New Brunswick has begun vaccinating health-care workers and long-term care residents against the coronavirus in Miramichi.
“We’re really quite excited, people are pumped up, they’re believing it’s a historic day for the Miramichi,” said CEO of Horizon Health Karen McGrath.
New Brunswick’s first allotment of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for COVID-19 came in 1,950 doses — all of which will be given out this weekend.
McGrath says about 150 health-care staff will work 12-hours a day on Saturday and Sunday, in what she calls a “fantastic effort.”
Eighty-four-year-old Pauline Gauvin, a resident of Shannex Losier Hall, was the first to receive the vaccine on Saturday.
“It was an honour,” she said Saturday morning.
Gauvin said she didn’t feel much and felt comfortable when she received the injection.
Dr. Jennifer Russell, chief medical officer of health, said the provider of the vaccine is recommending the vaccine not be moved to different sites. But, this could change within the next three months.
With the Pfizer vaccine, common side effects are pain at the injection site, fatigue and muscle aches and pains. Russell said some may experience a fever too.
The federal government also announced on Tuesday that it has secured 168,000 doses of the Moderna vaccine that should arrive before the end of December.
Photo credit: Collected
News source: Global News
