With the hope that Ontario’s Ministry of Health will announce vaccine eligibility for children aged five to 11 and expanded third doses very shortly, Southwestern Public Health is making updates to its COVID-19 vaccine clinics.
Beginning the week of November 1st, appointments will once again be required at all public health mass immunization clinics. Effective November 8th, SWPH will no longer be administering vaccines at their office located at 1230 Talbot Street, and will return to the Memorial Arena’s Auditorium at 80 Wilson Avenue.
In addition, the team at SWPH will continue to announce new pop-up and mobile clinic locations and are planning to add evening and Saturday vaccination options for families once eligibility is expanded to children aged five to 11.
“We will be ready,” says Jaime Fletcher, the Program Manager leading the COVID-19 vaccine efforts in Elgin County, Oxford County, and City of St. Thomas. “We know what is needed to quickly respond to expanded eligibility, and we have the teams and logistics in place again to be ready to serve.”
No timelines have been shared with public health units for when third doses will become more widely available, or when children aged five to 11 will become eligible. However, on October 21, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Canada has procured enough vaccine from Pfizer-BioNTech for children once they do. This signaled an important step for health units to begin preparations.
To book an appointment click here, or call 226-289-3560 (9:00 am – 5:00 pm, Monday to Sunday) or 1-800-922-0096 ext. 9 (8:30am to 4:30pm, Monday to Friday).
