By Chad Ingram

With the approval of the first COVID-19 vaccine in the country by Health Canada last week, shipments began to roll into the provinces this week, with the first inoculations being administered.

However, as Minden Hills Mayor Brent Devolin noted during a Dec. 9 council meeting, it will likely be later in 2021 before many residents get an opportunity to be vaccinated.

The province has created a three-phase framework for the rollout of vaccinations. Part of the first phase, which was getting underway this week, was the vaccination of some 2,500 healthcare workers in Toronto and Ottawa with the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine as part of a COVID-19 vaccine readiness pilot project.

The second phase will include vaccines being administered to healthcare workers, residents of long-term care facilities and retirement homes, as well as home-care patients with chronic conditions and certain Indigenous populations.

“Into the third phase, which probably affects most of us, it will go through the balance of the year,” Devolin said. “There’s still a lot of unknowns and I think in the next month or two will be answered.”
“We’re all happy and anxious to see that this is on its way, but not as fast as any of us would like.”