The vaccine is currently being offered to:
- health care workers and essential caregivers who work in long-term care homes retirement homes, other congregate settings caring for seniors,
- residents of long-term care (LTC) and retirement homes (RH),
- prioritized hospital workers.
The immunization program began administering vaccines to residents in long-term care homes on January 12, 2021, following the recent decision by the provincial government that the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine can be safely transported to the homes. Retirement homes will begin to receive the vaccine next week.
A COVID-19 Immunization Clinic is open in Simcoe Muskoka for priority groups. The clinic, a partnership between the health unit, Royal Victoria Regional Health Centre (RVH) and the city of Barrie, opened December 22, 2020 and since then, almost 8,000 doses of the vaccine have been administered. In fact, the Barrie clinic is one of the busiest vaccine sites in the province. The clinic, on Sperling Drive, is located in the same building as RVH’s COVID-19 Testing and Assessment Centre. It serves all of Simcoe County and Muskoka District.
An initial allocation of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine was delivered to Simcoe Muskoka the week of December 21st, with more to arrive in the weeks ahead.
Watch a short video of Lori Black, personal support worker in Barrie, be the first person to receive the COVID-19 vaccine in Simcoe Muskoka on Dec 22nd..
SMDHU immunization nurses will administer the vaccine to a limited number of prioritized people by invitation and appointment only, beginning with long-term care and rest and retirement home staff. As vaccine supply and additional vaccines are approved by Health Canada, distribution and vaccination will be expanded.
The vaccine will NOT be available to the general public until spring 2021 and it is expected it will take another six to nine months to immunize all Ontarians who want to get the vaccine.