When are the vaccines coming? Some essential workers wonder when they'll get their shot

As Newfoundland and Labrador's vaccination plan rolls out, bolstered by added time between doses and the arrival of the AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine, some essential workers in the province are still wondering when they'll get vaccinated.

Raelene Cull, a produce manager at a Dominion grocery store in St. John's, says she hasn't been given any indication of when she and her co-workers might be vaccinated.

"Assuming by the way the list is going, we will be in Phase 2, but considering where they put us, we don't know if we're on that list or not," she said.

"They haven't actually [come]out and said that, so who do they consider front-line workers?"

Cull said when they might get vaccinated has been a topic of discussion among her co-workers.

"People are wondering and asking, 'Did you hear anything, are we the ones in [Phase] 2?'" she said.

"People are curious, for sure."

Timeline should speed up

In the province's vaccination plan, the final section of Phase 2 includes "front-line essential workers who have direct contact with the public and cannot workfrom home during Alert Level 5," with vaccines rolling out from April to June.

The decision to leave as much as four months between shots and additional supply from AstraZenecacould speed up that timeline, however.

During Friday's provincial COVID-19 briefing, Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Janice Fitzgerald said the first shipment of the AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine is expected to arrive in the province next week, much of which will go to first responders.

While there's no clearly defined list of who will be included yet, Fitzgerald said future shipments of the vaccine will be designated for front-line essential workers.

"As we move through and we get more AstraZeneca, then we'll be offering it to those who, essentially, have to go to work, the people who had to go to work through Alert Level 5 and be in contact with the public," she said.

Fitzgerald said at a previous briefing that more information will be made available as time goes on and the vaccine rollout continues.

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Cull said she'd be happy to get the vaccine when she gets the opportunity, but it still leaves her with some concern for the rest of her family.

"It'd be great for me, but like I was told, you can still be a carrier, so my other family that is not considered essential workers, am I bringing it home to them?" she said.

"Just because you're vaccinated, you get the shot, that doesn't mean your family's protected and you're going home to them every single day."

Health Minister John Haggie and Fitzgerald have said they don't know yet whether someone with the virus can pass it on. That's why people who are vaccinated still need to wear masks and distance themselves from one another.

Some early research has suggested, however, that it might be harder for someone to spread the virus if they get infected after getting the shot.

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