As part of a community-wide effort to increase the availability of third doses and promote vaccination, the University of Guelph will host a second public COVID-19 vaccination clinic on campus beginning Jan. 4, 2022.
The clinic will be held in the Mitchell Gym of the W.F. Mitchell Athletics Centre. This week, hours of operation are:
- Jan. 4 from noon to 7 p.m.
- Jan. 5 to Jan. 7 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Starting Jan. 10, regular hours of operation will be 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
The clinic is providing both scheduled and drop-in services.
Third doses of a COVID-19 vaccine are available on a drop-in basis for the following groups:
- Adults age 68 and older
- Teachers, school staff and bus drivers (public and private)
- Child care educators and staff (including unlicensed care providers)
People between the ages of 18 and 67 must have an appointment to receive a third dose; schedule an appointment via the WDG Public Health website.
People seeking first or second doses may drop in any time during regular operating hours.
Parking will be available in the P12 lot adjacent to the Athletics Centre.
Like the public vaccination clinic held in 2021 at U of G, this initiative will bring together U of G in partnership with Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph (WDG) Public Health and the Guelph Family Health Team.
“Vaccination is the most effective way to strengthen our protection against the Omicron variant,” said Dr. Nicola Mercer, medical officer of health and CEO of WDG Public Health.
“Time and time again, our local partners have answered Public Health’s call for support during this mass vaccination campaign. I am grateful to the University of Guelph and the Guelph Family Health Team for their willingness to collaborate and provide another venue for our population to access vaccines as quickly as possible.”
“The University is proud to team up again with WDG Public Health and the Guelph Family Health Team on such an important initiative,” said U of G president Dr. Charlotte Yates. “The Omicron variant has made it abundantly clear that we must persist in our efforts to help reduce transmission and protect the community.”
Yates added: “The University is committed to doing its part to help ensure we are as protected as possible against the negative health effects of COVID-19.
“I encourage everyone to make an appointment for a third vaccination as soon as possible. So far, our highly vaccinated campus community has helped keep us safe, and we want to keep it that way by everyone getting their third dose.”
The clinic will focus mostly on administering third doses (booster shots) of the COVID-19 vaccine, said Anna Vanderlaan, WDG Public Health emergency information officer. Individuals will also be able to obtain a first or second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine at the U of G clinic.
The goal is to administer 1,000 doses daily in the initial stages, increasing to a maximum of 2,000 per day as the clinic progresses.
“Guelph Family Health Team is once again working with our community to provide local residents with the support they need to get through this pandemic,” said executive director Ross Kirkconnell. “We are excited to move to this new site to help more people get vaccinated as quickly as possible.”
The athletics centre is located at the intersection of East Ring Road and Reynolds Walk on the U of G campus. Its main south entrance is accessible from Reynolds Walk, a main campus walkway.
As with other WDG clinics, the athletics centre clinic will involve a co-ordinated effort, said Vanderlaan. Security staff at the entrance will ask screening questions, and individuals will be asked to sanitize their hands and wear a medical mask provided upon entry.
Visitors will check in with staff at a designated area, receive their inoculation at a vaccination station and then wait briefly in a recovery area. Individuals receiving a third dose who did not experience adverse reactions to previous COVID-19 vaccinations are only required to wait for five minutes after their vaccination.
U of G hosted a major vaccination clinic in the University Centre from March to August 2021. An integral component of WDG’s vaccination program, the campus clinic administered nearly 82,000 of the 375,000 doses given across the Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph region during that period.
Nearly 380 volunteers helped operate the earlier University Centre clinic, clocking a total of 6,850 hours while greeting and guiding arrivals, attending parking lots and monitoring clinic flow.
More information is available on U of G’s vaccination clinic webpage.