By Cecilia Nasmith
COVID immunizations will return to the Cobourg Community Centre, following council's vote Monday to authorize the Haliburton Kawartha Pine Ridge District Health Unit to set up an Emergency Mass Health Protection Clinic from Nov. 5 through March 31, 2022.
The move didn't meet with complete enthusiasm, as Councillor Emily Chorley decried the health unit taking over half the gymnasium for this purpose, displacing seniors' programming that they rely on for mental health and physical fitness - “especially through the winter season when people rely on this programming.”
Chorley's preference would have been to run the entire operation in the meeting rooms.
While some effort is being made to arrange programming in other venues, like the Market Building – which was the hub of seniors' programming in Cobourg before the CCC opened in 2011. But as far as Chorley is concerned, you can't replace a gym for such in-demand programming as pickleball.
And if seniors' programming does move to the Market Building, Councillor Nicole Beatty added, will seniors get parking passes to offset the free parking they would have had at the CCC.
These are not insurmountable problems, Deputy Director of Community Services Teresa Behan said.
Deputy Mayor Suzanne Seguin recalled how poorly advertised pop-up clinics were idle for hours, just waiting for people to come in. She wondered if the clinics to come to the CCC would be on a walk-in or by-appointment basis.
Chief Administrative Officer Tracey Vaughan said that, between the booster shots and the prospect of five-to-11-year-olds getting their shots, there's the potential for “tens of thousands” coming forward.
Fiona Kelly of the Haliburton Kawartha Pine Ridge District Health Unit agreed. The most recent clinics seemed to largely consist of stragglers and people moved to get their shots by the recent vaccination-passport requirements. But as more people near the point at which six months has passed since their second shot, that could mean 11,000 people showing up for boosters.
And with the vaccination of five-to-11-year-olds expected to be approved perhaps by the end of this month, that would be another 5,000 arms awaiting needles.
Kelly said the clinics would probably administer 500 weekly shots early on, but could ramp up to accommodate well over 1,500.
The Ministry of Health has revamped the provincial booking system for shots, she added, and local clinic templates could be uploaded as of midnight Friday. But a number of people have had challenges with on-line booking and appreciate the availability of walk-in shots, so this will also be an option to some extent – though the majority of shot will be administered by appointment.
