WINNIPEG The province s vaccine rollout took another step in the right direction Monday as the first doses were administered at the Thompson supersite. Three people in total received the shots, including Victor Kitzul who was the first person to receive it. Kitzul, who is a cast tech at The Pas health complex, said he was excited to receive the vaccine and he encourages others to also get the shot when it is their time. Definitely get it. It is for your own good, said Kitzul, who added he feels lucky to be the first one to receive it. The other two to receive the vaccine were Aubrey Queen and Dylan Stacey, who are both nursing students and healthcare aids at Thompson General Hospital.
“I was going to wait for one in The Pas but I thought I’d better get one here when I had a chance,” said Kitzul, who’s worked in health care for about half a century and had no doubts about his decision to get vaccinated. “I think it’s a very good thing. It’s going to help people. They should get it. There’s no excuse. If anybody refuses it and they end up on an ICU unit, I don’t feel sorry for them.” The first two Thompson residents to receive the vaccine at the TRCC are at the beginning of their health care careers. Dylan Stacey, a fourth-year nursing student at University College of the North and a health care aide at the medical, surgical and pediatric ward on the second floor of Thompson General Hospital, said he was a little nervous about getting the vaccine but hopes that it will be the first step in an eventual return to life as it was before COVID-19 arrived in Manitoba.