MONTREAL—Seven residents of a Montreal long-term care centre who received a first dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine have contracted COVID-19.
Management at the Maimonides Geriatric Centre informed patients in a notice sent Tuesday, noting that residents were infected within the first 28 days of receiving their first of two vaccine doses.
Quebec has decided to delay administering second doses to patients and has instead chosen to give a first dose to as many people as possible.
Last week, a dozen Maimonides residents sued the province to obtain a second dose within 21 days of their first dose—the time frame set by the vaccine manufacturer.
News of the COVID-19 infections at Maimonides doesn’t surprise Dr. Donald Vinh, microbiologist and infectious disease specialist at the McGill University Health Center.
He says it takes up to 14 days between a vaccination and the time when the body builds enough immunity to be protected against the novel coronavirus.
