THUNDER BAY – The owner of Dawson Heights Pharmacy says he expects to have a shipment of Pfizer vaccine to start handing out by late next week.
Pharmacist Vinay Kapoor hasn’t had a supply of vaccines in two weeks, after the AstraZeneca shipments were halted to Thunder Bay and instead sent to hot spot areas to help cut down soaring COVID-19 case numbers.
“We’re not sure of an exact date of availability, so just monitor the website. Once the vaccine comes into the store we’ll make those spots available, probably starting late next week or the following week,” Kapoor said.
His store administered about 700 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine during its first round in the provincial pharmacy program, in a little less than a week.
Kapoor said he’s already started fielding calls from concerned members of the public who received a first dose of AstraZeneca, which on Tuesday the province decided to pause for first doses after data showed rare blood clots associated with the vaccine weren’t as rare as first thought.
Eight cases of blood clots in those having received and AstraZeneca vaccination have been reported.
The decision to get the AstraZeneca vaccine at the time was the right one, said Kapoor, whose pharmacy is one of four in Thunder Bay given the OK to give out COVID-19 vaccines.
“Even now, the risk is relatively low. Where we are right now is just to wait and see what the government says about the second doses. It may be AstraZeneca because the risk of blood clots on the second dose is significantly less than the first dose,” he said.
The province is waiting on federal studies trying to determine whether or not it might be safe for mix doses and have either Pfizer or Moderna shots for the required second vaccination.
Dr. Janet DeMille, medical officer of health for the Thunder Bay District Health Unit, said those who received AstraZeneca as their first vaccine dose shouldn’t worry too much about it.
Answers will be available soon, she said.
“It is an effective vaccine and I’m glad that they did get it. I do understand why it has been put on pause at the present time. There is a lot of discussion happening regarding a second dose. That could be with another vaccine and I think we will have more guidance on that shortly,” DeMille said.
She added she expects a ramped up supply of vaccines to start arriving in the city soon, as the province continues to lower the age range eligible for vaccinations. This week grocery store and restaurant workers joined those 40 and older in the vaccine queue, the latter opening up for eligibility on Thursday morning.
“We are especially excited that Pfizer vaccine that we get on a weekly basis we will experience increased shipments in the next couple of weeks, especially the beginning of June. We are also getting some Moderna coming our way and that’s really helpful,” DeMille said.
“We have gone a couple weeks where we had lower supply and we saw our numbers drop. But our numbers will be up this week and we hope to maintain that higher level in the coming weeks or months. “
