With regional COVID-19 vaccine clinics closed, pharmacists hope to offer 3rd doses on Christmas Day

Mass vaccination clinics in Waterloo region, Guelph and Wellington County will be closed on Saturday for Christmas Day, but some pharmacists plan to be open and will give people their COVID-19 vaccine if they get the doses.

Mohamed Abdul Latif, owner of AlphaMed Pharmacy in Waterloo, has been giving COVID-19 booster shots to any eligible person that walks through his clinic's doors — holiday or not.

He plans to be open Christmas Day and while it's unclear if he will have vaccine doses, if he does have them, he'll be ready to put them into arms.

"We are overloaded during the COVID time," Latif said. "People are coming in because they are anxious that there will be no doses for them ... [It's] the easiest — in and out — for everybody."

Using this method, Latif says he's given 750 doses in a span of eight hours on Monday alone, the day eligible people aged 18 and over were able to book an appointment for the shot. He didn't leave the clinic until after 8:30 p.m. on Wednesday, an hour and a half after the clinic was supposed to close.

At any given time of the day, Latif says at least 90 to 110 people wait outside for their turn, which includes the drive-thru service he offers.

For the elderly and those that have disabilities, Latif would administer their shots in the car to save them the hassle of coming down themselves.

"We have the opportunity to give them the extra service," he said.

Turn to pharmacists, people advised

There has been a lot of demand for third doses of the vaccine in Waterloo region since eligibility was opened up to everyone aged 18 and older by the province.

The region's appointment booking system has been overwhelmed and appointments are fully booked into February. When the region advertised on social media that the mobile vaccine bus would be outside the Kitchener Public Library, hundreds of people lined up for the 60 doses the bus was able to provide in the hour and a half it was there.

Dr. Hsiu-Li Wang, the region's medical officer of health, has told people to seek out other ways of getting the vaccine, including from pharmacists.

The regional clinics are only closed on Christmas Day and will be operating on Christmas Eve, Boxing Day, New Year's Eve and New Year's Day.

'We're doing our best'

Armed with multiple volunteers that help him screen patients and check vaccination certificates, and two doctors that administer the doses, Latif says as long as the supply gets in later this week, there will be walk-ins on Christmas Day.

"Everybody's closed — I'm trying to be a little bit different, or providing a different way of service for our customers," Latif said.

"I prefer to open limited hours instead of being closed like others so we give people some freedom during the holiday season to have some access."

Latif says no matter how difficult things have gotten, he's appreciative of the support from the community.

"We're doing our best, with everybody here, to give them as much [support] as we can," Latif said. "Some people are [appreciative], some people are not, but [that's not in the] majority. All the good support and all the good feedback keeps us going."

Other pharmacies are also listed on the Waterloo-Wellington Healthline website as being open on Saturday including, but not limited to: Fairway River Pharmacy in Kitchener, Shoppers Drug Mart at Conestoga Mall in Waterloo, Shoppers Drug Mart on Hespeler Road in Cambridge and Shoppers Drug Mart on Eramosa Road in Guelph.

Most pharmacies require appointments for COVID-19 vaccines. People can call ahead to check about vaccine availability and to confirm hours.