B.C.'s first Moderna COVID-19 vaccines could arrive as early as Tuesday

VANCOUVER -- B.C. provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry says the province could receive its first Moderna COVID-19 vaccines as early as Tuesday.

In an interview with CTV News Vancouver, Dr. Henry said she’s hopeful they will arrive on Tuesday, Dec. 29, and that the first doses will be directed to remote First Nations communities and long term care residents.

“We have directed some of the first of our Moderna vaccine to our more remote and isolated First Nations communities and some of the residents in long term care,” she said on Sunday, ahead of the vaccines arriving. 

“We’re hopeful that as early as Tuesday we’ll see the vaccine arrive and taken out to those communities,” Dr. Henry said.

The Moderna vaccine is easier to handle and transport than the Pfizer vaccine, which B.C. has already begun distributing and administering.

The new Moderna vaccine needs to be stored at -20 C to be kept stable, while the Pfizer vaccine needs to be kept between -60 C and -80 C until injection. As such, provincial health officials promised last week that they would prioritize remote communities for the Moderna vaccine.

Dr. Henry shared her hopes of the Tuesday vaccine arrival with CTV News after word broke that the province had recorded its first case of the extra-contagious U.K. variant of COVID-19.

Due to the new more contagious strain now identified in B.C., Dr. Henry said this is a critical time, but that with the vaccines on their way, the end is in sight.

“It is so important that all of us keep doing what we’re doing because there is an end in sight and we know that the vaccine is going to protect those who are most likely to have severe illness,” she said.

“It is a really critical time right now and I just want to encourage everybody to just keep doing what we’re doing and that’s the best way we can protect those we’re closest to in our community,” she added.

Before Christmas, Major General Dany Fortin, who is overseeing the rollout logistics for the federal government, said Canada’s three northern territories would begin receiving their doses on Monday, Dec. 28.

With files from CTV News Vancouver's Nafeesa Karim and Alissa Thibault