On top of the 3900 doses of Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine set to arrive in Alberta this week, an additional 25,350 doses will be arriving next week.

Health Minister Tyler Shandro made the announcement on Monday afternoon and provided some details on the distribution of the first shipments.

As per Pfizer's recommendations, vaccines are to be administered at their delivery sites, with the recipients composed of physicians, respiratory therapists, long-term care workers, and other healthcare workers.

Shandro says those aren't the only vaccines headed our way by the end of the year.

"We're also expecting to receive the Moderna vaccine later in December. Now, I can't give firm numbers yet because we don't have them yet from the federal government, and in fact, this vaccine has not yet been approved by Health Canada, but we expect to receive a significant number of doses in December."

Eight locations will house the ultra-cold freezers required to store the Pfizer doses, with staff being trained on how to properly maintain the units.

Since those freezer units will not be required for the Moderna vaccines, the provincial government plans to distribute them to long-term care locations, providing they are approved.

Further shipments received in early 2021 are to be administered to "Phase 1 priority populations" which include residents in long-term care, seniors over the age of 75, and First Nations peoples on reserves and settlements over the age of 65.

Phase 2 will be provided to the next group of prioritized populations (which is yet to be determined,) with phase 3 to follow later in the year.

To view the conference, click here.

 

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