KAWARTHA LAKES-If you have not yet received your first COVID-19 vaccine, new walk-in times at Health Unit clinics are designed with you in mind.
Starting this week, the Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge District Health Unit will be providing first-dose, walk-in times at its mass immunization sites in Cobourg and Fenelon Falls. The clinics are open to anyone who is 12 years of age and older and has not received a COVID-19 vaccine. No appointments are needed, but you must live in Haliburton County, Northumberland County or the City of Kawartha Lakes.
HKPR residents can access their first dose as follows:
- At the Cobourg Community Centre (750 D’Arcy St.) on Thursdays and Friday from 1-4 pm: July 8, July 9, July 15, July 16, July 22, and July 23.
- At the Fenelon Falls Community Centre (27 Veterans Way) on Saturday and Sunday from 1-4 pm: July 10, July 11, July 17, July 18, and July 25 (not July 24).
If there is strong interest in these first-dose, walk-in times, the Health Unit will expand them to its other mass immunization sites later in July according to officials.
“We realize not everyone may have been able to book appointments through the provincial booking system or been able to access COVID-19 vaccines through other channels,” says Dr. Natalie Bocking, Medical Officer of Health with the HKPR District Health Unit. “By providing this opportunity, we want to remove any barriers and make it as easy as possible for anyone who has not yet received a first dose of COVID-19 vaccine to get one.”
While nearly 77% of residents in Haliburton County, Northumberland County and the City of Kawartha Lakes have so far received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine, the Health Unit is noticing first dose vaccine appointments are starting to level off at its clinics. The health unit says the goal of these new first-dose, walk-in times is aimed at bumping up vaccination rates even further.
“We’re very encouraged by how many local residents are committed to getting their first and second doses of COVID-19 vaccine,” Dr. Bocking notes. “By making the process to get the first dose of vaccine even easier, we hope to increase local vaccination rates even further so that as many people as possible are fully protected against COVID-19 and its variants.”
