The health officer Dr. Dee Hoyano and public health nurse Monica Stevenson gave an update on the booster drive outside the Quadra Village Community Center Immunization Clinic on Tuesday. Those at higher risk of adverse effects from COVID should prioritize getting their booster, Hoyano said. Pharmacies were already seeing good uptake of the bivalent doses targeting Omicron before it began being offered in immunization clinics on September 19. Those who are eligible for their souvenir should watch a text advising them of when to schedule their download. The number of appointments open depends on staff availability and Island Health hopes to have the clinics fully staffed by next week. Those over 18 who are having their fourth vaccination will receive a double dose. Appointments are already filling up quickly, Stevenson said. On Tuesday, 330 adults were scheduled to be vaccinated at the Quadra Village clinic, while another 66 had appointments at the Mary Winspear Centre. “When we open appointments, they fill up,” he said. Health officials said that regardless of whether people get their shot at a vaccination clinic or pharmacy, all facilities will have an adequate supply of doses to meet demand. From October, people will also be able to get the flu shot alongside the COVID shot. Health officials have acknowledged that the public may experience some vaccine fatigue. But they highlighted how vaccines have allowed people to reopen their lives while reducing the need for things like lockdowns, self-isolation and social bubbles. “That’s what we’re trying to maintain,” Stevenson said. “We can maintain our normal daily lives without having to go back to what we had (in the) early days of COVID.” The proof is also in the numbers, he said, showing that the shots help dramatically reduce hospitalizations and deaths from COVID. “I know it’s hard for the public to wrap their heads around — once again a vaccine — but look at the facts, look at the numbers, we have vaccines that work and we’re trying to catch this virus before it hits us again,” he said. Stevenson. READ: Rapacious feeders and breeders: Bullfrogs flourish in Great Victoria weather [email protected] Follow us on Instagram. Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter. Victoria
