Public Health announces mass immunization clinic plans

February 18, 2021 · 0 Comments

Written By Paula Brown

Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Public Health (WDGPH) has announced a plan for mass COVID-19 immunization clinics for when new doses of the vaccine become available in the region.

WDG Public Health presented the plan for mass immunization clinics to Ontario’s COVID-19 Vaccine Distribution Task Force on Feb. 10.

The plan presented to the taskforce consists of three clinic structures for the vaccination program which include; Public Health led-hub clinics location at WDGPH offices in Guelph and Orangeville, and Centre Wellington Community Sportsplex; mobile clinics led by Public Health and supported by Guelph-Wellington and Dufferin County Paramedic Services and local Family Health Teams for rural and vulnerable communities; partner-led clinics headed by Guelph Family Health Team, University of Guelph and Linamar.

Public Health said the variety of immunization clinics could allow for as many as 10,000 vaccines to be administered daily in the region when the vaccine becomes available in that quantity.

“The mass vaccination against COVID-19 is one of the largest public health project our region has ever seen,” said Dr. Nicola Mercer, Medical Officer of Health and CEO of WDG Public Health. “It will take a true ‘all-hands-on-deck’ approach to make this plan a reality. I am grateful to our public, private, and healthcare partners for their major role in the vaccine plan. Without their support and commitment, vaccinations of this scale and scope would not be possible.”

Public Health says that once additional vaccines doses become available the program will be ready to execute and that they are committed to vaccinating at least 75% of the population aged 16 and over against the novel virus by August of this year.

At the time of print, Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Public Health, along with other public health unit regions across the province are waiting for new doses of the vaccine.