Hello to our Community Members & Clients,

We know you have many questions about the COVID-19 vaccines as did we.

As of January 2021, here is what we know:

1. Health Canada has approved the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna COVID-19 vaccine for use in Canada. Health Canada is the organization responsible for making sure that vaccines and other products are safe and effective before being released for Canadians. It has a world-class review system and no steps were skipped in the process of developing, testing, approving, and producing the vaccines.

2. The vaccines work. A 95% efficacy level, as seen with the Pfizer vaccine, and 94.1% efficacy level, as seen with the Moderna vaccine, is as good as the results of the best vaccines we have for any disease. In the randomized trial of the Pfizer vaccine, people who were vaccinated for the COVID-19 virus were about 20 times less likely to get sick with COVID-19 than those who were not vaccinated.

3. The vaccines are safe. The vaccines approved so far seem to be very safe. Over 70,000 people were involved in the trials of the already approved Pfizer vaccine and Moderna vaccine. The mRNA technology on which the vaccine is built started in the early 1990s, so this science is not new to us. Millions have now been vaccinated around the world. Health Canada is continuing to monitor the data as more people worldwide are vaccinated.

The vaccines are going to be available to more Canadians in the first few months of 2021. The priority will be those working or living in long-term care homes or retirement homes, health care workers, and First Nations communities.

More information about Vaccine Availability and Rollout (MOH, January 6, 2021) can be found in this hyperlink. We will get the vaccine when it is our turn and we will be sure to let you know when you have the opportunity to get your vaccine.

You can read more about the vaccines here . There is a lot of false information out there. Please remember, if you have any concerns at all about the vaccine, please reach out to us or schedule a time to discuss.

Sincerely,

Quest Community Health Centre