The Local Weekly The heart and soul of our communities with news and information about the Sunshine Coast
COVID-19 vaccination clinics on the Coast are slated to open to senior citizens within selected groups in mid-March. Clinics will be held at the Royal Canadian Legion at 747 Gibsons Way, the Royal Canadian Legion in Madeira Park at 12829 Lillies Lake Road, and the Sechelt Seniors Centre at 5604 Trail Avenue. Vancouver Coastal Health’s website lists March 16 at the Gibsons Legion as the start date for this service on the Coast. Clinics are slated to be open between 9am and 5pm, with evening appointments available at certain locations.
Eligible individuals should book their vaccination appointment in advance by calling 1-877-587-5767. The appointment call centre is open 7am to 7pm. Appointments currently being booked are for those born in or before 1941 from the general population and for Indigenous elders born in or before 1956.
On March 8 – the initial day for public appointment bookings – the Ministry of Health reported that over two million calls were received at call centres for the province’s five regional health authorities. Close to 15,000 appointments were booked. Vancouver Coastal Health reported booking 369 vaccination appointments on the first day.
Coast physicians from the local COVID-19 Task Force will be presenting information on vaccination plans for our area in a live-streamed Med Talk on Thursday, March 11 at 4pm. The public can access this Sechelt Hospital Foundation-sponsored session on www.sechelthospital
foundation.org.
The Ministry of Health is emphasizing that registration for appointments is not a “first come, first served” system. If those eligible to book an appointment encounter trouble getting through on the telephone, they are encouraged to try calling at another time.
When calling to book an appointment, have a pen and paper ready. Also, have the personal health number, full name, date of birth and postal code for the person the appointment is being booked for available. Be prepared to provide the phone number that you prefer to be used for any required callbacks. The booking number is not a general COVID-19 information line. For general information related to the pandemic, BC residents can call 1-888-COVID19 or text 1-604-630-0300.
Information including instructions for bookings and local health authority call centre numbers for the Coast and throughout the province are available at gov.bc.ca/bc
seniorsfirst. Connie Jordison
