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Pop-up clinic at PNE aims to make COVID-19 vaccination convenient

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Vancouver -

People enjoying the summer sun at Playland on Saturday had the opportunity to get a first or second dose of COVID-19 vaccine with their visit.

Vancouver Coastal Health held its latest pop-up immunization clinic at the Pacific National Exhibition's main entrance from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., during which time officials hoped to administer at least 250 shots to people who dropped in.

"This is the first time that we've had a pop-up clinic at Playland," said Bonnie Wilson, the health authority's operations director for COVID-19 vaccination in Vancouver.

"We've got a great partner in the PNE, so we're really excited to be here today. We want to have clinics in places where a lot of people come. They're having a great time in the summer and we're just sort of pairing that up with being able to get the vaccine."

Wilson said the goal of the clinic - and the others like it that Vancouver Coastal Health has held so far - is to meet people where they are and reduce barriers to immunization. Admission to Playland was not required to access the clinic.

She named technology challenges and busy schedules as some of the barriers that have kept people in Vancouver from getting vaccinated, and said the health authority has received positive feedback about the convenience of past clinics.

"We're planning more of these pop-ups in popular areas where people are going to enjoy summer activities," she said. "We really encourage everybody to come out, get immunized, and enjoy the summer."

Though the pop-up clinics prioritize first doses, anyone who has gone at least seven weeks since their first dose can get a second at the walk-in events.

As of Friday, 80.3 per cent of British Columbians ages 12 and older had received a first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, and 58.1 per cent of people in that age group had received a second shot.

In Vancouver's Hastings Sunrise neighbourhood, where the PNE is located, 87 per cent of people 12 and older had received a first dose as of July 22, according to the B.C. Centre for Disease Control's COVID-19 Surveillance Dashboard.  

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