Hamilton elementary schools to begin hosting COVID-19 vaccination clinics
Published January 26, 2022 at 5:02 pm
Beginning this week, Hamilton elementary schools will host mobile COVID-19 vaccination clinics — available to students, families, and school staff.
Public health believes the new initiative will increase the number of fully vaccinated children and their families in areas with lower vaccination rates.
While the vaccination coverage rates across the five to 11-year-old population are too low to draw conclusions, public health says there is enough data available among those ages 12 to 17 to suggest the lower rates correlate with a community’s socioeconomic status.
“As a community, we are collectively concerned about the impact COVID-19, remote learning and public health restrictions are having on the mental and emotional well-being of children and youth,” said public health. “To help balance the risks of the rapidly spreading Omicron variant and the risks to the mental, emotional and physical health of children, youth and their learning it’s critical that community members continue to follow the well-established public health measures and take the necessary steps to get fully vaccinated.”
School-based vaccination clinics will be held this Friday (Jan. 28) from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at both St. Ann and Queen Victoria schools.
The St. Ann clinic located at 15 St. Ann Street in Hamilton will be available to the following Catholic elementary schools:
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- St. Ann
- Holy Name of Jesus
- St. Patrick
- St. Lawrence
The Queen Victoria clinic located at 166 Forest Ave in Hamilton will be available to the following elementary schools:
- Queen Victoria
- Central
- Dr. J.E. Davey
- Ryerson
- Bennetto
- Cathy Wever
- Hess Street
To date, 86.5 per cent of eligible Hamiltonians have received a vaccine and 81.4 per cent are fully vaccinated. 47.9 per cent of children aged five to 11 have received a first dose.
Hamilton public health announced Monday that it will be closing another large-scale COVID-19 vaccine clinic this week as the city rethinks its vaccination approach.
The St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton vaccination clinic on West 5th will close Friday evening. It follows the closure of the Hamilton Health Sciences west end clinic on Jan. 17.
The City says the changes will help reallocate “much-needed resources within an extremely strained health care system.”
The clinics at Lime Ridge Mall and on Barton Street will have adjusted hours to meet current demands for vaccinations — with walk-in and appointment options available.
The City says long-term planning will be undertaken in the coming weeks towards the transition of their vaccination program towards a “longer-term sustainable model.”
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