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COVID-19: MLHU hosts Q and A, adds more school-based vaccine clinics to bolster youth rates

FILE PHOTO. AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster

Officials with the Middlesex-London Health Unit say they are rolling out several additional child- and youth-focused COVID-19 vaccination clinics in the lead-up to the Family Day holiday in a bid to get more doses of the vaccine into the arms of local children.

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In addition, the region’s acting medical officer of health, Dr. Alex Summers, is co-hosting a live, one-hour Q&A for parents through the health unit’s Instagram account, set to run from noon to 1 p.m. Thursday.

It comes a day before youth aged 12 to 17 become eligible to receive a third (or booster) dose, provided it has been at least six months since their second shot.

The health unit says 10 clinics were already scheduled to run this week as part of its Community Hub COVID-19 Vaccination Clinics in Schools campaign, and another 12 are scheduled through the end of the month.

No appointments are needed for any of the school-based clinics, the health unit says.

The last of this week’s clinics are scheduled to run from 4 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. on Thursday at Tweedsmuir Public School, and on Friday at Sir John A. Macdonald Public School and Trafalgar Public School.

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A clinic set to run Thursday at Académie de la Tamise has been rescheduled to March 3.

On Family Day Monday, the health unit says it will host a “Superhero Day” at local mass vaccination and pop-up clinics, with kids and families encouraged to dress up as their favourite superheroes.

Two pop-up clinics are scheduled for Family Day at Aberdeen Public School and Sir Arthur Carty Catholic School, both from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m.

Pop-up school clinics are scheduled at the following schools for the remainder of the month, with all clinics running from 4 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.:

  • Arthur Ford Public School (Feb. 25)
  • Catholic Central High School (Feb. 23)
  • Chippewa Public School (Feb. 22)
  • Ealing Public School (Feb. 28)
  • École secondaire catholique Monseigneur-Bruyère (Feb. 24)
  • Hillcrest Public School (Feb. 28)
  • Prince Charles Public School (Feb. 24)
  • Wilfrid Jury Public School (Feb. 22)
  • Wilton Grove Public School (Feb. 23)
  • University Heights Public School (Feb. 25)

According to health unit data, roughly 90 per cent of residents in the London and Middlesex region aged five and older have received at least one dose, while 86.5 per cent have received two. At least 48.5 per cent have received a third/booster dose.

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At least 97 per cent of youth aged 12 to 17 have received one dose, while 94.3 per cent have received two. A small number, about six per cent, have already gotten a third dose, a number that is expected to rise starting Friday when eligibility expands to all members of that age range.

For children aged five to 11, 59 per cent have received one dose, and 34.8 per cent two doses.

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