THUNDER BAY - The Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre is among 17 additional sites across the province that will be receiving doses of the COVID-19 vaccine in the next two weeks.
The provincial government announced on Friday that it is expecting to receive 90,000 doses of the Pfizer vaccine from the federal government by the end of the year and will be distributing it to 17 hospital sites, including Thunder Bay.
"Following a successful pilot, we are excited to continue onto the next stage of our rollout of the COVID-19 vaccines to Ontarians," said Minister of Health Christine Elliott.
"While we are planning to ensure that everyone who wants a vaccine will receive one, we need to first protect our frontline workers and those providing essential care to our most vulnerable."
The vaccine will be given to health care workers and essential caregivers who work in hospitals, long-term care homes, retirement homes and other congregate settings caring for seniors.
The TBRHSC announced earlier this week that it will be a distribution centre for the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine and the province said all sites have the proper equipment necessary to store the vaccine, which requires storage at -70 degrees.
In Ontario, more than 2,500 health care workers have already been vaccinated in Toronto's UHN and The Ottawa Hospital as part of its pilot project.
"This expanded distribution list is fantastic news and allows us to continue to test and refine our vaccination rollout plan," said General Rick Hillier. "This is the next important step that gets us ready for all of Ontario in 2021."
