Public clinic opens at Center on Barton as Hamilton predicts COVID vaccine pre-orders – Hamilton

Hamilton’s second public COVID-19 vaccination clinic opened at the Center on Thursday and is set to be another key part of the city’s plan to administer a dose of the vaccine. expected in the next few months.

In a statement, public health said demand is expected to be driven by the impending approval of a shot for children aged 5 to 11, potentially on Friday, and the potential for a dose. Tuesday will be around January for anyone eligible 12 years or older. population wants it.

New permanent clinic at 1211 Barton St. E., joins the Lime Ridge Mall site that opened two weeks ago. Both are expected to have the capacity to administer 550 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine per day.

The city has another public clinic, for healthcare workers only, at the western clinic Hamilton Health Sciences on Main Street West.

Hours of operation at the Barton location will rotate every two weeks with the first three days of operation from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., shifting to 1-7 p.m. November 22-28.

During a medical board meeting on Monday, Hamilton’s immunization response team manager said that although the vaccine is about to be approved for ages 5 to 11, the timing for the shots has yet to be determined.

““Exactly when the vaccine will be made available to 5 to 11 year olds in Hamilton will depend on when it is approved by Health Canada and the receipt of supplies of the vaccine,” said Melissa Biksa. please for Hamilton,” Melissa Biksa ​​said.

Dr. Julia Orkin, a pediatrician at Sick Kids Hospital in Toronto, said parents who may be hesitant about giving their child the shot or worried about side effects should be aware that the new dose of Pfizer is not the same. sized to the dose given to 12-plus children in the population.

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Orkin told Global News: “Despite the smaller dose, the immune response is very good.

“Less dosing usually leads to fewer side effects, so it’s possible that your child may have arm pain, feel tired or unwell afterwards, but it is probably more unlikely given the dose given. .”

Over the next five weeks, public health partners will deploy five school-based COVID-19 vaccine clinics at the five middle schools with the lowest coverage.

Sessions will be open to Hamilton Wentworth District School Board (HWDSB) and Catholic (HWCDSB) students, their families, staff from each school community, and any eligible students from the schools. elementary high school.

The first and second dose will continue to be available for consultation and online reservation through the city’s VERTO system. The third dose is scheduled only through VERTO.

Primary care partners and pharmacies are the main stops for the third shot with targeted and mass mobile clinics likely to launch in 2022.

So far, the city has injected 11,000 doses of a third currently recommended but not required.

In the past seven days, Hamilton’s medical partners have brought on weapons just over 8,500 doses of the vaccine, with Friday noting its biggest injection since October 8 – 1,772.

That number is much higher than the monthly average of daily doses used so far for November, which is 1,044 per day.

The November average so far is slightly below what has been recorded for all of October, 1,068 photos per day and further than September’s average of 1,488 photos per day.

As of Wednesday, 82.6% of eligible Hamiltonians over the age of 12 were fully immunized while 85.9% had at least one shot. The city still lags behind the provincial average with 85.7% fully vaccinated and 88.8% with at least one dose of vaccine.

People aged 70 to 84 years have met the Department of Health’s target of 90% first and second dose coverage, while Hamiltonians aged 25 to 29 have the lowest vaccination rates in the community , only 72.3% are fully vaccinated.

Public Health estimates that about 1 in 10 Hamiltonians are being vaccinated outside the city.

Hamilton is behind 31 other public health units in two-dose vaccination rates in Ontario.

Hamilton’s daily COVID-19 case rate has remained flat over the past week, with public health reporting a seven-day average case rate of 15 on Wednesday, two fewer than the average. Daily average so far for the whole of November.

This rate is much lower than the daily average recorded for October, which was 22 cases per day.

Active cases increased day by day from 121 reported on Tuesday to 144 on Wednesday.

More than 62% of all active cases are in people under the age of 50, while 40% are under the age of 30.

Since the pandemic began in March 2020, Hamilton has reported 25,526 COVID cases.

There were eight reported outbreaks involving a total of 53 cases citywide as of Nov. 17. The largest outbreak was at St. Peter’s, where there are a total of 18 cases – four of staff and 14 of patients.

Outbreaks at the school include cases at two public and two private facilities.

The biggest event was with St. Gabriel of the Catholic school board on Barton Street in Stoney Creek, which has seen the total number of cases increase by seven over the past few days to nine student cases.

In the past 14 days, both public boards have reported 40 cases with 36 students.

Hamilton hospitals are reporting a total of 22 COVID patients as of Thursday, including six in the intensive care unit (ICU).

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