With warmer weather on the horizon and COVID’s sixth-wave peak in the rearview mirror, the region’s public health officials are tweaking its vaccination operations in preparation of a quieter summer.
In the weeks ahead, Southwestern public health’s vaccination sites in St. Thomas and Woodstock will be open fewer days a week as the focus shifts to more pop-ups and mobile clinics in the Oxford and Elgin counties region.
Starting Monday, June 6, the St. Thomas clinic at 1230 Talbot St. will be reducing its hours to 9 am to noon and 1 pm to 4 pm on Mondays and Fridays. In Woodstock, the vaccination clinic will be moving from Goff Hall to the city’s South Gate Center on that same Monday. The Woodstock clinic will only be open on Mondays from 9 am to noon and from 1 pm to 4 pm
“Last year, we vaccinated thousands of people through mobile and pop-up clinics,” said Jaime Fletcher, the chief nursing officers and COVID-19 vaccine rollout manager for Southwestern public health. in a release. “We know how important mobile services are in a largely rural area.”
These pop-up and GO-Vaxx bus clinics will be held at familiar and accessible sites in the St. Thomas and the two counties that will allow for recurring visits, particularly in more rural areas. The public health agency hosts an updated list of scheduled clinics at its website at www.swpublichealth.ca/covid19vaccine.
Residents looking for other vaccination options are urged to call a local pharmacy or their primary health-care provider about availability.
“We want to recognize the site operators, and municipal and county partners, who assisted us with highly accessible sites across the region to date,” Fletcher said. “Each community centre, library, arena, shelter and special event venue helped us reach more than 82 per cent of eligible residents with these vaccines.
“We are grateful for the support.”
As of May 11, 88.4 per cent of area residents 12 and older had received one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine while 87.3 per cent had been administered two doses. For residents five and older, the local vaccination coverage rates dropped to 84.6 per cent with one dose and 82.2 per cent with two.