Hundreds of Montreal pharmacies ready to begin COVID vaccinations, but supply could be an issue

Que. pharmacists start giving COVID-19 shots Vaccinations keep picking up speed, with pharmacists now involved. The age limit dropped again Monday, with 60-year-olds now eligible.

MONTREAL — Quebec has seen record highs in daily COVID-19 vaccinations in recent days and the government is hoping to see those numbers rise higher once hundreds of pharmacies begin administering the shots starting Monday.

On Sunday, Nabil Chikh showed off the three vaccination stations in his Cote-des-Neiges Pharmaprix. Users register at the first, head upstairs and lineup for a waiting room, where they receive the Moderna vaccine. After receiving the jab, they wait 15 minutes to ensure no complications arise.

While shots won't begin until Monday, Chikhn said registrations have already been going quickly.

“The slots were open on March 15 and all were taken on the first day,” he said.

Across Montreal, around 350 pharmacies will be taking part in the vaccination program. Caroline Quach, a specialist in infection disease at Ste-Justine Hospital, said pharmacies will be more convenient than the mass vaccination sites that are currently in place.

“It's so much more accessible for people,” she said. “What we want now that we have doses available is to be inoculated as quickly as possible.”

Chikh estimated he can administer 100 doses per day. However, there is a snag: his current total supply of the vaccine is 100 doses.

“Within the next two weeks, if we don't have doses, we'll probably be psending more time mitigating expectations and explaining why we don't have doses than actual time spent vaccinating,” he said.

Quach said she would recommend getting the shot at a pharmacy to almost everyone.

“The only people I would recommend get vaccinated in a bigger space, where more people can intervene, is if you're known to be highly allergic,” she said.