KITCHENER -- Waterloo region's deputy police chief will lead the region's COVID-19 vaccination distribution, the region announced on Friday morning.

According to a news release, deputy Chief Shirley Hilton will lead a task force to ensure "an efficient, equitable plan is in place for delivery of the immunization program."

"We continue to see COVID-19 circulate throughout our community and the creation of this task force is a major milestone in the fight against the virus," said Regional Chair Karen Redman in the release.

Public health officials have not said when they expect to receive doses of the vaccine locally, but Chief Administrative Officer Bruce Lauckner said the region has been told to get ready. He said the region is now working in terms of days and weeks, rather than months and years.

Lauckner said during a media briefing on Friday that they could receive "a small amount potentially as early as the end of December," but that those doses would be limited and reserved for a very targeted, vulnerable population.

Medical Officer of Health Dr. Hsiu-Li Wang said that the number of doses available in the first quarter of 2021 will be "very limited", while Redman added that the vaccine won't be available for the general public until at least the summer or fall of 2021.

"It will not be like switching a switch," she said. "There are still public measures to abide by."

The Ontario government announced Thursday that two hospitals would begin administering the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine starting next week.

Ret. Gen. Rick Hillier, who was named to lead the province’s own vaccine distribution task force, said Ontario would get 6,000 doses on Monday. Toronto and Ottawa will get 3,000 each.

“The vaccinations are going to be rolled out in a coordinated fashion, so the teams now are working with the long-term care homes whose health care workers will be getting vaccinated first,” Hillier said at a news conference on Thursday.

Altogether, there are 14 people on Waterloo Region's task force, including regional officials, doctors and medical professionals, police, fire and paramedic services, and hospital staff.

The full list is as follows:

  • Karen Redman, Regional Chair
  • Bruce Lauckner, Region of Waterloo CAO
  • Deputy Chief Shirley Hilton, WRPS
  • Dr. Hsiu-Li Wang, Region of Waterloo Medical Officer of Health
  • Dr. Sharon Bal, Primary Care Physician Lead
  • Inspector Jennifer Davis, WRPS
  • Nicolaas Jonkman, Emergency Planning and Business Continuity Advisor, WRPS
  • Richard Hepditch, Waterloo Fire Chief
  • Karen Quigley-Hobbs, Director Infectious Disease, Sexual Health and Harm Reduction, Public Health
  • Douglas Bartholomew-Saunders, Commissioner Community Services, Region of Waterloo
  • Stephen VanValkenburg, Chief, Paramedic Services
  • Ron Gagnon, President and CEO Grand River Hospital
  • Karyn Lumsden, Vice President, Home and Community Care, Waterloo Wellington LHIN
  • Vickie Murray, Director of Pharmacy of GRH and St Mary’s

Hillier said during Thursday's news conference that Ontario could get 90,000 doses of the Pfizer vaccine by the end of December. If that happens, he said the doses will be distributed among 13 hospitals across the province.

Vaccines will be administered to one of the three hospitals in Waterloo Region, but the specific location has not yet been made public.

The province is also expected to get “anywhere from 35,000 to 85,000 doses” of the Moderna vaccine by the end of this month, Hillier said, pending its approval by Health Canada.

With reporting from CTV Kitchener's Nicole Lampa.