TORONTO As Canada roll outs the first COVID-19 vaccines to front-line workers, pride is washing over the Filipino community. But advocates say a true show of appreciation would involve the government doing more to protect them. Three of the first five people in the country to be inoculated were Filipino-Canadian, but thatâs hardly a surprise as, for decades, this community has been an integral part of Canadaâs health care system. When he was receiving his inoculation last week, registered practical nurse Lucky Aguila admitted he wasnât thinking of the significance to the Filipino community. âBut Iâm honoured to be one of the first,â told CTVNews.ca on Wednesday. Back in May, he began working in the Rekai Centre long-term care homes in Toronto â thrown into the middle of an outbreak.
Following a two-month-long review, Switzerland Saturday became the latest country to approve the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for use.
“After a meticulous review of the available information, Swissmedic concluded that the Covid-19 vaccine from Pfizer/BioNTech is safe and that its benefit outweighs the risks,” the Swissmedic regulatory authority said in a statement. A vial of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine. (AP)
It is the first vaccine against the new coronavirus authorised so far in the country.
According to AFP, the alpine nation has secured around 15.8 million Covid-19 vaccine doses, in deals with three separate manufacturers. It has signed contracts for around three million doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, around 7.5 million doses of Moderna’s vaccine, and around 5.3 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine. All three vaccines require two doses per person.
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TORONTO/MONTREAL (Reuters) - Canada kicked off its inoculation campaign against COVID-19 on Monday by injecting frontline healthcare workers and elderly nursing home residents, becoming just the third nation in the world to administer the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine.
The first dose broadcast on live TV went to Anita Quidangen. The personal support worker at the Rekai Centre, a non-profit nursing home for the elderly in Toronto, Canada’s largest city, said she was “excited” to have been first in line.
Healthcare workers in masks and white coats applauded after she was injected.
“It’s a great relief. Clearly, it may only be the beginning of the end but we sense nevertheless that there will be an end to this pandemic,” said Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, making clear he would not be pressing to have his shot immediately.
1st COVID-19 vaccine recipients say it s history made for Filipino-Canadians
by Erica Natividad and Theresa Redula
Posted Dec 18, 2020 3:48 pm EDT
Tamara Dus (left), director of University Health Netwok Safety Services, administers the first Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine in Ontario to personal support worker Anita Quidangen at a hospital in Toronto on Monday, Dec. 14, 2020. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Frank Gunn)
Three of the first five people to receive the COVID-19 vaccine in Canada were Filipino-Canadian, a moment significant to the Filipino community, who for decades has played a major role in the nation’s healthcare system.
About one in every 20 caregiving professionals in Canada are Filipino and with frontline workers the first to receive the COVID-19 vaccine, it’s no surprise they played a large role in the historic inoculations.
Published Tuesday, December 15, 2020 7:53AM EST Last Updated Tuesday, December 15, 2020 4:04PM EST More than 300 additional health care workers received the COVID-19 vaccine in Toronto Tuesday and officials say that they expect to use up their available supply of the drug by the end of the week. The first five vaccinations against the novel coronavirus to occur in Ontario took place at the University Health Network’s Michener Institute on Monday afternoon, just hours after a shipment of 6,000 doses landed in Hamilton. The province has decided to withhold 3,000 of the initial doses so that anyone being vaccinated now is guaranteed their second dose 21 days later.