KITCHENER -- Details about how the COVID-19 vaccine will be distributed in Waterloo are expected to be discussed during a Public Health update on Friday.
This will come a day after the province announced a hospital in Toronto and one in Ottawa will begin administering the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine next week.
"It's a change to have a practice run, see what's complicating it, what goes well, and what doesn't go well," said Kelly Grinrod, an associate professor with the University of Waterloo's school of pharmacy.
The pharmaceutical expert also expects one of the three hospitals in the area to be a future vaccination site.
"As it begins to roll out, it will continue to be centralized within cities, and less and less travel in the months coming up [will be needed]," said Grinrod.
Ontario's mayors were told by the premier earlier this week that there will be 23 vaccine sites across the province.
"This is something that will take at least a year to roll out," said Guelph Mayor Cam Guthrie. "So we cannot let our guard down just because a vaccine is about to be rolled out."
Kitchener Mayor Berry Vrbanovic mentions that it's important for everyone to continue practicing public health measures in the months ahead.
"A lot of it will hinge on how well it goes in the major cities and what kinds of problems we've learned," said Grinrod. "That will talk to how fast to expand and another thing that is how much vaccine and when."
She adds that this information will likely be out in early January.
