Double dosed: Canada’s Prime Minister Trudeau receives Moderna COVID-19 vaccine for second shot
By Rachel Aiello
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OTTAWA (CTV Network) — In 14 days, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will have the protection that comes with being fully vaccinated against COVID-19, after receiving his second dose on Friday.
After rolling up his sleeve for a first dose of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine on April 23, Trudeau returned to the same Rexall pharmacy and received a Moderna shot for his second dose this morning.
Speaking with the pharmacist who administered the vaccine, the prime minister said he was once again “very excited” to be there, noting that his wife Sophie Gregoire Trudeau received her second dose on Thursday.
Trudeau said he experienced a “tough night of slight chills and fevers” after his first dose of the viral vector AstraZeneca vaccine, adding jokingly that it was “how I knew it worked.”
The pharmacist then seemed to caution he may be in for a similar experience Friday evening, to which Trudeau responded that his wife did have a “bit of a tough night’s sleep,” after her second shot.
The Public Health Agency of Canada has said that it considers people to be fully vaccinated 14 days after their second dose.
In June, the National Advisory Committee on Immunization recommended that people who received a first dose of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine receive a second dose of an mRNA vaccine, either Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna.
Last week, NDP leader Jagmeet Singh and his wife received their second COVID-19 doses in Ottawa. Like the prime minister, Singh received the AstraZeneca vaccine for his first dose and Moderna for his second dose. Singh’s wife also received Moderna for her second shot, after a first dose of Pfizer.
The federal government continues to say that Canada is on track to exceed its target of fully vaccinating all eligible Canadians by the end of September, with a cumulative total of 68 million doses arriving by the end of July.
So far, nearly 77 per cent of eligible Canadians have received their first dose, and nearly 35 per cent of the eligible population has been fully vaccinated.
The prime minister will hold a media availability later Friday, after touring an Ottawa mass vaccination clinic alongside Mayor Jim Watson.
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Phil Hahnphil.hahn@bellmedia.ca416 508 6396
