3,000 shots a day: London health unit lays out ambitious vaccination plan
Plan will require mobile units, more recruitment and 3 new vaccination centres
The Middlesex-London Health Unit (MLHU) has unveiled an ambitious vaccination plan with an overriding goal to inoculate more than 3,000 people a day in the months to come by using new vaccination centres, mobile vaccination teams and a plan to recruit more vaccinators.
In total, MLHU aims to vaccinate 75 per cent of the eligible recipients in the area the health unit serves to bring under control the spread of the COVID-19 virus, which has killed more than 19,500 Canadians in less than a year, including 173 people locally.
The health unit will follow the province's plan for prioritizing population groups in a phased rollout.
Phase one:
- Residents of congregate living for seniors (5,200).
- Staff and essential caregivers of congregate living for seniors (10,400).
- Health care workers (22,000).
- Indigenous, Metis and Inuit adults (16 year or older ) living on and off reserve (7,300).
Phase two:
- Essential workers (78,510).
- Adults older than 75 (34,5444).
- Adults aged 60 to 74 (84,328).
- Other at-risk populations.
Phase three:
- Everyone else older that 16 years.
More vaccination centres planned.
The London vaccination centre at the Western Fair Agriplex opened just before Christmas and but had to close Jan. 20 for at least two weeks due to a reduction in expected deliveries of the Pfizer-BioNtech vaccine.
Even when operating full-tilt through, the London vaccination centre can only process about 1,000 people a day. To ramp up capacity, the health unit wants to set up three more mass vaccination sites by mid February. Each site has to meet a specific list of criteria, everything from adequate parking to a separate loading zone and the ability to have a one-way flow of people. Hours of each site will vary, but the goal is to have them operate seven days a week.
The staffing needs of each site is considerable, with each one requiring everything from security people, to IT specialists and pharmacists.
The report highlights the need to add staff to perform the injections with the health unit "actively pursuing additional vaccinators, including accessing recent MLHU retirees in both nursing and eligible non-nursing vaccinator categories."
The plan also calls for the use of mobile vaccination sites with the Middlesex-London Paramedic Service as a partner. The paramedics held mobile COVID-19 testing clinics in the fall in areas outside of London. The plan also includes vaccinations to happen at pharmacies in the plan's third stage.
"This highlights the tremendous potential and willingness of primary care to participate in the delivery of COVID-19 vaccine," the report says.
The plan also includes a communication strategy, including messages to address those sceptical about the safety of the vaccines and a social media campaign to inform the public about the progress of the rollout.