The recipients of the province’s first shipments of the AstraZeneca vaccine will be first responders and front-line essential workers, says Dr. Janice Fitzgerald.

According to her, that’s because they are “essential to societal functioning regardless of the presence of COVID.”

Vaccinations will begin as soon as the first shipments arrive in the province.

Meanwhile, Fitzgerald says Health Canada approval of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine will also help speed up vaccination rates in this province, although amounts and timelines have not yet been determined.