out as global supply improves,” Davis said.
The quantity of vaccine to be received cannot be confirmed in advance of delivery, but it is understood that these doses will support the vaccination of Phase One priority populations in this region. With local vaccination of long-term-care residents recently completed at all area homes, the next target groups are staff and essential caregivers in long-term-care homes, high-risk retirement homes and First Nations elder-are homes, as well as any residents of these settings who have not yet received a first dose. Alternative level of care residents in hospital who have a confirmed admission to a long-term-care home, retirement home or other congregate-care seniors' home are also eligible, along with priority health-care workers as per the Ministry of Health's recently updated guidelines.
When these groups are taken are of, the next priority for first doses of vaccine will be adults aged 80 and older, health-care workers in high-priority risk levels, all Indigenous adults, adult recipients of chronic home care, and staff, residents and care givers in retirement homes and other congregate-care seniors' settings.
“We are pleased to work with NHH to be able to continue vaccinating our residents as outlined in the provincial directives for vaccine distribution,” Acting Medical Officer of Health Dr. Ian Gemmill stated.
“Our goal is to continue working through the vaccine supplied to us to get the vaccine in as many arms as possible.
“While we know that many people are anxiously awaiting their opportunity to get vaccinated, I would ask everyone to be patient until their time arrives. Once we move through the provincial distribution plan, and we have lots of vaccine, we will be working with our health-care and municipal partners to ensure we provide lots of opportunities for people to get vaccinated.”
Davis added her hope that, once vaccine supplies and distribution expand to include the broader community, everyone will step up and roll up their sleeves to prevent the further spread of COVID-19.
“We know that it will take our entire community to complete this work,” Davis said.
“Together with our community partners, our team looks forward to supporting the distribution of vaccine as quickly as possible to all who wish to receive it.”
