Canada administers first COVID-19 vaccines, PM Trudeau in no rush for his shot – National Post

Canada administers first COVID-19 vaccines, PM Trudeau in no rush for his shot – National Post

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“It’s really good news for Canada. It’s really good news for Quebec,” federal Health Minister Patty Hajdu said outside of the Maimonides Geriatric Center in Montreal, which also began to immunize patients on Monday.

Some 150 residents were set to receive shots at Maimonides on Monday, and 50,000 people will be vaccinated in Quebec by Jan. 4, Quebec’s Health Minister Christian Dube said.

More than 60% of Canada’s 13,431 pandemic deaths overall have been in residences for the elderly, down from 80% in the first wave.

Canada’s federal health authorities on Friday called for provinces to impose more restrictions.

The United States also began inoculations on Monday after the United Kingdom kicked off its national effort last week.

The vaccine developed by German biotech BioNTech SE and Pfizer Inc is given in two doses, three weeks apart. Canada is expecting to receive 30,000 doses this week and 249,000 total by the end of the year.

“It’s an act of love to get vaccinated,” said resident Rabbi Ronnie Cahana, speaking by Zoom, before receiving the shot. Cahana, who is a quadriplegic, said he was overjoyed to hear the vaccine was coming. “I was dancing up and down the halls, and I can’t even walk.”

His daughter, Kitra Cahana, who recently returned to Montreal from her home in the United States so she could be present if her father fell ill from COVID-19, said she hopes the vaccine ends her family’s constant worry for his safety.

“I think it’s hard to imagine the level of fear and worry that surrounds these homes,” she said.

Maimonides resident Beverly Spanier said she hoped being inoculated would restore some of the freedoms lost during the pandemic.

“I’d like to see grandchildren able to visit grandparents again,” Spanier said. (Additonal reporting by Steve Scherer and David Ljunggren in Ottawa; Editing by Jonathan Oatis and Bill Berkrot)

Published at Tue, 15 Dec 2020 02:57:33 +0000