A local man who fell through the vaccination cracks even after qualifying for Phase 1 of the vaccine rollout, got his first COVID-19 vaccine late Thursday afternoon.
"We received a phone call from Nipissing District Paramedics around 3:45 p.m. Thursday afternoon offering us a Moderna dose for Tyler," said Greg Richardson, Tyler's father.
See related: North Bay family forced to take high risk son to Sudbury to get vaccinated
The news came as a huge relief for Greg and his wife Cathy.
"It was explained to us that they had an extra dose available and that they had tried calling people on their list but were not able to get a hold of them. It was a time-sensitive matter so they offered it to Tyler. By 5 p.m. Tyler received his vaccine!! We are so grateful to the Nipissing District Paramedics for thinking of Tyler and helping jump-start his antibodies."
Tyler Richardson has cerebral palsy and also has a lung disorder.
The Richardson's came forward with their 22-year-old son's story earlier this week after following numerous steps through the process over the past two months.
After not getting many answers, the family decided to try and get his vaccination booked outside the region in Sudbury and were successful with getting Tyler's shot scheduled for April 23 in Sudbury.
Greg Richardson believes his son is not the only person in this situation locally.
"We will continue advocating for people like Tyler who have been skipped over by our HU and hope that they step up and do what is right and complete Phase 1," said Richardson.
