Hamilton’s second large-scale COVID-19 vaccination clinic will begin administering the shot to eligible seniors on Monday.
The clinic at FirstOntario Centre in the downtown core will begin vaccinating 700 people per day during its first week of operation but has the capacity to inoculate up to 3,000 people per day.
Hamilton Mayor Fred Eisenberger said it’s all based on supply, which is expected to increase in the coming weeks.
“Then we can also look at the Rosedale Arena that’s scheduled to be a vaccination site, as well as the Harry Howell Arena, the Glanbrook Arena and a location in Dundas — all of them are scheduled to ramp up as vaccine supplies ramp up as well,” Eisenberger said during an interview on Friday.
The 60,000-square-foot clinic at FirstOntario Centre has 28 vaccination stations and will have up to 100 people staffing it at maximum operating capacity.
It will operate from 9 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. to 8 p.m., seven days per week.
Residents who have an appointment to be vaccinated inside the downtown arena will enter through the doors on Bay Street and go through COVID-19 screening before heading down the escalator into the main clinic area.
From there, they’ll fill out a consent form and register to receive their shot before going to a physically distanced waiting area.
That will lead to another area where residents will be vaccinated at one of the 28 stations, and once they’ve gotten their dose, they’ll be required to wait in an “aftercare” section for 15 minutes before checking out and documenting that they have officially received their shot.
Free parking is available for anyone who parks at the York Boulevard Parkade and brings their ticket to the clinic to be validated during the check-out process.
Those who are eligible to be vaccinated at the arena site on Monday will include seniors 75 and older, now that the province has announced that its vaccination rollout is ahead of schedule.
“With the Province expecting additional supply as we move through spring and summer, and as eligible populations are also expanded in Phase Two of the Provincial Prioritization Framework, we and our health care partners will continue to open up new clinics and modalities for delivering COVID-19 vaccinations to members of our community and stop the spread of COVID-19,” Dr. Elizabeth Richardson, Hamilton’s medical officer of health, said in a release.
As of Friday, a total of 64,196 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine have been administered in Hamilton.
About 39,400 of those have been through the Hamilton Health Sciences (HHS) clinic, 8,500 have been through the St. Joseph’s Healthcare large-scale clinic at the West 5th campus, and 16,000 have been administered through the mobile clinics.
Of all Hamiltonians eligible for the vaccine, 9.5 per cent have received a dose.
A more detailed breakdown of COVID-19 vaccination in Hamilton, including the percentage of vaccinations administered at each long-term care home, is posted on the city’s website.