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The limited supply of Pfizer doses originated in Germany, flying from Belgium to Louisville, Kentucky, and then entering Canada in Port Hope and taking a final plane ride to Windsor. Ontario Provincial Police and Windsor police officers escorted the vaccines from the airport to the SportsPlex.
Before the province notified WRH it had been chosen to receive some of Ontario’s first immunizations, the hospital procured enough $25,000 freezers to store 1.2 million Pfizer doses, as well as -25 C freezers to hold 560,000 doses of the Moderna vaccine, which has not yet been approved by Health Canada.
The SportsPlex even had to pass a security inspection performed by the OPP, Musyj said. More security cameras were installed and Windsor police agreed to maintain a presence at the site 24/7.
Once the vaccines arrived, they couldn’t be used until Pfizer determined remotely that the doses had been stored at a consistent temperature throughout its journey. Musyj said that process involves pushing a button on each box that submits data back to Pfizer, which then performs a check and sends WRH back the go-ahead if the doses are still useable.
On top of all of that, scheduling LCH and retirement home staff to visit the SportsPlex for the vaccine has been a challenge on its own.
“What complicates it right now is it’s only homes not in outbreak,” Musyj said. “So for about a week or 10 days, we’ve been working with the homes, setting up a schedule for their staff to come in. But literally, they would set a date, and then they’re calling and saying now they’re in outbreak so they have to cancel … it’s heart-wrenching.”
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