The county will also participate in a test tour this week with the federal government, Dalhousie University, and the vaccine manufacturer
HALIFAX – Nova Scotia will receive a 1950 dose of a COVID-19 vaccine from Pfizer for a preliminary test next week.
In an emailed statement, Health Department spokeswoman Marla McKinness said the county will also participate in a test run this week with the federal government, Dalhousie University and the vaccine manufacturer.
The exercise is shipping, delivery, tracking, and storage testing but will not include the actual vaccine.
The idea, MacInnis says, is to prepare the county in advance for the initial allocations next week.
She says much of the vaccine planning is still in the early stages of development, and the department encourages Nova Scotians to continue adhering to public health protocols.
Last week, Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Robert Strange said that so far, Nova Scotia has one ultra-low temperature fridge to store the vaccine at the Tertiary Care Teaching Hospital complex in Halifax.
Strang said the freezer has been validated and cleared and is ready to accept the initial shipment of the vaccine from the federal government.
He said the county was also getting another county through Ottawa that would operate from a central vaccine depot in the Halifax Public Health Bureau.
Prime Minister Stephen McNeill also said the county has identified other freezers in the private sector and is in the process of purchasing them.
This report was first published by The Canadian Press on December 8, 2020.
The Canadian Press
