Walk-in Wednesday: No appointments necessary in B.C.'s COVID-19 clinics
British Columbians can get vaccinated for COVID-19 without an appointment Wednesday, as the province marks “Walk-in Wednesday.”
It’s part of a push to get more people inoculated, as case counts climb once again.
As of Tuesday 81.4 per cent of eligible people 12 and older in B.C. had received their first dose of COVID-19 vaccine and 67.3 per cent were fully immunized.
“There's 20 per cent of the population British Columbia eligible to receive a vaccine that has not yet even received a first shot. Among that group, we think that about half of them are individuals that if you make it easy enough for them to get a shot, they will get it,” said Dr. Brian Conway, the medical director of the Vancouver Infectious Disease Centre.
Walk-in Wednesday is part of the Vax for B.C. campaign.
The drop-in clinics will be offering Pfizer and Moderna, with the goal of delivering 20,000 doses in one day.
This applies to first doses and anyone hoping to get their second, provided they received their first shot before June 16.
It comes as the province records an uptick in infections, particularly in the Interior Health Authority.
People who’ve missed getting a vaccine because of wildfire evacuations are being encouraged to participate.
Health officials say most new cases are among those who aren’t yet vaccinated.
“We’ll never force anyone to get vaccinated against their will. But I think this dialogue has not yet occurred in a meaningful way with that five per cent of really skeptical, hesitant individuals. And that's another approach that will be needed. So it's all of these things together, they'll get us over the finish line,” said Conway.
There will be more walk-in clinics offered in the coming weeks.
The province is moving away from mass vaccination clinics, and toward a more community-based approach.
“We know that for some people maybe they just haven’t gotten around to making an appointment, they are busy, they’re waiting to sort of see,” said Kathy Doull, operations director of the Vaccine Coordination Centre at Fraser Health.
“So we just want to make sure that you are not worried about, 'Can I get in? Will I have to wait in the long lineups?'”
Pop-up clinics will be brought to busy hubs like BC Ferries terminals to make the process more convenient and to make experts available to answer questions around vaccine hesitancy.
With files from CTV News Vancouver's St. John Alexander
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Western University researchers unlock potential 'cure' for ALS
New research out of London, Ont.'s Western University is shedding light on a potential cure for ALS, in which the targeting of the interaction between two proteins can halt or fully reverse the disease's progression.
Police release 3D images of young child found in an Ontario river two years ago
Police have released a three-dimensional image of a young child whose remains were discovered in the Grand River in Dunnville, Ont. almost two years ago.
A child killer legally changed his name in B.C. The province is trying to stop that from happening again
The BC NDP have tabled legislation aimed at stopping people who have committed certain heinous acts from changing their names.
Collapsed Baltimore bridge span comes down with a boom after crews set off chain of explosives
Crews conducted a controlled demolition Monday to break down the largest remaining span of the collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore.
CN Railway suspends service on some networks due to wildfires
Canadian National (CN) Railway suspended service on its network between Fort St. John and Fort Nelson in B.C. and north of High Level, Alta., due to wildfires, the company said on Monday.
Kamala Harris drops F-bomb during White House live-stream
U.S. Vice-President Kamala Harris used a profanity on Monday while offering advice to young Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders about how to break through barriers.
Security video caught admitted serial killer disposing of bodies in Winnipeg garbage bins
Security video caught admitted serial killer Jeremy Skibicki on multiple late-night outings, disposing of body parts in nearby garbage bins and dumpsters in the middle of the night.
Mortgage companies could intensify the next recession, U.S. officials warn
U.S. officials worry the next recession could be intensified by a cascading series of failures in the mortgage industry caused by crashing home prices, frozen financial markets and soaring delinquencies.
What Michael Cohen said on the stand in Trump hush money case
The star prosecution witness in Donald Trump's hush money trial took the stand Monday with testimony that could help shape the outcome of the first criminal case against an American president.