Maimonides Geriatric Centre resident Mendy Fellig is disappointed.

After being one of the first people in Quebec to receive the Pfizer vaccine three weeks ago, Maimonides residents were supposed to get their second dose of the Pfizer BioNtech vaccine this week.

But officials are now asking them to wait.

“I wish they would have told us earlier. It would’ve made a difference. I plan my other medication (for multiple sclerosis) around the COVID vaccine,” said Fellig.

Fellig no longer knows when he will get his second shot.

The province has decided it’s going to redirect those second doses and any vaccine they get in the next few weeks to as many people as possible.

“This decision was made following a recommendation formulated by the Quebec Immunization Committee at the Institut national de santé publique du Québec,” a statement issued by the province’s health ministry read.

“According to this recommendation, it’s no longer necessary to keep the second dose in reserve.”

Priority will go to people who work in long-term care centres in the CIUSSS West-Central.

The remaining doses will be evenly distributed among that same local health authority, the MUHC and St. Justine hospitals.

“In these three institutions, including our own CIUSSS, priority for first doses will go to members of staff who come into contact with COVID-19 patients in hot zones, Intensive Care, operating rooms, dialysis clinics and similar locations,” said Dr. Lawrence Rosenberg President and CEO CIUSSS West-Central in a statement.

The decision was taken as the number of daily cases in Quebec is on a rapid rise.

On Monday alone, the province recorded 2,546 new cases.