Ottawa may not get the COVID-19 vaccine next week

Ottawa's senior officials don't know yet whether any of the earlier-than-expected Pfizer vaccines announced by the federal government on Monday are heading to the nation's capital.

Ontario is receiving 85,000 doses of the vaccine sometime in the next week or so, enough to inoculate 42,500 people, as the procedure requires two shots. Mayor Jim Watson said Tuesday he assumed Ottawa would receive its per-capita share, which would be enough for about 3,000 people.

But it's not at all clear that the province is planning to split up these very early doses on arepresentation-by-populationbasis.

"This is obviously still a moving target,"Ottawa's general manager of emergency and protective services, Anthony Di Monte, told reporters Wednesday evening."We haven't been given definitive answers exactly right now, but we expect that in the next few days."

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The Pfizer vaccine is challenging to store and distribute, as it must be kept in afreezer at temperatures between80 C and60 C, or in a thermal container at90 C to60 C. The federal government said the first shipment is going directly to 14 distribution centres across the county, but it's not yet known where those are.

Giventhe complexities surrounding the Pfizer vaccine, and the fact that Ottawa's COVID-19 rates are relatively manageable compared to hot spots in and around the Greater Toronto Area, Ottawa may not see any vaccines until the new year.

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But ifthey do arrive, the city is ready.

"The city is ready if we do receive vaccine next week to be able to start with our partners putting needles in our arms," said Di Monte, who is also part of the city's COVID-19 Vaccine Distribution Task Force.

"This is driven by the province. They're deciding which zones will get what and how much. So what we're doing is we're just being prepared to receive whatever they have."

Ontario is expected to receive 2.4 million doses of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines combined in the first three months of 2021.