Rural Vaccination Clinics In The Planning Stages

Jeff Green | Feb 24, 2021

Rural Vaccination clinics in the planning stages.

While all of the details have not been worked, including the exact locations of the clinics, COVID-19 vaccinations will likely commence at roving weekly clinics in Northbrook, Sharbot Lake, and probably at the Free Methodist Church in Harrowsmith, starting in April.

Kingston Frontenac Lennox and Addington Public Health (KFLAPH) announced last week that daily vaccination clinics are being set up at the Invista Centre in Kingston and the Strathcona Centre in Napanee.

The team that will be running the Napanee clinic is organising a crew that will travel to the rural communities one day a week to run satellite clinics for up to 12 hours, with the capacity to immunize as many as 800 people in that time.

“Like many things related to COVID, it is a bit of a moving target” said Dr. Sabra Gibbons of the Verona Medical Centre. “The details are still being worked out, but targeting for a start in April, it will be one week in Northbrook/Denbigh, one week in Sharbot Lake, and for the other week my medical centre in Verona is partnering with the Sydenham Medical Centre for a clinic that we might locate at the Harrowsmith Free Methodist Church, which is where a very successful flu shot clinic was located in the fall.”

Even though the local medical centres and Family Health Teams are playing a role in organising vaccination clinics, they are not going to be part of either the booking of appointments, or delivering vaccines.

KFLAPH is receiving the vaccine and handling the requirements for maintaining it at the prescribed temperature and making sure all the doses that come into the region end up being injected into the arms of people who are eligible to receive it.

The vaccination clinics will be different from flu shot clinics in another way. Vaccinations are not being administered on a first come, first served basis. An online and telephone booking system, which is not yet up and running, will be used for booking appointments.

Ontario residents will be able to book an appointment at any vaccination clinic in the province, but a vetting process will be in place to ensure that they are part of one of the groups deemed eligible, at different stages in the vaccine roll out.

The first group who will be eligible will be people over 80, as well as other vulnerable groups and health care workers. Patients and staff in long term care facilities have already been vaccinated and patients in other congregate settings, such as retirement homes, are also being vaccinated by traveling teams.

The Lakelands Family Health Team in Northbrook/Denbigh, the Sharbot Lake Family Health Team, and the Sydenham and Verona Medical Centres are all being asked by KFLAPH to recruit volunteers to help with some of the non-medical aspects of running the satellite clinics. The local townships, and service clubs, may also play a role in recruiting helpers.

The satellite clinics in Northbrook, Sharbot Lake, and Harrowsmith will begin the second vaccination for those who got their first shot, during the second three-week cycle of satellite clinics, likely in late April and early May. They will then repeat the same six-week cycle and will continue to operate until the entire population is eligible for vaccination, which could run through the summer into September, if federal estimates that all Canadians will be given the opportunity to be vaccinated by the end of the summer, prove to be accurate.

Dr. Gibbons said that she does not know what the plan is for people who are unable to travel to a vaccination clinic.

“I have patients who do not drive, but none that I would say are truly homebound. If I did, I would not be able to vaccinate them because I have no vaccine. I’m not sure what would happen in those cases.”

Gale Chevalier, the Chief of Frontenac Paramedic Services (FPS), said she has been contacted by KFLAPH about the potential for Paramedics to vaccinate homebound residents in Kingston and Frontenac County. FPS has played a role in COVID testing, both at the testing centres in Kingston, and at patient homes when people were unable to travel to the centres, and FPS is prepared to help with the vaccination program in a similar way.

“Keeping the vaccine at the prescribed temperature is something we will need to ensure,” said Chevalier.

Getting the booking system in place will be essential. It needs to be accessible online and by telephone as well.

“We are in the early stages of getting the satellite clinics organised,” said Dr.Gibbons “and the online booking system is not up and running yet. It will be a key part of the roll-out.

Now that the vaccines are starting to be delivered, the focus will shift from the federal responsibility to procure and deliver vaccines to the provinces, to the ability of the Province of Ontario to provide an opportunity for its most vulnerable residents to book an appointment for a vaccine. Public Health will then be responsible for making the vaccine available, and supporting local providers, to make sure everyone in their community is given the opportunity to get vaccinated.

On Tuesday, at a meeting of Central Frontenac Council,  Mayor Frances Smith indicated that the satellite or pop up vaccination clinic in Sharbot Lake is likely to be held at the District 3 Fire Hall on Road 38 and Wagner Road, south of the hamlet.

This morning, the Province of Ontario announced that the vaccination booking system will be up and running on March 15.