Thunder Bay to get extra doses of Moderna COVID-19 vaccine

Thunder Bay won't be a pilot site for the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine, but the city will get extra doses of the Moderna vaccine, the city's mayor said Friday.

Bill Mauro made the statement after a meeting with Ontario Health Minister Christine Elliott's chief of staff, Heather Watt.

In the statement, the city said Mauro "brought forward his concerns related to Thunder Bay not being chosen as a pilot site for the distribution of the AstraZeneca vaccine to people aged 60 to 64."

The AstraZeneca vaccine is being distributed at pharmacies and primary care facilities in three Ontario public health unit regions as a pilot project.

Mauro said he was told on Friday's meeting that the sites for the pilot were chosen because they were able to quickly administer the vaccine, the current batch of which expires on April 2.

Mauro said that due to the small number of AstraZeneca doses available, "the Ministry of Health doesn't see this particular batch of the vaccine as valuable in stemming a surge like Thunder Bay is seeing."

However, Watt told Mauro the city will be considered for future doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine as they become available.

In the meantime, the city is scheduled to receive more doses of the Moderna vaccine, over and above the regular population-based allotment, next week.

"This was reassuring as we are in a difficult situation, and we continue to struggle to reduce the number of daily active COVID-19 cases," Mauro said in the statement.

The Thunder Bay District Health Unit confirmed 82 new cases of COVID-19 as well as the first confirmed variant in the Thunder Bay district on Friday.