Canada kicked off its inoculation campaign against COVID-19 on Monday by injecting frontline healthcare workers, becoming just the third nation in the world to administer the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine.
The first dose went to Anita Quidangen, a personal support worker at the Rekai Centre, a non-profit nursing home for the elderly in Toronto, Canada’s largest city. Healthcare workers in masks and white coats applauded after she was injected.
“Today really we turn a corner,” Dr. Kevin Smith, president and chief executive officer of the University Health Network, which runs the care home, said after the shot was administered. “I like to say that this is the shot that will be heard around the world.”
More than 60% of Canada’s 13,350 pandemic deaths overall have been in residences for the elderly, down from 80% in the first wave.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the first recipients will be workers in hospitals and nursing homes, the most vulnerable segment of the elderly, as well as those living on remote aboriginal reserves.
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