Canada begins administering COVID-19 vaccine
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Gisele Levesque, a resident of a Quebec City long-term care facility, on Monday became the first person in Canada to be inoculated against the coronavirus. Photo courtesy of Quebec Premier Francois Legault/Twitter
Dec. 15 (UPI) The government of Canada has inoculated its first citizens against the coronavirus, officials said.
Health Minister Patty Hajdu announced during a press conference on Monday out front of the Maimonides Geriatric Center in Montreal, Quebec, that the rollout of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine has begun.
Advertisement It s really good news for Canada, it s really good news for Quebec, it s really good for everybody across the country, she said.
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TORONTO A long-term care resident in Quebec and a nursing home worker in Ontario received Canada’s first COVID-19 vaccinations on Monday, kicking off the largest immunization campaign in the country’s history.
The shots from drug company Pfizer were administered in Quebec City and Toronto within roughly half an hour of each other, creating some confusion about which of the two hard-hit provinces could lay claim to being the first in the country to hand out doses.
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Fast Facts: Ottawa Public Health reported 48 new cases of COVID-19 and one new death on Monday. Ontario and Quebec both began COVID-19 vaccinations on Monday. Kingston s top doctor says his region is knocking on the door of red status as cases rise. More parts of the Outaouais region will be moving into Quebec s highest alert level this week.
COVID-19 by the numbers in Ottawa:
New cases: 48 cases on Monday
Total COVID-19 cases: 9,105
COVID-19 cases per 100,000 (previous seven days): 30.6
Positivity rate in Ottawa: 1.4 per cent (Dec 7-13)
Reproduction Number: 1.01 (seven day average)
Testing: Ottawa Public Health says there are four reasons to seek testing for COVID-19:
COVID-19: un feu roulant de vaccination à Québec journaldemontreal.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from journaldemontreal.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
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In the relative calm of our pandemic summer, Dr. Brent Roussin tried to take a break from the briefing grind and the rest of the burden that falls on the chief public health officer.
Alas, those holiday plans fell victim to COVID-19 and so the good doctor’s vacation was cut short and he was back on duty.
In theory, Roussin is about to get another chance at a holiday over the holidays. As of this week, the daily COVID-19 press briefings will be reduced in favour of updates only on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. The holiday briefing schedule also won’t include Christmas Day, Boxing Day or New Year’s. As well, get ready to see Dr. Jazz Atwal, Manitoba s acting deputy chief provincial public health officer, at the microphone as a substitute for Roussin. Meanwhile, Monika Warren, COVID-19 operations lead and chief nursing officer at Health Sciences Centre will spell off Shared Health chief nursing officer Lanette Siragusa at the briefings.