MacCallum Says N.B. Ready To Rollout COVID-19 Vaccines

The first provincial shipment of the Pfizer vaccine is expected to arrive in the next week.

Priority groups who will get the vaccine first include long-term care residents and staff, members of the Provincial Rapid Outbreak Management Team who handle outbreaks and healthcare workers.

Greg MacCallum, director of New Brunswick EMO, said a remarkable amount of planning has taken place surrounding the arrival of vaccines.

“I am pleased that we are ready to receive these shipments so New Brunswickers can be immunized against COVID,” MacCallum said.

MacCallum acknowledged 1950 doses is a small number in a province of 700,000 people.

He noted it is the first step in a program of regular deliveries adding it will take most of 2021 to roll out and administer vaccines to all New Brunswickers and the rest of Canada.

MacCallum said the first shipment of COVID-19 vaccine will be delivered the Miramichi Regional Hospital.

He adds this hospital is the site of a newly-installed ultra-low temperature freezer.

“That unit for the Pfizer vaccine is necessary as the vaccine must be stored at minus 80 degrees Celsius,” MacCallum said.

He said the province has access to other freezers for storage and the Pfizer product arrives in a dry ice freezer where it can be stored temporarily.

“The biggest constraint we have right now is we will receive them at the Miramichi hospital and because of the nature of the ultra-frozen vaccine, the advice from the manufacturer is not to forward transport it. So that is why we will hold the initial clinic in Miramichi,” MacCallum said.

Zone 2 moving to Yellow / COVID-19 vaccine planning / four new caseshttps://t.co/mVPlgOQkg6

Details on cases and testing can be found on the GNB website. 
Mobile and most browsers: https://t.co/oIqIZSv1av
IE users: https://t.co/1X3Tc1hCRa pic.twitter.com/Y0AyXWp8kE

— Government of NB (@Gov_NB) December 10, 2020