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Health Unit: Mobile vax clinics reaching people across district

'The use of the mobile vaccine clinic has allowed us to reach people in locations that we wouldn’t have been able to before'
BayToday Staff
20210827 vaccine bus 1(1)
The North Bay Parry Sound District Health Unit's mobile vaccine clinics are delivered from a retrofitted transit bus.Chris Dawson/BayToday

The North Bay Parry Sound District Health Unit says its mobile vaccine clinics have been a success.

Since the start of the COVID-19 vaccine rollout, the Health Unit's goal has been to ensure the COVID-19 vaccine is available to all eligible individuals in the district. This has required a variety of strategies to reach different populations within the district, including the mobile vaccine clinics offered from a retrofitted transit bus.

Between September 4 and October 4, the mobile vaccine clinic administered 1,984 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, including 848 first doses, 1,080 second doses and 66 third doses to those eligible.

“The use of the mobile vaccine clinic has allowed us to reach people in locations that we wouldn’t have been able to before,” explains Andrea McLellan, Director of COVID-19 Immunization Strategy. “We have been able to meet people where they are at, literally, including smaller municipalities and outside locations where people tend to visit regularly, such as grocery stores.”

See related: North Bay–Parry Sound's COVID-19 vaccination rates rank near bottom-third in Ontario

As of Wednesday afternoon, 85 per cent of residents 12 years of age and older have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and 79 per cent of residents 12 years of age and older are fully vaccinated. To reach the provincial target of 90 per cent of eligible individuals to be fully vaccinated, the Health Unit’s district needs 5,746 people who have not been vaccinated to be fully vaccinated and 6,698 people who already have their first dose to get their second dose.

Those who have questions about the COVID-19 vaccine can call the Health Unit’s call centre at 1-844-478-1400 or book a phone call with a physician through VaxFacts. Parents who have questions about the COVID-19 vaccine for their child can speak to a pediatric nurse through SickKids. The vaccine is still only available for children born in 2009 or earlier.

Individuals who wish to receive their COVID-19 vaccine can visit myhealthunit.ca/GetVaccinated for up-to-date information on where the mobile clinic will be. Appointments are currently not required to attend vaccine clinics, and both Pfizer and Moderna are offered at all clinics.