(06-22-2021, 04:50 PM)jeffster Wrote: Since much of the uptick is in certain postal codes in Kitchener, I question why they have 2 clinics in the smallest city in the region, 1 clinic in Kitchener and 0 in the second largest city. Doesn't make any sense. The people they need to puncture skin with won't be going there. When our PHU does things like this, I question its leadership.
They're using those locations because they're existing mass vaccination clinics. They're basically announcing "all our major existing clinics now accept walk-ins" . These locations aren't mobile clinics, the mobile pop-up clinics are in addition to this announcement.
I also disagree it won't make difference. I know people that say they'll get vaccinated, but are simply too disorganized to make and keep an appointment days out. I sent this link to them so they'll go do it.
(06-22-2021, 04:50 PM)jeffster Wrote: You could have had clinics at Centreville-Chicopee, Kingsdale and Stanley Park community centres instead, and run them for a few weeks. SPCC is huge, and Kingsdale itself is fairly large. They need to start thinking how they can set up clinics in areas of need, rather than out in Waterloo somewhere -- why Regina St??? Sorry, and I know a lot of you will disagree with me here, and that is fine, but I won't make any apologies for the region, nor with what I am about to say. This is a shit show.
We've also got mobile clinic teams from the province that will be setting up in locations like this later this week. But there's no reason not to also offer walk-ins at locations that are already doing 1000+ second doses per day. Opening existing clinics to walk-ins is always going to be faster than setting up mobile clinics, and getting the word out about them.
(06-22-2021, 04:50 PM)jeffster Wrote: Guys, we need to start demanding answers for why we're one of the worst regions in North America. But when I see where they are putting these 'walk-in clinics', I just shake my head. You're not going to get a single shot in arms from those postal codes that are doing badly.
I don't get why you refuse to consider the chance element. I think the probable cause is pretty clear, someone got Delta at the Baffin mine outbreak, returned to KW, interacted with someone in the shelter system, and started a huge delta outbreak in the shelters, and it all snowballed from there.
Every shelter in the province has had huge outbreaks, because even with mobile clinics vaccine uptake in them is very low. We only recently managed to house one of my girlfriend's relatives who was in the shelter system, and at that time he was planning to refuse the vaccine, as was almost every single person he knew in the shelter. The usual theories about it altering your DNA, or making you infertile, or whatever, were rampant. He's now vaccinated, as we provided him better information, but distrust of "the system" is deep within these communities (and for understandable reasons). Public health showing up and offering to vaccinate people, no ID required, will only get a small percentage of residents vaccinated.
I think the exact same thing could have happened just as easily anywhere, other cities don't have higher vaccination rates of those in the shelter system. We just got unlucky it was a delta outbreak.