Niagara Health announced today that it will wind down its mass vaccination clinic at the Seymour-Hannah arena in mid-August, allowing the sports and entertainment centre to be returned to the City of St. Catharines and restored to its original purpose. A smaller vaccination clinic will be opened at the St. Catharines hospital to continue vaccinating those who still need their first or second dose.
“We know that vaccines are our only way out of this pandemic, so its encouraging that we are at the point in our careful and gradual recovery efforts where we can wind down this mass immunization clinic and move to a smaller one,” says Linda Boich, Executive Vice President at Niagara Health, overseeing the vaccination program. “The story of our Seymour-Hannah clinic is one of community, resilience and hope, as illustrated by the thousands of sticky notes lining the arena walls. Thank you to our staff and physicians, Public Health and Niagara Region colleagues, community physicians, Niagara EMS, the City of St. Catharines and all other partners who helped make this clinic possible.”
As of July 21, Niagara Health has administered 238,651 doses at its mass immunization clinic. In Niagara region, 79.4 per cent of eligible residents have received their first dose and 63.5 per cent have received both doses. Notably, 41 per cent of all doses given in Niagara were done at the Seymour-Hannah clinic including a Niagara Health record of 2,639 doses in one day on July 15.
While we have hit a significant milestone in this journey, we still need as many people as possible to get fully vaccinated. According to Niagara Region Public Health, unvaccinated people accounted for 95% of COVID-19 cases between December 2020 and June 2021. Niagara Health continues to provide opportunities for people to get vaccinated through same-day appointments as well as daily walk-in spots for both first and second doses. Check here for more information on how you or a loved one can get vaccinated.
