First health-care workers in Saskatoon vaccinated for COVID-19
Julia Peterson | CBC News | Posted: December 22, 2020 8:44 PM | Last Updated: December 22, 2020
More than 1,500 people in the province have been vaccinated so far
Three health-care workers in Saskatoon became the first to receive their COVID-19 vaccinations in the city on Tuesday.
It's the next part in the Saskatchewan Health Authority's plan, following a pilot program at hospitals in Regina. The SHA is vaccinating health-care workers with the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine.
Respiratory therapist Karen Schmid, registered nurse Kathy Pickerl and intensive care specialist Dr. Hassan Masri were among the first to receive their vaccine.
"I was absolutely thrilled when I was given the opportunity," Pickerl said of the jab. "It is just an early Christmas present.
"I can protect my myself, my friends, my family, my patients, my co-workers. It's just it's a tremendous opportunity for me to be immunized," she said.
"You never realize how much is going to impact you or your families until you actually work where I work in the ICU and see the devastating effects or something happens to someone close to you," she said. "So I'm I'm just hopeful that everybody will get their vaccines."
Dr. Masri wore a shirt with a large heart on the back with the word "vaccines" in the centre to get his immunization. He said he felt privileged, lucky and honoured to be a part of the historic Saskatoon day.
"This is a day that marks the beginning of the end of the battle that we have against COVID-19," Masri said. "It's certainly a historic day because of the fact that we really never thought that this day would come in December or in January and February, for that matter."
Masri said he hopes to spread a message with his outfit that vaccines are safe and today is a huge day for science.
"All of us, together with hope and science and vaccines, can get out of this with the least amount of tragedy. It's a great day."
The province said about 20 people were immunized Tuesday in Saskatoon. The SHA said 183 are set to be immunized on Wednesday and as many as 436 each day after that, with a break over the holidays.
A total of 1,519 people had been vaccinated in the province as of Dec. 21.