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Vaccine site change in Abbotsford leaves people waiting outside in 40-degree heat for shots

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Due to the extreme heat enveloping Metro Vancouver and the Fraser Valley, Fraser Health had to juggle the schedule for some COVID-19 vaccination sites.

Many closed early on Sunday, before the peak afternoon heat, and people with appointments were directed to other sites.

In some cases, the location remained in the same municipality, but in others people had to travel farther.

Those with an afternoon appointment in Coquitlam were directed to Maple Ridge, and people who had booked in Mission were sent to Chilliwack.

In Abbotsford, the main vaccination clinic at the Ag Rec Centre halted immunizations due to the extreme heat on Saturday. Fraser Health said it had secured a secondary location at Gateway Church for all Sunday walk-ins and scheduled appointments.

“These temporary measures for all the clinics referenced will be in place until end of day on Monday,” the health authority said in a news release. “All individuals with appointments at affected immunization clinics will be notified to proceed to alternate clinics and all appointments will be honoured.”

When CTV News arrived at the Ag Rec Centre Sunday afternoon, however, people were filing in for shots without having to wait in any lines.

Meanwhile, at the church, people had to wait outside for up to an hour in temperatures above 40 degrees to get inside for a shot.

“It was no lineup,” said Scarlett Rose after receiving her second shot at the Ag Rec Centre Sunday.

“There were chairs for everyone. It was simple … Over at the church, it’s a disaster. I went there and spent 20 minutes in line dying in the heat before somebody told me it was easier here.”

Back at the church, those who had suffered outside in the hot parking lot were shocked to learn the original vaccination site had been open after all.

“I’d be a little disappointed to hear that,” said Anna McWhinney, who estimates it took more than hour to get inside the church. “Is that true?”

In an email sent mid-afternoon, Fraser Health declined to provide anyone to speak about the vaccine site changes, but specifically said previous updates on where people should go were still valid.

After follow up questions from CTV News about the Ag Rec Centre site being open, the health authority said there was a clinic there for anyone who did not get the message about being redirected to the church.  

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