First shipment of COVID-19 vaccines arrive at Horizon’s Miramichi Regional Hospital December 16, 2020 (MIRAMICHI) – Yesterday morning was a historic moment for health care in New Brunswick – and for Horizon. At approximately 7:15 a.m., a UPS truck carrying a parcel with 1,950 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine left Moncton bound for Miramichi with an unmarked police vehicle following. They arrived at Horizon’s Miramichi Regional Hospital (MRH) shortly after 9 a.m., where Service New Brunswick staff accepted the parcel from the UPS staff and delivered it to be safely stored at MRH. From there, the vaccine was moved to a special freezer where a temperature of -80 Celsius is maintained. The vaccines were enveloped in dry ice to ensure the safe and proper temperature was maintained for the duration of its journey from where it was manufactured in Belgium, to where it’s now being safely stored in Miramichi. Instrumentation on the packaging has ensured the vaccine temperature has remained the safe temperature. Prior to today, staff at MRH involved in receiving and storing this important shipment were trained on the proper handling and storing of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, and followed the required procedures outlined by the manufacturer to ensure the vaccine is ready to be administered to New Brunswickers in the days to come. Please view some of the photos of this historic event below.