Local pharmacies run out of COVID-19 vaccines

Vaccine shortage at local pharmacies From CTV Kitchener's Stephanie Villella: Local pharmacies have been forced to cancel vaccination appointments due to supply shortages.

KITCHENER — Several pharmacies in Waterloo Region have run out of AstraZeneca vaccines, and there is no timeline of when they will receive the next shipment.

Patty Vamvakitis, a pharmacist at Carriage Crossing Pharmacy, said she used her last doses on Wednesday morning.

"There were a few appointments that sadly had to be cancelled," Vamvakitis said.

She said she is now waiting for the next order of the AstraZeneca vaccine, but does not know when that will be.

"We are eagerly awaiting more and we hope to get those vaccines in as soon as possible."

Scott McDonell, a pharmacist at Williamsburg Remedy'sRX, ran out of vaccines on Thursday.

"We have about 2,885 people on our waitlist currently, with no vaccine in site," McDonell said.

He said he was supposed to receive a shipment of vaccines last week, but it was cancelled. His fridges now sit empty.

"I feel for patients who really want to get the vaccine and we just can't help them at this moment," he said. "We were flush with vaccines a couple weeks ago but now we're down to zero."

The problem is due to Canada not getting any more shipments of AstraZeneca. The last time the country received the vaccine was on April 4 from the allocation in United States and on April 11 from the COVAX initiative. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he is in talks with the U.S to share its AstraZeneca stockpile.

Both McDonell and Vamvakitis said once more doses do arrive, they will be ready to hit the ground running.