Two COVID-19 vaccine clinics to wind down operations in Waterloo region

Two COVID-19 vaccine clinics will begin to wind down operations as the spread of the virus continues to slowly decline in Waterloo region.

Starting Tuesday, the Pinebush vaccine clinic in Cambridge will move to two days a week:

• Wednesday from 11 a.m. to 6:30 p.m.
• Saturday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

The Wellesley vaccine clinic, which has administered nearly 35,000 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, will wrap up operations at the end of day onMarch 5.

The Boardwalk vaccine clinic in Waterloo will remain open seven days a week from 10:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.

No appointments are necessary at the regionally-run clinics. Some pharmacies and primary care physicians also have doses of the COVID-19 vaccine.

Vickie Murray, who has led the vaccine rollout in the region, thanked staff at the clinics for their work.

"As the vaccine clinics are ramping down, we are ramping up our outreach, mobile clinics across the region," Murray noted Friday during a regular media briefing.

That includes hosting clinics in community centres in the townships as well as setting up clinics in schools. Plans are underway to host clinics in local high schools over the March break to encourage students to get second or third doses.

The region's vaccine dashboard showed:

• 83.7 per cent of all residents have the first dose of the vaccine.
• 80.2 per cent have the second dose.
• 46.4 per cent have the third dose.

Local COVID-19 cases slowly decline

Dr. Hsiu-Li Wang, the region's medical officer of health, said local indicators show the Omicron wave in the region continues to slowly decline. Those indicators include wastewater testing, the number of declared outbreaks as well as the percentage of PCR tests that come back positive for the virus.

People continue to be admitted to area hospitals with the virus and some are in the intensive care unit, Wang noted.

"It will take longer to relieve the pressure in our hospitals and across the health-care system," she said.

With more COVID-19 restrictions set to be lifted on Tuesday, Wang said people should take a "cautious approach" to restarting activities, including holding or attending large gatherings.

She also reminded people that the mask requirements remains in place for now.

"We've been on a slow and steady decline in COVID-19 trends for a few weeks now. The virus is still with us, though, and may bring new challenges. Vaccination remains our best defense," she said.

She thanked community members for the "tremendous sacrifice they've made and the care they continue to show for one another."

"The challenges may not end, but through your actions, you are helping better protect us now and into the future," she said.