Despite a reported shortage of vaccine supplies, Waterloo Region is administering about 600 COVID-19 vaccinations daily at this point.
The region has officially administered 5,142 of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine at Kitchener’s Grand River Hospital, chosen as one of 17 initial sites in the province due to freezer capabilities and levels of transmission in their respective communities.
The lead of the region’s Vaccination Distribution Task Force, Waterloo Regional Police Deputy Chief Shirley Hilton, says the team has plans of expanding the rollout upon arrival of the next batch of doses.
“Work is being done to increase scheduling and appointments as we work toward next week, mobilizing our clinics going into the long-term health care homes. That scheduling team is working behind the scenes to ensure that the vaccines that we have and that we will be receiving are being scheduled for the clinic at Grand River Hospital in addition to the mobile teams going into the long-term care homes.”
The team has indicated that they will not be one of three locations receiving the recently approved Moderna vaccine, though the provincial government is starting to make it available.
“I spoke with the Prime Minister last night about the need for more reliable vaccine supply to meet our rapidly growing capacity. Every single day we’re getting more and more needles into people’s arms and protecting more and more of our frontline health care workers, long-term care residents and most vulnerable. But we’re quickly running out,” said Premier Doug Ford in a statement. “All of Ontario will be out of the Pfizer vaccines by the end of next week.”
The premier also called on Health Canada to approve the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine to address the shortage in supply of Pfizer and Moderna products in the province.
“Health Canada again, please approve AstraZeneca – we’re in desperate need of it. Please approve it. It’s been approved by other health agencies around the world,” he said, adding the rollout of current vaccines has been great, but more supply is desperately needed.
The region, too, is waiting on new supplies, said Hilton, discussing the implications on the vaccination program
“In terms of running out of vaccine, we’re operating on a supply basis. So, as we received the supply this week, we have scheduled that into appointments for the clinic at Grand River Hospital, with the goal that next week we can start the mobilization of the mobile team to go into the long-term care homes,” she explained. “We’re always scheduling with the goal of what we have, and with the anticipation of what we might get the following week, understanding that we don’t necessarily always have the confirmation until just before we get the shipment. So, it really is a supply issue.”
The shortage anticipated for next week puts difficulty on those that received their first vaccination and are awaiting their second dosage. The initial recipients would be scheduled to get the second shot next week in following the 21-day cycle.
Hilton said the task force is confident that the region can continue to immunize priority populations as long as supply is provided.
“The greatest obstacle right now is supply since we can only vaccinate using what we have. Our current vaccine supply is allocated to high-priority groups most at risk. Increasing vaccine supply in Waterloo Region will allow us to vaccinate these groups more quickly,” she said.
