SWPH ramping up mobile COVID-19 vaccine efforts
Southwestern Public Health’s COVID-19 vaccination team is hitting the road! As a result, the large clinics in St. Thomas and Woodstock will adjust their hours of operation to accommodate a renewed focus on pop-up clinics across the region.
The health unit is confident timing is right for a more mobile strategy to encourage higher vaccine rates, particularly for people seeking booster doses and children aged 5-11.
“We have had a decline in appointments and walk-ins at our mass immunization clinics, and the weather is not favourable for travel. This is a good time to get back out to smaller communities to make getting a booster or child vaccination easier,” says Jaime Fletcher, Chief Nursing Officer and Manager of the COVID-19 vaccination effort in the region.
Since December 2020, Southwestern Public Health delivered more than 308,000 COVID-19 vaccines, with 36,680 administered outside of the health unit’s three mass immunization clinics in St. Thomas, Woodstock, and Tillsonburg.
"Our role at public health is to deliver services in a way that meets local needs. A lot of people in this region want to be vaccinated in a mobile or pop-up clinic, and we are ready to serve these individuals again,” says Fletcher.
Beginning March 1, the St. Thomas Memorial Auditorium and Woodstock Goff Hall locations will be closed on Tuesdays and Thursdays to accommodate staffing at pop-up clinics. The full list of pop-up clinics is updated regularly at www.swpublichealth.ca/covid19vaccine#popup. Walk-ins are welcome.