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First vaccine was administered at 8 a.m. on Tuesday, December 15, 2020 to Jo-Anne Miner, Personal Support Worker

OTTAWA – December 15, 2020 – As one of the two sites in the province, The Ottawa Hospital began administering the first doses of the COVID-19 vaccine this morning. At 8 a.m., Jo-Anne Miner was the first person to receive the COVID-19 vaccine in Ottawa. Jo-Anne is a Personal Support Worker at St. Patrick’s Home in Ottawa, and is the first of 100 people to receive the vaccine today in our city.

In the coming days, The Ottawa Hospital will administer 3,000 doses of the vaccine to 1,500 people who are staff at long-term care facilities throughout the city. The vaccine site is located at the Civic Campus.

“I’m proud to be a part of this day, and excited to be receiving the vaccine,” said Jo-Anne Miner, Personal Support Worker, St. Patrick’s Home. “This is going to help create a safe space for me and my colleagues, as well as the residents who live in St. Patrick’s Home. It has been a challenging year for so many people living and working in long-term care, and this is an important step towards us being able to keep everyone in our homes and throughout the community safe.”

After Health Canada approved the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine, and all the necessary trials were completed, Ontario moved to rollout the vaccine to those at highest risk. Beginning today (December 15) COVID-19 vaccines are administered at The Ottawa Hospital, as well as UHN, to health-care workers who are providing care in long-term care homes and other high-risk settings. The Ottawa Hospital is working closely with Ottawa Public Health, long-term care homes in the area, and other regional health partners to facilitate logistics of getting LTC staff to the vaccination site safely.

“Today is a monumental day in our efforts to stop the spread of COVID-19, and protect the community,” said Joanne Read, Executive Vice-President & Chief Planning and Development Officer, The Ottawa Hospital. “Our hospital is delighted to be part of this unprecedented effort. Now that we have a safe and approved vaccine, we can start the process of protecting the most vulnerable people from COVID-19.”

This rollout is meant to test the logistics in two different regions of the province and determine how to best distribute the vaccine. The Ottawa Hospital has the equipment necessary to safely store the Pfizer vaccine at -70^oC and the staff to handle the vaccination roll-out. This vaccine cannot be transferred beyond the initial delivery location at this time.

The decision to vaccinate health-care workers who work in Long-Term Care homes first follows the Province of Ontario’s roll out plan to vaccinate residents across the province. This includes the decision on who should get the vaccine first, based on who is most vulnerable and where the greatest risks are.

Although the news of a vaccine is extremely positive, it is critical that we all continue to follow public health advice to help keep everyone safe and stop the spread of COVID-19. Up-to-date information can be found on the following webpage Ontario.ca/COVIDVaccine.

Photo/Video

Media can access photos and videos of the event here (more will be added throughout the day).

Media Contact

Michaela Schreiter

The Ottawa Hospital

mschreiter@toh.ca

About The Ottawa Hospital

The Ottawa Hospital is one of Canada’s top learning and research hospitals, where excellent care is inspired by research and driven by compassion. As the third-largest employer in Ottawa, our support staff, researchers, nurses, physicians, and volunteers never stop seeking solutions to the most complex health-care challenges.

Our multi-campus hospital, affiliated with the University of Ottawa, attracts some of the most influential scientific minds from around the world. Our focus on learning and research leads to new techniques and discoveries that are adopted globally to improve patient care.

We are the Regional Trauma Centre for eastern Ontario and have been accredited with Exemplary Standing for health-care delivery — the highest rating from Accreditation Canada. We are also home to world-leading research programs focused on cancer therapeutics, neuroscience, regenerative medicine, chronic disease, and practice-changing research.

Backed by generous support from the community, we are committed to providing the world-class, compassionate care we would want for our loved ones.

For more information about The Ottawa Hospital, visit OttawaHospital.on.ca.