• Arrive 10 minutes prior to your appointment to allow sufficient time to fill out pre-vaccination and consent forms.
• The Pharmacy will have signs indicating where you can check-in for your appointment.
• Have your provincial health card ready.
• Wear a mask at all times.
• Wear suitable clothing so that your upper arm is easily accessible for the injection.
• Plan for a 15-minute wait at the pharmacy after your injection. This is to make sure that you do not have a reaction to the vaccine. Side effects of getting the COVID-19 vaccine are relatively mild and similar to what you might experience with other vaccines. However, as with all vaccines, the pharmacy team will be monitoring you if you do experience a serious side effect.

• Vaccination should be deferred in symptomatic individuals with confirmed or suspected SARS-CoV-2 infection, those with an acute illness, or those with symptoms of COVID-19 in order to avoid attributing any complications resulting from infection with SARS-CoV-2 or other illnesses to vaccine- related adverse events and to minimize the risk of COVID-19 transmission at an immunization clinic. It would be prudent to wait for all symptoms of an acute illness to completely resolve before receiving vaccine.
• Individuals who have been advised to self-isolate due to suspected or confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection or due to close contact with a COVID-19 positive case should not attend a vaccine clinic and should wait to get their vaccine until their isolation period is over.
• Individuals who have recently (within the past 14 days) received another a vaccine
• Individuals who intend to receive a vaccine within 4 weeks of receiving the COVID-19 vaccine.

– Anyone who receives a COVID-19 vaccine should wait 28 days after completing their COVID-19 vaccine series before receiving another vaccine (except in the case when another vaccine is required for post- exposure prophylaxis).

• Please check the link for Astra Zeneca Vaccine Aftercare

  https://www2.gnb.ca/content/dam/gnb/Departments/eco-bce/Promo/covid-19/AstraZaneca-aftercare.pdf

• Health Canada is recommending vaccination for everyone in the approved age groups that do not have contraindications to the vaccine. For people who have previously had COVID-19, vaccination is still recommended since we don’t know how long immunity lasts, and you could get infected again and become sick. 

The new COVID-19 vaccine will not give you COVID-19. This vaccine is not made of the live virus that causes COVID-19, instead it is made up of messenger RNA (mRNA). The goal of this vaccine is to teach your body to recognize and fight the virus by giving the instructions (mRNA) to make a harmless protein of the virus. After the protein is made, the cell breaks down the instructions (mRNA) and gets rid of them. Your immune system then recognizes the protein since it doesn’t typically belong there. This triggers your body to make antibodies, which will protect you from being infected with the real COVID-19 virus if it were to enter your body in the future.

Yes, all vaccines approved by Health Canada are safe and effective.  

The main side effects seen were injection site pain, fatigue, headache, muscle pain, chills, joint pain and fever. These side effects were usually mild or moderate, and went away within a few days, similar to what you might experience with other vaccines.

After someone is infected with COVID-19 and has recovered, they may have some protection from getting COVID-19 again. However, at this time, scientists do not know how long this natural immunity lasts. Early evidence suggests natural immunity from COVID-19 may not last long, but more research is needed to better understand this.

Because the health risks associated with COVID-19 infection can be severe, and the fact that re-infection with COVID-19 is possible, you may be advised to get the COVID-19 vaccine even if you’ve had COVID-19 before. If there is a limited supply of the vaccine, those who have already tested positive may have their COVID-19 vaccination delayed. Talk to your health care professional if you’re not sure whether you need the vaccine.

The vaccine only takes a few minutes to administer, however you should expect to be at the pharmacy longer as you may need to complete administrative forms. You will also be asked to wait 15 minutes in-store to monitor for any reactions to the vaccine.

Yes, you will receive an immunization record at the pharmacy after each dose. Please keep the record in a safe place when you receive it after your first dose, and bring it with you when you come back to the pharmacy for your second dose.

If you need to reschedule or cancel an appointment, please call the pharmacy as soon as possible, a pharmacy team member will help you.