Rigolet residents get COVID-19 vaccine as N.L. records no new cases
'We've been kind of stuck in our bubbles' so inoculations are eagerly anticipated, says AngajukKâk
Newfoundland and Labrador is reporting no new cases of coronavirus Tuesday, with more residents of the north coast of Labrador getting vaccinated.
The first residents in Rigolet were immunized Tuesday morning with the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine, following the first inoculations in Labrador's isolated northern communities in Makkovik on Monday.
The vaccine was a long time coming for Charlotte Wolfrey, the AngajukKâk, or mayor, of the town.
"I'm excited. I can't wait to get it," Wolfrey told CBC's Labrador Morning before the vaccine's scheduled arrival. "We've been kind of stuck in our bubbles here in Rigolet, so it's going to be good to get it."
Wolfrey confirmed, later in the day, that she and her husband, David Wolfrey, got their shots — administered by her daughter — without a hitch.
Although some people in the community are concerned about getting the vaccine, Wolfrey said, it will serve as a valuable piece of protection and is encouraging all residents to be vaccinated.
"There's a lot of questions, [but] I think a lot of them have been answered," she said.
"We still have to do all the safety precautions, of course, but before those were our only defence. But now we have that added protection that has been researched, and we've been notified that it's 95 per cent effective after the second dose. We have that comfort in knowing that our community has this additional protection."
The Department of Health also reported one new recovery on Tuesday, bringing the provincial total to 382.
There are four active cases, and there have been four COVID-19-related deaths since the pandemic hit Newfoundland and Labrador in March.
One person is in hospital.
With files from Labrador Morning