MONTREAL (Reuters) – Residents of a long-term care home in Canada who received some of the first COVID-19 vaccine shots administered in the country have threatened to seek a court order if they do not get a second look. praise in the coming days.
Residents of the Maimonides Geriatric Center in Montreal said they got their first glimpse of the Pfizer Inc vaccine on Dec. 14 and planned to receive a second dose on Jan. 3, but are still waiting, according to a report Wednesday.
“Our clients have agreed to receive the vaccine on condition that they receive both doses from Pfizer,” lawyer Julius Gray said in a letter sent to the Quebec government Tuesday.
If the second dose is not given within three days, the letter states that it will seek a court order to compel the delivery of health officials. Gray was hired by a family advocacy group comprising 39 of Maimonides ’more than 300 residents.
A spokesman for Quebec Health Minister Christian Dubé declined to comment. Maimonides had no immediate comment.
The case underlines the difficulties facing Canada in distributing vaccines. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Tuesday that the entire country was overwhelmed by the slowness of human immunization areas and vowed that Ottawa would help speed up the pace of inoculations.
Pfizer and German partner BioNTech SE say the vaccine requires two doses, the second three weeks after the first.
THE SECOND WAVE
Going against a lively second wave, the French-dominated Quebec region decided at the end of December to give its doses instead of postponing the second sight.
Ottawa has purchased nearly half a million doses of vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna Inc and another 1.2 million is expected by the end of January. It is responsible for the 10 administrative areas.
The majority of Canada’s COVID-19 deaths have been in former care homes, with more than 60 Maimonides residents dying.
The Western district of British Columbia has also said it would administer all available doses and delay second sightings. Opposing a more contagious variable, Britain is doing the same.
British Columbia said the second Pfizer bullet could arrive as much as 35 days after the first. Quebec has not said how long the gap could be.
Canadian Chief Health Officer Theresa Tam said Tuesday that it is important that everyone gets a second look, but admits that some flexibility may be needed.
“It’s up to vaccine management and making changes against restricted supply,” Tam said.
Later Wednesday, Quebec is expected to announce more health restrictions, close unnecessary activities in the manufacturing and construction sectors, and impose a curfew, Radio-Canada has reported.
Quebec reported 2,641 new coronavirus cases Wednesday, and 47 deaths. Quebec has so far recorded 215,358 cases, about a third of the total nationwide.
Report by Allison Lampert, further report by Allison Martell, written by Steve Scherer; edited by Emelia Sithole-Matarise