Hamilton residents targeted with COVID vaccine scam

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Published March 3, 2021 at 4:41 pm

The City of Hamilton said Wednesday (Mar. 3) they’ve received reports regarding a scam targeting Hamilton residents.

According to the City, residents have received calls from individuals pretending to be from Public Health.

Targets are then asked for compensation in order to move to the front of the line to receive the COVID-19 vaccine.

“This is a scam,” said the City. “Vaccines are free in Hamilton. Please do not provide financial info.”

Hamilton’s first large-scale vaccination clinic opened its doors on Monday (Mar. 1) as the city’s Public Health Services (PHS) expands the vaccination rollout.

It is expected that the new clinic at St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton (SJHH) West 5th Campus will eventually be able to offer up to 2,000 vaccinations a day.

The West 5th clinic is the first of several large-scale vaccination clinics in the city to open. The others are expected to come online in the weeks and months ahead as the province rolls out its online booking system and vaccine supplies increase.

Starting Monday, the clinic started vaccinating people 85 years of age and older and community health-care workers, as well as administering second doses to those who have received their first COVID-19 vaccine.

“Those 80-84 years of age will become eligible over the coming weeks,” a PHS news release issued Friday (Feb. 26) said.

Late last week, Canada’s vaccination efforts got a much-needed boost with Health Canada’s approval of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine.

It’s expected that Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine will gain approval within weeks, especially after the one-dose shot was approved in the U.S. on Saturday (Feb. 27).

Over the weekend, PHS announced that its mobile clinic has started vaccinating workers and residents of Hamilton’s shelter system.

“The mobile clinic team is working collaboratively with the Shelter Health Network and shelter staff on the planning and implementation of pop-up mobile COVID-19 vaccination clinics for clients at all shelter sites from February 27 to March 2, 2021,” a press release issued late Friday said.

Over 33,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been administered through the Hamilton Health Sciences’ (HHS) fixed-site clinic and a mobile clinic.

In Hamilton, more than 16,000 people have been fully vaccinated.

To find out more about Hamilton’s vaccination rollout and how to book an appointment, visit the city’s website.

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