After nearly two years of operation and a half-million doses administered, Southwestern Public Health will close its COVID-19 mass vaccination clinics this month.
The health unit that serves Elgin and Oxford counties announced its vaccination clinics in Tillsonburg, Woodstock, and St. Thomas would be shuttered on Feb. 17.
Since the first two clinics opened in March 2021, the health unit has administered more than 480,000 doses to roughly 209,000 people. The clinics were vaccinating around 2,500 people daily at their peak.
With demand for the COVID-19 vaccine slowing in recent months, the health unit’s vaccine preventable diseases team will take on the task of administering doses during its regular operations, public health officials said.
“It has taken hundreds of staff, dozens of volunteers, and the commitment of innumerable partners to stand these clinics up and keep them operating for nearly two years,” Jaime Fletcher, the program manager who headed the opening of the clinics, said in a statement.
“Moreover, thousands of community members championed the benefits of vaccination, shared our information on social media, provided rides to those needing them, and encouraged friends and families to get vaccinated,” she said.
“This milestone is shared by all of you.”
Elgin and Oxford county residents can still receive a COVID-19 vaccination after the clinics close on Feb. 17 but must do so online at ontario.ca/book-vaccine/.
The health unit is encouraging those who are more than six months out from their last dose to visit 1230 Talbot St. in St. Thomas or 410 Buller St. in Woodstock between 9 am and noon and 1–4 pm from Monday through Friday until the clinics are closed.
BY THE NUMBERS
- 209,114 people vaccinated by Southwestern Public Health clinics
- 484,560 doses were administered in total
- 82.6 per cent of Oxford and Elgin county residents received at least two COVID-19 vaccine doses
- 60.1 per cent of those aged 60 and above received at least four doses