Regulars and visitors to the Port Coquitlam farmers market still looking for a COVID-19 vaccination will soon have the opportunity to get jabbed at the popular summer site.
Fraser Health nurses and healthcare workers are set to welcome eligible residents aged 12 years and older to the four-hour walk-in clinic tomorrow (Aug. 26) to receive a first or second dose as capacity and supplies allow.
This is part of the authority's strategy shift for the fall as vaccinations are noticeably trending downward across the province — including 14,709 between Tuesday and Wednesday (Aug. 23 to 24), a decrease of 63% from 40,772 issued Monday to Tuesday (Aug. 22 to 23) — and as it's set to close the mass clinic at Coquitlam's Poirier Forum on Sept. 3.
"Residents who live in the Tri-Cities area and need their first or second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine will have several options available to them, including other mass immunization clinics and COVID-19 testing and immunization centres," Fraser Health spokesperson Curtis Harling told the Tri-City News in an earlier interview.
"Additionally, people can also quickly and efficiently access vaccines at one of Fraser Health’s outreach or neighbourhood clinics, and community initiatives – such as beach-side immunization clinics or mobile bus clinics."
Harling adds dates and times for future special-event clinics are subject to change, but adding more will potentially bring more convenient appointments for local residents.
In Port Coquitlam's local health area, 78% of eligible residents have been administered two doses and 85% with just one.
Both those figures are just below the Tri-Cities' regional average of 79% and 86% respectively, according to the BC Centre for Disease Control (BCCDC).
Patrons to the PoCo farmers market don't need an appointment or a personal health number on Thursday.
If you're aiming to be inoculated with a second vaccine dose and it's been 28 days since your first — the new window allowed between jabs per B.C. health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry — you're encouraged to bring your immunization card.
The farmers market is located at 200-2253 Leigh Square Place; the clinic will be set up between 3 and 7 p.m.
SPECIAL EVENT CLINICS
A second special-event clinic is scheduled for the Tri-Cities over the Labour Day long weekend at the ScotFestBC Highland Games.
Details are as follows:
- ScotFestBC
- LaFarge Lake Park, Coquitlam
- Sept. 4, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
The Coquitlam Central Station overflow parking lot is scheduled to stay open under new operating hours:
- Monday to Friday: 9:45 a.m. to 8 p.m.
- Saturday to Sunday and holidays: 9:45 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Until Sept. 3, the Poirier Forum mass immunization clinic will stay open daily from 8 a.m. to 8:30 p.m.
For more information on vaccine clinics and their locations, you're encouraged to visit Fraser Health's website.
