More doses of Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine arrive on P.E.I.

P.E.I. has begun to receive "regular" shipments of the Pfizer BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, a government official says.

On Monday, a resident of a Charlottetown long-term care home was the first person other than a health care worker to receive the vaccine on Prince Edward Island.

The shot was among 170 due to be administered at Whisperwood Villa from a shipment of 975 doses that arrived in the past day or two.

It is not part of the initial shipment of 1,950 doses received in December; nor is it part of the second shipment of 1,950 doses destined to be given to the same recipients as the first dose, a provincial government official told CBC News.

The latest 975 doses are "part of what is now a regular shipment of the vaccine that the province is receiving from the manufacturer," the official said in an email. No information was given about how often the "regular" shipments will arrive.

The official also said new guidelines on the Pfizer vaccine allow containers to be transported around the province, and into long-term care homes.

When Health Canada approved the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine in early December, officials warned that the product had to be stored at under –60 C in order to retain its effectiveness. That would limit its use to facilities with heavy-duty industrial-strength freezers, health staff said at the time.

Because of the guideline change, the province now intends to use a combination of both Pfizer and Moderna vaccines on health-care workers and in facilities like Whisperwood. 

Chief Public Health Officer Dr. Heather Morrison is expected to give more details about P.E.I. vaccine rollout plans in her regularly scheduled weekly briefing Tuesday.

Reminder about symptoms

The symptoms of COVID-19 can include:

• Fever.
• Cough or worsening of a previous cough.
• Possible loss of taste and/or smell.
• Sore throat.
• New or worsening fatigue.
• Headache.
• Shortness of breath.
• Runny nose.

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