Work is now underway on the city’s public COVID-19 vaccination clinic to be housed at Memorial Arena. Council last night (Monday) approved the request by Southwestern Public Health. The health unit wanted access right away in anticipation of vaccine availability by mid-March and they will turn it back to the city on Sept. 1, depending on vaccine supply.
St. Thomas Elgin General Hospital donated an ultra-low-temperature freezer to store the vaccine and the hope is to begin public vaccinations for healthcare workers in provincially-prioritized groups, individuals over 80 years of age and and Indigenous adults who are 55 years of age and older.
City manager Wendell Graves noted the arena offers easy access, good parking and the ability to quickly vaccinate the greatest number of people. He suggested the arena could operate up to 10 hours per day, seven days a week.
Graves cautioned, “While this location will be established principally for the residents of St. Thomas and the greater Elgin county area, it should be noted, and in a larger provincial strategy, as public health units across the province establish and open vaccination sites, the individual sites may be made available to all Ontario residents without regard for their local address.
“For example, residents from London may be able to book online for vaccination in St. Thomas and vice versa. This system has not been totally confirmed at this point.”
That is already the case as healthcare workers here get vaccinated at the Agriplex at Western Fair.
As for the financial side of the agreement between the health unit and the city, Graves advised “the city will be able to track costs associated with the provision of the vaccination site and submit them to SWPH.
“For its part, SWPH will then undertake its best efforts to recover 100 per cent of the costs from the province. It is anticipated the city will in fact be able to recover its costs.”
