Here is the vaccination plan for Newfoundland and Labrador
Phase 1 included essential healthcare workers and long-term care residents
The vaccination plan for people in Newfoundland and Labrador is now public, outlining who will get the two-shot inoculations in Phase 2 and Phase 3.
The new information comes on the same day that Health Canada approved the use of AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine, with Canada having secured access to 20 million doses.
That will give Canadians a third COVID-19 vaccination option. Pfizer-BioNtech and Moderna vaccines are already being used.
Phase 2 groups
People in Phase 2 can be expected to be vaccinated between April and June. This phase of the plan includes:
- Adults 70 years of age and older, starting with those 80 years and older.
- Adults who identify as First Nations, Inuit or Métis.
- Staff, residents, and essential visitors at congregate living settings (shelters, group homes, transition houses, correctional facilities, and children or youth residential settings).
- Adults 60 to 69 years of age.
- Adults in marginalized populations where infection could have disproportionate consequences (e.g. people experiencing homelessness or with precarious housing arrangements).
- First responders (including career and volunteer firefighters, police officers, border services, and search and rescue crew).
- Front-line health-care workers who were not immunized in Phase 1 and who may come into direct contact with patients (includes private health-care workers).
- People ages 16 to 59 who are clinically extremely vulnerable.
- People who are required to regularly travel in and out of the province for work, including truck drivers and rotational workers.
- Front-line essential workers who have direct contact with the public and cannot work from home under Alert Level 5.
At Friday's media briefing, Dr. Janice Fitzgerald indicated that teachers fall into the last category.
When asked why rotational workers were included, Fitzgerald said since people in that line of work travel, having them vaccinated against the virus was a good way to lower the risk for both individuals and the community.
Phase 3 groups
People in Phase 3 can be expected to be vaccinated between July to September 2021. This phase includes:
- Anyone in priority groups remaining from phases 1 or 2.
- Adults 16-59 years of age, starting with those 55 years of age and older, and then decreasing in age limit by five-year increments.
Timelines for phases 2 and 3
The timelines for rollout in each phase depends on how much of the vaccine N.L. actually receives and whether it's on time.
There will be several ways people in phases 2 and 3 can get a vaccine, including public vaccination clinics, mobile clinics for smaller communities, and from doctors and pharmacists.
There is a new pre-registration system launching to help with the rollout and is available for people 70 and older, and in mid-March for the remaining people in Phase 2 priority groups.
People who are eligible to pre-register can call 1-833-668-3930 or visit the province's COVID-19 online portal.
It will not be first come, first served, says Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Janice Fitzgerald. People in Phase 2 need to pre-register by last name: people with last names starting with A through F can pre-register from now through Sunday; G through L from Monday to Wednesday; and M through Z from March 4 to March 7.
None of the vaccines have been approved for anyone under 16. Fitzgerald said studies are ongoing, and more information is likely to become available.
Who decides who makes the cut?
The province's approach to who gets the vaccine is guided by several groups, according to the health department.
Those groups include: scientists and researchers, the National Advisory Committee on Immunization, Dr. Fitzgerald, and the Provincial Health Ethics Network of Newfoundland and Labrador.
"If we could vaccinate everyone today, we would," Fitzgerald said during Friday's regular COVID-19 briefing, encouraging everyone able to get the vaccine to do so.
The vaccine requires two doses, and each of those shots have to be the same vaccine. For example, someone shouldn't get a shot of the AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine and then the Moderna vaccine.
As for deciding who gets the shot first, the report on the government's vaccination plan "aims to strike a balance between protecting the most vulnerable, while maintaining capacity to respond to incidents that pose significant risk to public safety."
Who's been vaccinated so far
Earlier this week, Fitzgerald said the vaccine delays that have plagued the country are largely now resolved and "behind us."
Phase 2 and Phase 3 vaccine plans have been up in the air since doses first arrived in the province in December.
By Friday, Health Minister John Haggie said health authorities will have delivered a vaccine to every eligible long-term care resident in Newfoundland and Labrador.
He said the regions are forging ahead with Phase 1 vaccinations, with all essential health-care workers expected to be completed by March 5.
Haggie said the next group to get the shots — people over age 85 in the Central and Western regions, and over 75 in Labrador-Grenfell — can begin registering for the vaccine in the first week of March.