The Premier says the province is preparing to receive its share when a COVID-19 vaccine is found.
Stephen McNeil says it’s up to the provincial healthcare system to handle the details of getting people vaccinated.
Speaking to reporters after Thursday’s cabinet meeting, McNeil said they are getting ready to conduct vaccinations.
“We’re not waiting for the federal government,” he said. “The very things that we can control as a government, and as a province, are well on their way, and my voice will join many of the national premiers who believe the federal government should lay out the criteria of who and when people would receive that.”
McNeil said they are looking to get appropriate freezers, syringes, swabs, and other supplies needed to deliver the vaccine.
He said, in the meantime, there needs to be a national vaccine strategy to direct their efforts.
“It’d be my advice to the national government to lay out who gets the vaccine first, what are the categories that would be there,” he said. “That should be rolled out nationally.”
He said that is a federal responsibility, so the province will know how and where to deploy the vaccine as soon as it becomes available.
