|
 The first dose broadcast on live TV went to Anita Quidangen. The
personal support worker at the Rekai Centre, a non-profit nursing
home for the elderly in Toronto, Canada's largest city, said she was
"excited" to have been first in line.
Healthcare workers in masks and white coats applauded after she was
injected.
"It's a great relief. Clearly, it may only be the beginning of the
end but we sense nevertheless that there will be an end to this
pandemic," said Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, making clear he would
not be pressing to have his shot immediately.
"We obviously have to give priority to the most vulnerable but the
second I have a chance - like all healthy adults - I will do so very
visibly and with enthusiasm," he told French-language broadcaster
Radio-Canada.
A second wave of the coronavirus is ripping across Canada, forcing
several provinces to clamp down again on businesses and limit social
gatherings. Canada has so far reported 460,743 cases, most of them
in Ontario - the most populous province - and Quebec.
"It's really good news for Canada. It's really good news for
Quebec," federal Health Minister Patty Hajdu said outside of the
Maimonides Geriatric Center in Montreal, which also began to
immunize patients on Monday.
Some 150 residents were set to receive shots at Maimonides on
Monday, and 50,000 people will be vaccinated in Quebec by Jan. 4,
Quebec's Health Minister Christian Dube said.
More than 60% of Canada's 13,431 pandemic deaths overall have been
in residences for the elderly, down from 80% in the first wave.
Canada's federal health authorities on Friday called for provinces
to impose more restrictions.
[to top of second column] |
 The United States also began
inoculations on Monday after the United Kingdom
kicked off its national effort last week.
The vaccine developed by German biotech BioNTech
SE and Pfizer Inc is given in two doses, three
weeks apart. Canada is expecting to receive
30,000 doses this week and 249,000 total by the
end of the year.
"It's an act of love to get vaccinated," said
resident Rabbi Ronnie Cahana, speaking by Zoom,
before receiving the shot. Cahana, who is a
quadriplegic, said he was overjoyed to hear the
vaccine was coming. "I was dancing up and down
the halls, and I can't even walk."
His daughter, Kitra Cahana, who recently
returned to Montreal from her home in the United
States so she could be present if her father
fell ill from COVID-19, said she hopes the
vaccine ends her family's constant worry for his
safety.
"I think it's hard to imagine the level of fear
and worry that surrounds these homes," she said.
 Maimonides resident Beverly Spanier said she
hoped being inoculated would restore some of the
freedoms lost during the pandemic.
"I'd like to see grandchildren able to visit
grandparents again," Spanier said.
(Additonal reporting by Steve Scherer and David
Ljunggren in Ottawa;Editing by Jonathan Oatis
and Bill Berkrot)
[© 2020 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
Copyright 2020 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content. |
