Over 500 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine were given in Guelph between Wednesday and Friday with hundreds of frontline workers each receiving their first shot.
Five workers of a Shelburne long-term care home were vaccinated on Wednesday, the first day the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine was given locally at the Guelph headquarters of Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Public Health. About 500 appointments were made for Thursday and Friday.
Local front line positions that have received the vaccine so far include long-term care and retirement home staff, as well as paramedics, hospital and assessment clinic staff, said Danny Williamson, communications specialist at WDG Public Health.
Williamson said WDG Public Health plans to run clinics from Monday to Friday for the foreseeable future.
"This is more than sufficient to administer the volume of the vaccine we have received, and the amount we project to receive in the coming weeks," said Williamson.
A total of 1,950 Pfizer vaccines is expected to arrive at WDG Public Health each week for the next three weeks. Because of its storage requirements, the Pfizer vaccine will be stored, mixed and administered from the office on Chancellor's Way.
As the volume of COVID-19 vaccine increases, so will the number of clinics held with the aid of its partners, said Williamson.
In a press conference held Wednesday, local medical officer of Health Dr. Nicola Mercer said 3,000 doses of the Moderna vaccine are expected to arrive next week.
Because the Moderna vaccine does not have the same handling challenges as the Pfizer vaccine, Mercer said it will be transported to long-term care homes and high-risk retirement homes in order to vaccinate residents. She said that process will take about three weeks to complete.
Depending on the results of various pilot projects in other parts of the province, the Pfizer vaccine may some day be able to be moved to other locations, said Mercer on Wednesday.
