COVID-19: Playland to host pop-up vaccine clinic amid push for more 1st doses

Vancouverites who have yet to get a first dose of COVID-19 vaccine are being encouraged to stop by a pop-up immunization clinic outside the Playland amusement park on Saturday.

The clinic is a part of Vancouver Coastal Health’s efforts to “take vaccine to meet people where they are” in the community, amid flat-lining first dose numbers across the province.

As of Friday, 80.2 per cent of eligible British Columbians — 72.2 per cent of B.C.’s whole population — had received at least one dose.

However, the province has administered just 136,519 first doses in July. During the peak of the immunization campaign in May, as many as 80,000 people were rolling their sleeves up to get their first dose in a single day.

It also comes amid growing concern about the highly-transmissible Delta variant, and as new case numbers trend upward again in the province.

B.C. reported 89 new cases on Thursday, the highest daily total in more than a month. The latest variant report from the BC Centre for Disease Control showed that as of July 10, the Delta variant had grown to 33 per cent of cases in B.C., up from eight per cent the week before.

Vancouver Coastal Health said Saturday’s clinic will prioritize first doses, but that second doses will be available, pending capacity, to people who had received their first dose at least seven weeks prior.

The clinic will run from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Playland’s Hastings Street gate. Admission to the amusement park is not required.

Vancouver Coastal Health is running a series of other community pop-up clinics at the following times and places:

The Pipe Shop immunization clinic

115 Victory Ship Way, North Vancouver

• Thursday, July 22: 8 a.m. – 3 p.m.
• Friday, July 23: 8 a.m. – 3 p.m.

Squamish – Brennan Park Recreation Centre

1009 Centennial Way, Squamish

• Tuesday, July 27: 10 a.m. – 5 p.m.
• Wednesday, July 28: 10 a.m. – 5 p.m.

Pemberton Community Centre

7390 Cottonwood St, Pemberton

• Thursday, July 22: 10 a.m. – 5 p.m.
• Monday, July 26: 10 a.m. – 5 p.m.
• Thursday, July 29: 10 a.m. – 5 p.m.

Whistler Conference Centre

4010 Whistler Way, Whistler

• Friday, July 23: 10 a.m. – 5 p.m.

Sechelt Seniors Activity Centre

5604 Trail Ave., Sechelt

• Friday, July 23: 9 a.m. – noon; 1 p.m. – 5 p.m.
• Wednesday, July 28: 9 a.m. – noon; 1 p.m. – 5 p.m.
• Friday, July 30: 9 a.m. – noon; 1 p.m. – 5 p.m.

Gibsons Legion

747 Gibsons Way, Gibsons

• Thursday, July 22: 9 a.m. – 11:45 a.m.; 12:45 p.m. – 5 p.m.
• Thursday, July 29: 9 a.m. – 11:45 a.m.; 12:45 p.m. – 5 p.m.

Powell River Recreation Centre

5001 Joyce Ave., Powell River

• Thursday, July 22: 9:15 a.m. – 3:45 p.m.
• Tuesday, July 27: 9:15 a.m. – 3:45 p.m.
• Wednesday, July 28: 9:15 a.m. – 3:45 p.m.
• Thursday, July 29: 9:15 a.m. – 3:45 p.m.