Health-care worker receives first B.C. COVID-19 vaccine

A health-care worker in the Lower Mainland was the first person in B.C. to get the new Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine. Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry was there to witness the monumental event.

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VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) — A health-care worker in the Lower Mainland became the first person in B.C. to receive a COVID-19 vaccine.

Nisha Yunus, a 64-year-old residential care aide, was given the dose, marking a major milestone in the ongoing fight against the coronavirus.

RELATED: First doses of COVID-19 vaccine arrive in B.C.

Immunizations of Pfizer’s vaccine got underway just after 1 p.m. Tuesday afternoon.

“It just brings a spark of light and joy, and it’s so exciting,” Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry said.

About 100 health-care workers were expected to be vaccinated throughout the day, she added.

“This is a turning point for all of us, and I said before, we’re in the storm and this is a light at the end of that tunnel we have a ways to go yet,” Henry said.

The first shipments of the vaccine went to locations in the Vancouver Coastal and Fraser Health regions, though more specific details were not provided.

Nisha Yunus and Dr. Bonnie Henry bump elbows after Yunus, a residential care aide, became the first person in B.C. to get the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine.

Nisha Yunus and Dr. Bonnie Henry bump elbows after Yunus, a residential care aide, became the first person in B.C. to get the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine. (CityNews)

Henry called it momentous to start rolling out vaccines in B.C., and she has explained that as more vaccines become available, more people in B.C. will be able to be immunized.

While those working in health-care will be the first to get the shot, Henry said the vaccine will be available in all of the province’s health authorities by next week.

Ontario and Quebec delivered their first shots Monday to health-care workers after Canada received the initial shipments the day before.

Canada will be receiving 168,000 doses of Moderna by the end of December. The deliveries are contingent on Health Canada approval of the drug, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said. Once approval is given, vaccine doses are expected to be delivered within 48 hours.

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