Vaccine rollout clinic opens at Loyalist College

COVID-19 vaccine clinics began at Loyalist College Monday for Phase 1 Immediate Priority groups.

The appointment are filled primarily with long term care and high-risk retirement home staff and essential caregivers.

Hastings Prince Edward Public Health notes the college will serve as a primary vaccination clinic site for the duration of the COVID-19 vaccine roll-out and will have a capacity to provide 1,000 vaccinations per day, dependent on vaccine supply.

“We are very grateful for the incredible support of Loyalist College for providing access to the space required to ensure vaccine can be accessed throughout the region,” said Dr. Oglaza, Medical Officer of Health and CEO at HPEPH. “Ongoing collaboration with community partners has been, and continues to be, critical to the success of our COVID-19 response.”

HPEPH, along with five other public health units, is piloting Ontario’s Vaccine Booking System by offering an invitation to book vaccination appointments to a small group of eligible individuals.

The pilot, which began on March 1 and continues for two weeks, has an aim to test and refine components of the Provincial Vaccine Booking System to help ensure success when it is launched province-wide on March 15. HPEPH’s participation in the pilot not only benefits the provincial launch, but also gives public health the opportunity to refine internal processes before it becomes widely available.

Dr. Oglaza reminded the board that the pilot is only for a small group of eligible individuals who have been contacted directly by HPEPH.

Oglaza reminds the community it will take time for COVID-19 vaccines to be distributed to everyone. HPEPH is working with partners to secure a second site in Belleville, as well as sites in Picton, Trenton, Marmora, Madoc and Bancroft.

“We are confident the vaccine shipments to this area are going to be much more regular and therefore vaccine roll out will be ramping up significantly over the next few weeks. We are expecting to receive approximately 7,000 doses of vaccine by the middle of March,” HPEPH stated in its recent update.

“Each group will be specifically identified and notified in advance to plan for vaccination. Information will be posted to the HPEPH website, social media, shared with local media, and distributed through health care and community partners.”

To learn more about the COVID-19 vaccine roll out, visit https://hpepublichealth.ca/covid-19-vaccines/