Hamilton begins pop-up COVID-19 vaccination clinics for community ‘hot spot’ populations

Residents aged 50 and up in five Hamilton COVID-19 “hot spots” can get vaccinations through three mobile pop-up clinics this week.

The sites are a part of the Doug Ford government’s Phase 2 vaccine distribution plan in which middle-aged Hamiltonians living in the L8W, L9C, L8L, L8N and L9K postal codes have the opportunity to get a shot as the province begins targeting communities with a high risk of coronavirus transmission across Ontario.

The clinics will operate Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday at three Mountain locations:

• Chedoke Twin Pad Arena at 91 Chedmac Dr.
• Salvation Army Mountain Citadel at 835 Stone Church Rd. E.
• Salvation Army Meadowlands at 187 Stone Church Rd. in Ancaster

Residents from five Hamilton hot spots are eligible for the shots:

• On the Mountain, L8W, is on the east side roughly enclosed by Upper Wentworth Street, Twenty Road East, Trinty Church Road and Limeridge Road
• The L9C postal code is a region northwest of Stone Church Road and Upper James Street
• L9K is southeast of the Lincoln M. Alexander Parkway and the 403
• The L8L postal code in the lower city is bordered by King Street East, Cannon Street, Barton, Caroline and Ottawa Street North all the way to the Waterfront
• The L8N area is roughly surrounded by James Street South, King Street East, Wentworth Street South and the Sherman and Claremont Accesses

Eligible recipients can use public health’s call-in number at 905-974-9848 to book an appointment, only individuals living in the L9C and L8W postal codes can book theirs using the provincial online portal for a large-scale clinic.

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Walk-ins are not permitted. Proof of address must be shown when arriving for an appointment.

In early April, Hamilton public health epidemiology specialists identified a number of postal codes in the city tied to high case rates, per cent-positive activity, lack of access to testing and corresponding to at least one of the racialized or deprivation indices.

Thirteen public health units across Ontario were selected in the initial 50-plus plan with a focus on areas with high rates of death, hospitalization and transmission amid the pandemic.

The province will also move to vaccinate individuals with high-risk health conditions including organ transplant recipients and people with neurological and kidney diseases. Caregivers from those groups will also be eligible in the next phase.

Hamiltonians aged 18 through 49 who live in a hot spot postal code in the city are still not yet eligible for a vaccination despite some of Ontario’s public health units moving forward with that age range in some high-risk communities.

Hamilton clinics have administered 145,321 COVID-19 vaccines as of the weekend, with close to 61,000 administered through the fixed site at Hamilton Health Sciences.

The clinic at St. Joe’s has now administered about 33,000 doses, 22,000 of which have been through mobile clinics, 16,000 with the First Ontario site, 8,000 at pharmacies, and around 5,000 at primary care clinics.