Vaccine roll-out still fastest in P.E.I.
Proportionally, Island ahead of other provinces; Nova Scotia has worst numbers
Proportionally, P.E.I.’s vaccine roll-out is still proceeding faster than all other provinces.
Based on number released Tuesday by the COVID-19 Canada Open Data Working Group, P.E.I. has administered a total of 4,226 doses of COVID-19 vaccines or 26.5 per 1,000 people. So far, this remains the highest per capita rate of all Canadian provinces and territories.
British Columbia, the province that has administered the second highest per capita number of vaccines, has vaccinated 12.1 people per 1,000. Alberta has vaccinated 11.8 people per 1,000.
In absolute terms, more people have received the COVID-19 vaccine in P.E.I. than in Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador, the two most populous provinces in Atlantic Canada. The Nova Scotia government has administered 3,831 doses of the vaccine while Newfoundland and Labrador has administered 3,760 doses of the vaccine.
New Brunswick has administered 7,732 doses of the vaccine.
So far, 70 per cent of the vaccines P.E.I. has received have made their way into the arms of Islanders. While the proportion of vaccines in arms (versus those remaining in freezers) is higher in P.E.I. compared to its counterparts in Atlantic Canada, other provinces have been quicker to distribute the vaccines they have received.
Alberta and B.C. have so far administered 87 per cent
of each of the vaccines they have received, while Quebec has administered 80 per cent.
P.E.I.’s Chief Public Health Office began its vaccine distribution in December, administering all doses received of the Pfizer vaccine to health-care workers, after having received a guarantee that a second shipment would arrive the following week.
However, as of January public health officials plan to hold back half the supply of vaccines received in order to ensure supply disruptions do not keep Islanders from receiving a second dose of vaccines.
Nova Scotia’s vaccination efforts appear to be the slowest in Canada. Only 28 per cent of vaccines the province has received have been administered; 3.91 residents per 1,000 have received the vaccine.
On Tuesday, Dr. Heather Morrison, P.E.I. chief public health officer, said health authorities plan to fully vaccinate residents and staff within all of the Island’s long-term care and community care homes by Feb. 16.
After vaccinations are completed in P.E.I.’s long-term care homes, the priority will shift to other congregate living facilities, including group homes, community residential facilities and shelters.
In February, the province will begin administering the vaccine to individuals over the age of 85, Indigenous adults, partners in care and rotational workers such as truck drivers.