COVID-19 Vaccination Clinic Update

Northwestern Health Unit (NWHU) and local partners are making progress on vaccinating residents with the COVID-19 vaccine. Nearly 20,000 shots have been given in our area, which means 32% of people aged 18+ in our region have been given at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. This statistic is on par with Ontario as a whole.

“I am proud of our residents, staff, and volunteers for making our clinics successful thus far. We are still in the early stages of our vaccine roll-out, but we are doing everything we can to get as many people vaccinated as efficiently as possible,” says Dr. Kit Young Hoon, Medical Officer of Health at NWHU. “We received vaccine much later than some areas in the province, but I am pleased to see that we’ve caught up to the province in terms of percentage of shots given,” continues Dr. Young Hoon.

To ensure efficiency and to provide vaccine to as many people as possible, NWHU will be offering COVID-19 vaccination clinics in some of our region’s very small communities to people aged 18 and older over the next several weeks. Information on booking an appointment at these clinics has been sent directly to residents and staff who work in the eligible municipalities and townships. Communities were chosen based on location, population, and the number of NWHU resources required to offer ongoing clinics. All names of people booked into these clinics will be reviewed by local staff to confirm that they are residents or employees of the community. For more information on these clinics, please call 1-866-468-2240.

“A COVID-19 vaccine clinic requires many staff and resources to operate. By offering a one or two-day clinic open to all adults in these small communities, we are able to free up future resources to enhance our vaccination efforts in our larger communities,” explains Dr. Young Hoon. “Clinics in our larger communities will only be slightly impacted by this process and within a few weeks, we hope that the number of shots given at those clinics will be able to increase by up to 50% in the large communities, pending vaccine allotment,” says Dr. Young Hoon.

For more information on booking a vaccine appointment for residents of other communities in the NWHU region, please visit www.nwhu.on.ca/covid19.

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Media contact:
Dr. Kit Young Hoon
Medical Officer of Health
Northwestern Health Unit
jbegg@nwhu.on.ca