A SHOT WHEN YOU SHOP
Facility in former Sears store will be able to provide 4,000 shots per day
Karen Riddell, Windsor Regional Hospital's chief nursing executive and chief operating officer, was on hand Friday to give the media a look at the Devonshire Mall Vaccination Centre, which will give up to 4,000 shots over eight hours after it opens Monday.
Get a vaccine, take a selfie, do a little shopping.
The new vaccine centre at the former Sears location in Devonshire Mall opens Monday, capable of providing 4,000 jabs in eight hours, when supplies permit.
It's a big airy space with new lighting, a selfie station, bright floral decorations, inspirational messages and potted plants.
“What we really wanted to do was make this somewhere that was very pleasant to come to and get that sense of celebrating of where we're at in Windsor-essex,” said Karen Riddell, chief nursing executive and chief operating officer at Windsor Regional Hospital.
“We're really coming out on the other side of the COVID pandemic. We're getting back to normal. Getting a vaccine is a positive thing. It's very exciting for people. They know this is getting us back to normal life.”
The Devonshire Mall site, which is by appointment only, will replace the vaccination centres at Windsor Hall and the St. Clair College Sportsplex. Riddell said the mall location is larger than the Windsor Hall and St. Clair Sportsplex vaccine centres combined.
Windsor Hall closed at the end of day Friday, after 31,000 people received vaccinations there since March 22. All appointments for that site after Friday have been transferred to the mall. The
St. Clair Sportsplex vaccination centre will close around July 21. If you have an appointment booked for St. Clair, go there unless you're contacted.
All other vaccination sites in Essex County will continue operating until further notice.
Riddell said the hospital has begun consolidating sites for efficiency. But the schools will also need their spaces back as things begin to open up, she said.
Personnel spent months transforming the former department store into a mass vaccination centre. Areas that once housed clothing racks, makeup booths and checkout counters now have registration desks, vaccine stations and patient observation areas.
“In this particular site we have 128 vaccination spots and 250 observation spots,” said Riddell. “So we can essentially vaccinate 128 people every 15 minutes, versus 100 people every half-hour at St. Clair. So it's significantly more volume that we can put through. And we have the ability to add spots here as well if there was demand for it.”
Riddell said the hope is that most vaccinations in Windsor-essex will be done by September. So far, more than 73 per cent of Windsor-essex adults have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, and nearly 30 per cent of adults are fully vaccinated.
But just in case, the hospital will have access to the mall space until March 31.
“We're also not sure what boosters are going to be looking like yet,” she said. “We are waiting for further direction from the province on that. Obviously there's still research being done on how long the vaccines are effective for, how long they provide adequate immunity for.”