By Carlos Osorio and Allison Lampert
TORONTO/MONTREAL (Reuters) - Canada kicked off its inoculation campaign against COVID-19 on Monday by injecting frontline healthcare workers, becoming just the third nation in the world to administer the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine.
The first dose went to Anita Quidangen, a personal support worker at the Rekai Centre, a non-profit nursing home for the elderly in Toronto, Canada's largest city, who pronounced herself "excited" to have been first in line.
Healthcare workers in masks and white coats applauded after she was injected.
"Today really we turn a corner," said Dr. Kevin Smith, president and chief executive of the University Health Network's Michener Institute, where the shot was administered.
"She worked tirelessly throughout the home's COVID-19 outbreak, oftentimes doing double shifts," according to a statement. Four other Rekai workers got their first jabs after Quidagen.
More than 60% of Canada's 13,431 pandemic deaths overall have been in residences for the elderly, down from 80% in the first wave.
A second wave of the coronavirus is ripping across Canada, forcing several provinces to clamp down again on businesses and limit social gatherings. Canada has so far reported 460,743 cases, most of them in Ontario - the most populous province - and Quebec.
Canada's federal health authorities on Friday called for provinces to impose more restrictions.
The United States began inoculations on Monday as the state of New York vaccinated its first healthcare worker after the United Kingdom kicked off its national effort last week.
The Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine is given in two doses, three weeks apart.
Quebec, the hardest hit of Canada's 10 provinces, is also expected to administer the vaccine developed by German biotech BioNTech SE and Pfizer Inc (NYSE:PFE) on Monday. Canada is expecting to receive 30,000 doses this week and 249,000 total by the end of the year.
Quebec is prioritizing residents and staff in two care homes. The Maimonides Geriatric Center in Montreal is aiming to begin vaccinations for close to 300 of the facility's 327 residents on Monday.
"It's an act of love to get vaccinated," said resident Rabbi Ronnie Cahana, speaking by Zoom, before receiving the shot. Cahana, who is a quadriplegic, said he was overjoyed to hear the vaccine was coming. "I was dancing up and down the halls, and I can't even walk."
His daughter, Kitra Cahana, who recently returned to Montreal from her home in the United States so she could be present if her father fell ill from COVID-19, said she hopes the vaccine ends her family's constant worry for his safety.
"I think it's hard to imagine the level of fear and worry that surrounds these homes," she said.
Maimonides resident Beverly Spanier said she hoped being inoculated would restore some of the freedoms lost during the pandemic.
"I'd like to see grandchildren able to visit grandparents again," Spanier said.