The provincial government has identified the priority groups for the COVID vaccine based on a three-phase plan in consultation with the National Advisory Committee on Immunization.

Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Janice Fitzgerald says there are restrictions around the distribution of the first allotment of the Pfizer vaccine which must be stored at temperatures of -70 degrees.

Once thawed, it has a limited shelf-life and is not transportable, which means it must be administered at the central distribution site located at the Health Sciences Centre.

She says health care workers will be the first to get the vaccine.

They will include staff at COVID-19 testing and assessment clinics, emergency departments, labour and delivery, those in COVID-19 immunization programs and who work in COVID-19 units.

Read the article on VOCM here.