A successful first week of COVID-19 vaccinations is wrapping up at a hockey-hub clinic in Point Edward thanks to an outpouring of community support.
Lambton Public Health Supervisor of Health Promotion Anita Trusler said in less than five days, the Point Edward Arena was transformed from a skating rink into a mass vaccination clinic.
"So the team's adapted extremely well. We don't have the vaccine supply yet and we're vaccinating our senior population, so we're gradually scaling it up," said Trusler. "The feedback that we've received so far from people who've experienced walking through the hockey hub clinic have been really positive -- they said it's well organized, there's a lot of staff support. So we're excited, we just can't wait to get our community vaccinated."
On Friday, media and local dignitaries were given a tour of the facility before it opened.
Trusler showed-off the site's high efficiency vaccination pods, which she said will help them eventually complete upwards of 2,500 shots per day.
"I think the biggest challenge would really be safe traffic flow and sufficient parking to be able to accommodate that many people from coming and going from the clinic, but with the pods and the model that we have, we're saying our maximum output would be about 2,500."
On Thursday, the clinic vaccinated over 600 people.
Trusler said in total, it takes someone probably 25 minutes from the time that they park their car, to the time that they come and get vaccinated and leave.
"So we have four rows of 15 pods for a total of 60 high-efficiency for anyone who is low risk for vaccination. So they're going to come into the clinic, they're going to get screened and make sure all of their medical information is complete and ready to go. They're going to come sit in a pod, and in that pod, it has a little timer and a chair, and that's where you wait for your vaccination."
Trusler said typically within a couple minutes of someone sitting down, an immunization team will arrive.
The clinic brings together staff from the health unit, Lambton EMS, and Bluewater Health.
Immunizations are ongoing for individuals who are 75+ years of age and older (or who are turning 75 this year) along with one in-home caregiver who resides in the same household.
Vaccinations are available by appointment only to eligible individuals at the fixed-site clinics in Point Edward, Forest and Wyoming. To learn more about COVID-19 vaccines, visit GetTheVaccine.ca.
Lambton Public Health said that as of Thursday, March 25, 17,925 first doses have been administered, 15 per cent of the total eligible population.
For more information about the clinic, click here.
