The province has announced that the region will be receiving AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines that will be available at five pharmacy locations in the District.
They include: Northern Shores Pharmacy on Maplewood Avenue in North Bay, Walmart Pharmacy at the Northgate Shopping Centre in North Bay, Loblaw's Pharmacy on Highway 17 in Sturgeon Falls, Shoppers Drug Mart on Bowes Street in Parry Sound and Pollard IDA Pharmacy on Seguin Street in Parry Sound.
The announcement came from the Premier's office this morning which indicated that 380 pharmacies across the province will be receiving vaccines as part of Phase Two of the vaccination process.
During Thursday's weekly North Bay Parry Sound District Health Unit press conference, the Health Unit did not have a specific timeline as to when that would start here at those locations.
"I think we are very close," stated Andrea McLelllan, Director COVID-19 Immunization Strategy at the North Bay Parry Sound District Health Unit.
"I don't have a specific date but the province is ready to start looking to allocate pharmacies and primary care so I anticipate that will be within the next few weeks."
The Health Unit estimates it has given out 16,682 vaccinations in the region as of Wednesday afternoon. All of those doses have been from Pfizer.
McLellan added that they continue with help from the municipalities to advocate for more vaccines for the region.
She says they will follow all the rules set out for using AstraZeneca here.
"In the event we are provided with a supply of AstraZeneca, we will use it in accordance with the recommendations of the ministry of health, the national advisory committee on immunization, and Health Canada's recommendations," she said.
The AstraZeneca vaccine has been under scrutiny in Canada recently as the government has deemed the vaccine unsafe for anyone under 55 years of age.
