It will be several weeks — maybe a few months — before the public at large is able to receive the COVID-19 vaccine, and in the meantime, don't be tempted to buy ineffective and likely "downright dangerous" doses online, York Region's medical officer of health warns.
"We have to be careful about not buying vaccines online. Unfortunately, there are people who try to scam us and make money out of this. These vaccines are not only not going to be effective, they could be downright dangerous," Dr. Karim Kurji said in his video update today.
Report any such vaccines to Health Canada, he added.
He advises residents to discuss the vaccine with their health-care providers and "only trust those vaccines that York Region Public Health is putting out together with our federal and provincial partners."
Health-care workers and caregivers at long-term care and retirement and group homes are first in line for the vaccine, he said.
As the Moderna vaccine rolls out, long-term care residents will begin receiving the vaccine, Kurji said, before it's available to the public in priorities outlined by the Ministry of Health.
Meanwhile, as COVID-19 cases in the community remain high, residents must only ring in the new year with their immediate household members, Kurji said.
"It's through (large) social gatherings that COVID-19 tends to claim more victims and our numbers keep going up," he said.
A single member of another household may attend your household gathering, he added, as long as that person does not mingle with any other households.
