On Wednesday, February 10, WDG Public Health presented a robust plan for mass COVID-19 immunization clinics to Ontario’s COVID-19 Vaccine Distribution Task Force; the plan received a strong endorsement from the Task Force.
The program is ready to execute as soon as additional vaccine doses become available. This vaccination program is committed to vaccinating at least 75% of the population aged 16 years and over against COVID-19 by early August 2021.
“The mass vaccination against COVID-19 is one of the largest public health projects our region has ever seen,” said Dr. Nicola Mercer, Medical Officer of Health and CEO of WDG Public Health. “It will take a true ‘all-hands-on-deck’ approach to make this plan a reality. I am grateful to our public, private and healthcare partners for their major role in the vaccine plan. Without their support and commitment, vaccinations of this scale and scope would not be possible.”
Local mass vaccination will be achieved through a variety of immunization clinics allowing for as many as 10,000 vaccines to be administered daily in our region as soon as vaccine is available in that quantity. The three basic clinic structures for the program include:
- Public Health-led hub clinics located at WDG Public Health offices in Guelph and Orangeville, as well as the Centre Wellington Community Sportsplex.
- Public Health-led mobile clinics, supported by partners such as the Guelph-Wellington Paramedic Services, County of Dufferin Paramedic Services and local Family Health Teams, will administer vaccines to target rural communities and vulnerable populations.
- Partner-led clinics headed by the Guelph Family Health Team, University of Guelph and Linamar.
All public health-led and partner-led clinics will follow provincial direction and local decision making for vaccine prioritization.
WDGPH is continuing to work with local Family Health Teams around additional partnerships to increase immunization capacity in our community.
“The University of Guelph is proud to partner with Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Public Health and the Guelph Family Health team to provide a vaccination clinic on our campus,” said Dr. Charlotte Yates, President and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Guelph. “We look forward to working together to help ensure the health and safety of the University and the broader Guelph community.”
“The doctors and staff of the Guelph Family Health Team are pleased to collaborate with our community as we launch this important work,” said Ross Kirkconnell, Executive Director of the Guelph Family Health Team. “Our COVID-19 journey has been long and difficult. The opportunity to help everyone to get vaccinated is a critical step in helping all of us to move forward.”
“Linamar is honored to have the opportunity to establish a vaccination clinic on our site,” said Linda Hasenfratz, CEO, Linamar. “We have an enthusiastic team working hard with the WDG Public Health and other industry partners on the launch of the clinic and are proud to be serving this community so many of our people call home. We are in this together.”
For more information visit www.wdgpublichealth.ca/vaccine.
Media Contact
Danny Williamson
Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Public Health
1-800-265-7293 ext. 4376