Aiming for 10,000 vaccinations a day: Waterloo Region vaccine implementation plan receives support for community-led strategy

Waterloo Region – The Waterloo Region Vaccine Distribution Task Force received provincial support for its community-wide response to administer vaccines. The plan will ensure that operations can ramp up as soon as vaccine is available while making sure that the vaccine is accessible to all eligible residents of Waterloo Region.

The plan follows the Ontario government’s three-phase approach and uses five types of clinics that provide flexibility to deliver the vaccine based on the unique needs of the community, including those most at-risk.

“General Hillier challenged us to develop a plan to provide up to 10,000 vaccinations a day in our community and this plan will deliver,” said Shirley Hilton, Deputy Chief for the Waterloo Regional Police Service and lead for the Waterloo Region Vaccine Distribution Task Force. “There is still a lot of work to do on logistics, staffing, and operational planning but I am very proud of the effort that has gone into developing a community- involved plan to ensure as many eligible people are vaccinated as quickly as possible.”

The five types of clinics will allow vaccinations to be administered in the following site types – while giving residents a choice in the option that works best for them within the provincial phases.

• Hospital clinics – Grand River Hospital clinic, vaccine depot and coach resource to other sites
• Mobile and on-site clinics at various locations – Mobile & on-site clinics run by various health providers or large employers / specific groups with public health support
• Two large public health clinics – large, high-volume sites staffed by Region, hospital, primary care, pharmacy staff and many others
• Eight or more mid-sized clinics – distributed larger primary care sites (Family Health Teams, Community Health Centres, Nurse Practitioner-Led Clinics) staffed by primary care, pharmacy and others
• Smaller sites – located at many primary care sites and retail pharmacies

More information on the five types of clinics can be found on our website. Details regarding clinics will be shared as they are developed, based on vaccine availability.

Members of the public are asked to continue following public health guidelines to help reduce the risk of the virus spreading in the community. More information on how you can protect yourself and others can be found on the Region of Waterloo Public Health website.

More information and regular updates on the work of the taskforce are available on the Region of Waterloo’s COVID-19 Vaccine Distribution Taskforce Webpage.

General Inquiries:

publichealth@regionofwaterloo.ca or 519-575-4400

www.regionofwaterloo.ca/covid19vaccine

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